Flexible working is a way of working which is designed to suit an employee’s specific needs. This could be as simple as letting your employee work from home or having flexible start and finish times. According to Gov.uk, all employees have the legal right to request flexible working by making a statutory application.
Examples of flexible working
Flexible working arrangements can be written into company policy, or they can be an individual informal agreement between the employee and employer. Examples of flexible working arrangements can include:
- Flexible hours – it’s not uncommon these days for businesses and companies to have flexible working hours for employees. This could be as simple as ensuring that they work 8 hours a day but having the option of being able to come in from 8 – 10am and leaving between 4 – 6pm.
- Compressing the work week – some companies allow employees to work more hours Monday – Thursday, and then have Fridays off, or something similar. They may start the day earlier or finish later in order to make up the hours.
- Reduced hours – sometimes, personal commitments, such as children, have to be taken into account of your working life. In this instance, employees may choose to work less than the standard 37.5 hours a week, meaning they either reduce their hours or work part-time.
- Working from home – this would be when the employer allows the employee to work from home when they choose to. This may be a regular occurrence, or it may be infrequent.
- Unpaid leave or sabbatical – often, as much as we enjoy our daily lives, we sometimes need a break. Unpaid leave, or taking a sabbatical, allows employees to have a break from work, in order to take time to travel, live abroad for a short period or more.
- Flexible working spaces – dependent on your business, you may have a virtual office, or hire out a flexible coworking space. This can be set in place to allow employees to have a flexible working life while cutting down the costs of paying for a pricey office space in the heart of Birmingham’s city centre. Find out more about the benefits of virtual offices.
Benefits of flexible working
- Appointments – by allowing employees to partake in flexing working, it means that organising appointments for dentists, hospitals, doctors and more is made a lot easier.
- Children and family commitments – once you’ve started a family, you’ll need to be on hand for commitments, such as picking the children up from school. It’s important for the employer to recognise that flexible working hours need to be adopted here. By reducing hours or becoming part time, flexible working can benefit the amount of time you can spend with your family and the personal commitments that come with having children.
- Travelling – if your company offers sabbatical or unpaid leave, this could be a great opportunity to go travelling for a few months. Often, the daily grind can become quite consuming – but don’t let the world pass you by! If the opportunity if offered to you, having the knowledge of job security to return to would make a travelling experience even more worthwhile.
- Coworking spaces – when choosing a coworking space in Birmingham, the cost aspect is a huge benefit as, compared to hiring out an office space, coworking spaces are a more affordable way to work in the city centre. As well as the prospect of being able to network with different companies and businesses, find out about the benefits of coworking spaces.
With benefits including organising personal commitments and cutting down costs, learn more about the benefits of flexible working from our detailed guide.
If you’re interested in any of our virtual office or coworking space services here at Grosvenor House, get in touch with a member of our helpful team. Our flexible office solutions based in the St Paul’s Square in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter are the perfect choice for your business needs.