Flexible Working and Small Employers

Over the last few years everyone, including the government, has been trying to persuade employers that work-life balance is good for business as well as good for individuals.

Legislation has fuelled the debate, supporting employees who want more flexibility in their working lives. Often driven by childcare responsibilities, the need can also arise out of personal circumstances (such as religious beliefs, disability, or caring responsibilities).

If you're a pressured SME owner/manager you might think flexibility is a luxury for big organisations, but the evidence, based on direct SME experience, is stacking up that its equally positive for smaller organisations.

• Why should I consider flexible working? What are the benefits to my business?

• What should I do if someone asks to work flexibly?

• But most of my female staff already have some flexibility

• How do I respond to a request for changes to working hours?

• The new legislation includes home working. What do I need to consider here?

• Who we talked to

• What their employees think

Why should I consider flexible working? What are the benefits to my business?

The business benefits of flexible working and other work-life balance measures are well documented. Lesley Griffiths says: "by being as flexible as possible we get more commitment from staff". At Achievement Training, the company she set up seven years ago, this has been reflected in low staff turnover and high business growth.

Farrelly Facilities and Engineering - an SME employer with around 50 staff - is convinced. Every two weeks they hold a meeting with every member of staff. "It covers work and home issues" explains Gerry Farrelly "and they can request anything work or home related - for example, time off for a parent or child - and they don't have to pay us back."

Linda Taylor Associates have built their business around a positive approach to flexibility: "Many people think 'Temping is not for me because I can't manage a 9 to 5 day'" says Linda Taylor. "But we're finding more of our customers recognise that a part-time worker can get through a lot of work in a 10 - 3 working day, their efforts are more concentrated". What's more, some of Linda's temps only work 3 days a week to fit in with other responsibilities.

The SME owners we talked to offered sound business reasons for holding on to good staff. According to Kim Britton, MD of Garden Studios in Central London: "If a business has key staff it should do what it can to keep them. I believe its better to hang on to a member of staff who's working well," explains Kim, "rather than lose and have to replace them, particularly as you can never predict how a new employee will perform."

Replacing lost staff is costly - according to Opportunity Now it could set you back around £3,000 per new recruit. Even where staff decide to stay, but go sick for stress-related reasons it can still be costly. For example, 11 days sickness for an employee earning £15,000 will cost your business just over £700.

The arguments make business sense to Gerry Farrelly "We don't compete on price alone," he says, "we compete on our people." Gerry estimates when employees leave his company they can take away hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of potential profit with them. When the business is able to meet the needs of its people they stay and give a world class service to customers.

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What should I do if someone asks to work flexibly?

Negotiating successful flexible working arrangements is all about keeping an open mind and thinking win-win. Have a look at our 'ground rules': it should be a partnership; it's about results and good communication; and its about staying flexible.

For example, Lesley Griffiths asks potential employees at interview what sort of arrangements will suit them best, overcoming the temptation for people to agree to unworkable arrangements simply to get a job. "By taking this approach we've been able to tap into highly qualified, versatile people we wouldn't have been able to employ otherwise" says Lesley. This doesn't mean that candidates are questioned about their caring responsibilities at interview, though.

"Our stance" says Angela Wright, MD of Crealy Adventure Park, "is that, provided an employee or potential employee has the ability or potential together with the right attitude we're happy to meet them on when and how. Attitude and the will to see solutions instead of problems are the two keys, we believe."

That's not to say managers should automatically agree to every request: "We had to think carefully about whether it would work", says Linda Taylor remembering how her secretary asked to work term-time only. A first for the business, the arrangement works successfully because of flexibility on both sides.

Working Families believes flexible working is possible in almost every job, and can be of benefit to all groups of staff, but it's important to remember some are protected by legislation - have a look at our procedural checklist. Early legislation in the form of the Sex Discrimination Act was aimed at helping working women. More recently, legislation has addressed the needs of a wider group of employees. The Right to Request Flexible Working legislation, for example, applies to all parents of children under six. And both the Disability Discrimination Act and the Employment Equality (Religion & Belief) Regulations have a broad remit.

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But most of my female staff already have some flexibility

While it's true the majority of part-time workers are female, men are increasingly looking for flexibility in their working arrangements, as the SME owners we talked to had discovered:

At Achievement Training a male employee had undergone a triple bypass operation and returned to work for 2 days per week, gradually building up to 3 and then five days.

John O'Donnell, IT specialist, was able to continue his employment at Garden Studios despite moving to Ireland with his heavily pregnant wife who wanted to be closer to her family.

At Farrelly Facilities and Engineering a male engineer rushed home immediately his mother fell seriously ill. He returned to work the following week, but subsequently took more time off to take her to hospital. Full of praise for his employers, he told Gerry Farrelly "I can't believe what your company has done for me!"

Also at Farrelly, Robert Carter, Senior Contracts Manager had two long spells of working at home while nursing his wife through a serious illness. And at Crealy Adventure Park engineer Shane Pook has a flexible arrangement which allows him to take his children to school and make up the hours later in the day.

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How do I respond to a request for changes to working hours?

A small change to working hours often makes a big difference to the way people balance their responsibilities. For example, at Crealy Adventure Park a working mother shifted her hours from the standard 9:00 to 5:00 to 9:20 to 5:20 - allowing her to drop her children at school before starting work.

A wide variety of flexible working arrangements exist across different business sectors. We have listed the more popular types and the nature of your business will determine the types of arrangements most appropriate for you. Faced with a request for flexibility it's important, as Linda Taylor says, you "think carefully about whether it would work". This will help ensure you get the maximum benefit from the new arrangement and enable your employees think through the impact changed working arrangements will have on their lives.

