Managing Flexible Workers

Guidance for SMEs

Introduction

Flexible working can be defined as any pattern that differs from the traditional nine to five, 48 weeks per year on the employer's premises. Although some forms of flexibility have been around for a long time - such as shift working, part-time and 'flexitime', the last few years have seen the introduction of many others.

In many organisations people are the most expensive resource. Successfully managed flexible working arrangements can result in enormous benefits to employer and employee alike. As a small organisation you probably provide part-time hours and offer some flexible working. If you are not already offering the alternatives discussed in this factsheet, you may like to consider how they would benefit your organisation. Successfully managed flexible working arrangements can result in enormous benefits to employer and employee alike.

Types of Flexible Working

A wide range of flexible working options exists. Among the most common ones are:

• part-time working
• flexi-time
• Time Off in Lieu (TOIL)
• job sharing and job splitting (where different functions of a job are done by different employees)
• homeworking/ teleworking
• term-time or school hours working
• annual hours (uneven spread of hours throughout the year with core and banked hours)
• compressed hours (e.g. 4.5 day week or nine day fortnight)
• career breaks or sabbaticals

Flexible Working and the Law

The Part-Time Workers Regulations 2000 and the Fixed-Term Employees Regulations 2002 prohibit unjustified less favourable treatment of fixed term, part-time and temporary employees with regards to contractual terms and treatment by an employer.

In many circumstances the law also requires an employer to seriously consider requests by employees to work flexible or reduced hours; and to refuse only if there is an objective and justifiable reason to do so. There is a risk to the employer of a claim to an Employment Tribunal if the request is dismissed out of hand. (See also the WORKING FAMILIES factsheet: Flexible Working and the Law.

Having a flexible working policy

A formal policy may seem bureaucratic and inappropriate for a small organisation, but it can be brief - just a few lines long and preferably written down. The benefit of formalising the situation is that employees know exactly where they stand. They are also reassured that everyone will be treated in the same way, rather than feeling that some employees are getting favourable treatment.

A formal policy is also something you can communicate when recruiting new staff. This is likely to attract candidates who would not otherwise have considered joining your organisation - widening the pool of people from whom you can choose your workforce. Recent research indicates that over 70% of people in the job market find the idea of flexible working attractive.

Before committing yourself and your organisation to a policy statement, you should consider the various flexible working patterns in existence and decide which of them are appropriate for you. For example, if your work involves a lot of customer contact, you may decide that job sharing (where two people share one job) is possible, whereas homeworking is not. Once you have done this, prepare a written statement and sign it. For example:

'Any employee of this organisation who asks to do so will be allowed to work flexibly under one of the following arrangements: part-time, job-share or school hours only - provided that such an option can be accommodated within the needs of the business at that time.'

It is important to remember that you should look at individual cases on a case by case basis.

Steps to managing flexible working

1. Define the Policy

This has already been discussed above.

2. Set out a request system

You will need a clear system to allow employees to make requests and guidance for managers on objectively assessing the requests. Details can be found on the Working Families website in the SME pages:
Responding to the 'Right to Request' Legislation – Guidance for SMEs

Working Families have also produced detailed guidance in the publication 'The Right to Request: An employer's guide to implementing the flexible working legislation'.

3. Agree the flexible working arrangement with the employee

As an employer you are legally required to provide your employees with a written statement of terms and conditions of employment which contains, among other things, details of their hours of work. Any flexible arrangement which you have agreed should be described here (e.g. 'your hours of work will be 10.00am until 2.00pm with 30 minutes for lunch, during school term times only. You will not work, nor will you be paid, during school holidays.') Remember to issue a new statement of terms and conditions if you and your employee agree a change in hours.

4. Communicate the new working arrangements

Explain to managers and other colleagues the benefit to your organisation of supporting flexible working (e.g. you could tell them that Mary Smith is a very skilled and valuable employee who can only work when her two children are at school). Also tell your customers (e.g. you could say 'Mary Smith will only be available during school term times from 10.00am until 2.00pm - at other times, please speak with her colleague Peter Jones').

5. Ensure good communications between employees

Make sure that meetings are held when flexible workers are available. Ensure that flexible workers are kept up-to-date about current events and issues and are included in the social side of the business.

6. Remind the employee it is in his/her interest to ensure the flexible working arrangements work

Flexible working can only succeed where there is a willingness to communicate on all sides. It is important the employee in question talks to colleagues to find out what has happened when he or she was not at work, and to let them know when he or she will next be at work.

7. Deal with any abuses quickly

If you suspect that the employee is abusing the flexible working arrangement (e.g. by being persistently late or by being absent more often then he or she should) then you should deal with the problem immediately. Flexibility is not an excuse for a lack of self-discipline and an employee who is working flexibly should be treated in exactly the same way as one who is working a traditional 9 to 5 pattern.

Gather the evidence and talk to the employee. Remind him or her that flexible working is an agreed way of working to help him/her to balance work and home commitments. In return you expect his/her full co-operation. Failure to address any disciplinary problem quickly is bad management and will make your other employees resentful.

Overtime

Any small organisation will, from time to time, suffer from sudden surges in workload. It may be your practice to cope with such surges by asking your employees to work overtime. A flexible working arrangement need not interfere with this, but employees may need slightly more notice of the requirement to work overtime. (e.g. a mother may be able to arrange someone else to collect her children from school tomorrow and look after them for a few hours, but may not be able to do so at short notice for the same day).

You will also need to be clear about how overtime is rewarded. Is it paid for, or are employees allowed time off in lieu? If you pay employees for working overtime is it at the same rate as for other hours or do they get a premium (e.g. time and quarter)? If you pay a premium, it is advisable to include in your policy statement something which confirms when staff working less then full time become eligible for the premium.

Note that the law only requires you to pay part time staff overtime rates once they have worked the same number of hours a full timer would have to work to qualify for overtime rates.

A Factsheet of this nature can only provide general guidance. It should not be used as a substitute for independent legal advice. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of its content, we cannot be held responsible for any errors.

June 2006

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