Based on our work with employers, we've prepared a checklist of key issues you should consider when anyone makes a request. Guidance can also be found in our SME detailed guidance on the topic. Remember that the Right to Request imposes very strict procedures to be followed for employees who are parents of children under six years of age, or disabled children under 18. Employers can often be concerned about negotiating with their employees. Guidance on negotiating and avoiding common pitfalls can be found here.

Sometimes it's a case of adjusting hours to suit changing circumstances. Tracey Henry has been with Linda Taylor Associates for over ten years. Starting on 8 hours a week while her children were pre-school age, she's gradually increased her hours and responsibilities and now works three and a half days per week. Tracey's skills have been invaluable in computerising the business and introducing new management information systems.

As a small business owner you're likely to know all your staff personally making it possible to tailor arrangements to suit the business while retaining their talents. For example, a number of staff at Achievement Training (including MD Lesley Griffiths) have children with special needs. They're able to take time off during working hours whenever necessary, and make it up at mutually agreed times. Lesley believes the advantages of this approach more than outweigh the disadvantages. "It's just a matter of mutual discussion and flexibility" she says.

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The new legislation includes home working. What do I need to consider here?

A request for home working raises a whole range of issues and our checklist can guide you through these. A home working arrangement often brings considerable benefits - a major one being fewer distractions.

Farrelly Facilities and Engineering gained when they agreed Robert Carter could work at home: "I was able to stay at home and look after my wife" explains Robert. "But I also got a lot more work done than during the normal day at the office. Without this opportunity I would have had to get someone else in to nurse my wife, and my added worries would certainly have hindered my work in the office."

At Linda Taylor Associates, the nature of the business makes it impossible to allow staff permanent home working arrangements, but Linda is very positive about doing it periodically. "We've found it beneficial when preparing a tender or a policy document." She says. "Maybe we'll be doing more of it in the future as more staff get Internet connection at home!"

With clever use of technology the impact on customers or clients can be minimised. For example, Martina Duffy, Business Centre Manger at Garden Studios, works in London three days per week, and from Ireland on Mondays and Fridays. Seamless telephony enables clients to reach her wherever she is - and they're generally unaware she's working remotely!

However, remote working can be more complex to manage, as Kim Britton, MD of Garden Studios, points out: "While (our IT expert) John O'Donnell is very good at dealing with things remotely, things do happen in the office - such as a printer going wrong. We've had to compensate by using an outside company which does add a little to our costs. Anyone considering a request for remote working would have to look at all the aspects and recognise the member of staff will not be in the office".

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Who we talked to

Kim Britton has been MD of Garden Studios - a serviced and virtual office business in Central London - for the past 11 years. Kim herself works flexibly, as do 3 of her 8 staff. Based on her own experience, Kim is an advocate of remote working arrangements. Not only have they benefited her business, but they also provide a positive marketing angle: "In our business it looks good to the other businesses in the building that we are encouraging remote working" she says.

Gerry Farrelly often finds himself defending his belief that employees should be treated well. "People have said to me our policies are open to abuse, but if you have a set of values and people buy in to those, then those who offend will soon be weeded out" he says. Farrelly Facilities and Engineering, established in 1993, designs, installs and maintains heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems for clients across the country from a base in the West Midlands. Along with 16 office based staff, they have another 30 to 40 on client sites, Farelly were winners of the 2003 Working Families Employer of the Years Awards for their innovative working practices.

Lesley Griffiths is Director of Achievement Training which offers a wide range of education and training courses in the South West of England. Founded seven years ago with just five staff, it has grown to 60 employees, 80% of them female, many women returners. The company's policy is to offer everyone a flexible employment contract.

Linda Taylor started Linda Taylor Associates in 1987, offering freelance temping, typing services and IT training, primarily word processing. By 1993 she had moved into office premises in Swinton and now Linda Taylor Associates has two branches - a larger office in Swinton and a second one in Bolton. In addition to 14 permanent staff, of which 5 work part-time, Linda Taylor Associates manages around 160 temps supplied to businesses in the Greater Manchester area.

Angela Wright, MBE opened Crealy Adventure Park in 1989. She wanted to build a park which was a recreation of a country childhood - somewhere where people could come and play in the adventure playgrounds, hold and feed the animals, ride the ponies and learn about farming. During the winter months there are 40 staff at Crealy, rising to 150 during the summer.

Our advice is based on our ongoing work, and our conversations with the five SME owner/managers listed above. More information about how SME businesses are implementing flexible working can be found in the publication 'Getting it Right: Improving work-life balance in your business' available from the British Chambers of Commerce and the NSPCC.

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What their employees think

Jude Kenny, Quality Manager at Achievement Training works flexible hours so that she can collect her son from school on Fridays as well as attending sports days, etc. "If I didn't have Friday for contact with the school I would feel I was missing out on things which in turn would affect my son" she says. "I don't get stressed because I know I've got the flexibility in the week. I enjoy my job and the company, but this flexibility is absolutely crucial to my working life."

"It's helped me have the best of both worlds" says Tracey Henry, Financial Controller at Linda Taylor Associates, of her flexible arrangement which also allows her time for voluntary work in the community. "We're all very loyal to Linda" she continues, "because she's been as she is".

"Its helped me to balance work life with family life", says John O'Donnell, IT specialist at Garden Studios. "We moved to Ireland for the quality of life and it's a perfect way for me to work. I can put more time into working remotely since I save on time spent commuting; and I can put more time into being with my family!"

At Crealy Adventure Park Shane Pook's flexible arrangement supports his responsibilities as a father. "I can take the kids to school if needed" he says. "The benefit to me is that if something arises and I need to talk to a teacher I can, and then work on later to make up the hours. Otherwise I'd have to book a day off or get prior permission".

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