How To Ask For Flexible Working And Get It

It’s a familiar story. You’ve reached the point where long hours and an epic commute just aren’t working for you anymore. Or perhaps you’re returning to work after maternity leave and would love to reduce your hours. You love your job – but something’s got to give.

Asking for more flexibility at work can feel really daunting. Here are myworkhive’s four key tips to help you approach it with confidence.

Get Clear About What Sort Of Flexible Working You Want

Take some time to think through exactly what sort of flexibility you want. It may not be what you first think of. Consider exactly what isn’t working for you right now. Is it the rush to fit in the school-run in the morning, followed by a long commute?

Working from home at least some of the week could be the solution. Or perhaps flexitime could help, where you and your employer agree a shifted start and finish time, while sticking to certain core hours.

If you just need more time at home, dropping your hours and going part-time may be the best fix. But if you need to keep earning the same, you could ask for ‘compressed hours’.  This is where you work fewer days but with longer hours.

If you have a role that really needs to be full time, you could ask to set up a job-share. Good job-share partnerships work as a team, covering all aspects of the role, handing over work like a relay-race so that nothing gets dropped. There are examples of senior managers (even CEO’s) setting up job-share partnerships.

A quick chat with colleagues or friends who work flexibly can be a good way to learn more about the different options.

Know Your Rights

Knowing your rights can be a confidence-booster. In the UK, you have the right to make a flexible working request if you’ve worked continuously for the same employer for 26 weeks (with a few exceptions, such as for agency workers). That doesn’t mean your employer has to say ‘yes’.  They do have to consider your request, and to give you an answer within three months. You can make one official flexible working request per year.  Do check the latest details here on www.gov.uk/flexible-working.

Put Yourself In Your Employer’s Shoes

Think through how your request will affect your colleagues and the organisation – and try to come up with some possible solutions. For example, if it’s important that you take part in regular team meetings, your boss might be concerned about you working from home. You could reassure them that you have a good internet connection and a suitable, quiet office-space in your home for video conferencing, so you won’t need to miss out on meetings.

Or perhaps your role has constant deadlines or requires daily contact with clients, and your employer is unlikely to support you going part-time. In this case, you could research some case studies of successful job-share partnerships in your industry.

Ask Right

There is a set process for making your request – officially called a ‘statutory application.’ Currently, you need to apply in writing (some employers may ask you to fill out a standard form, others just ask you to send an email or letter.)

It’s worth checking the details on the Gov.uk website mentioned above, in case anything has changed, but currently your application needs to include:

• The date of your request, and a statement saying that you’re making a statutory request for flexible working. You also need to include the date of any previous requests.
• Clear details of how you would like to work flexibly, and when you would like to start.
• An explanation of how you think this will impact the organisation, and some solutions.

Your employer is required to let you have an answer within three months (unless they agree a longer process with you).

You may then be asked to attend a meeting to discuss your application. Before your meeting, make some notes with the key points you’d like to get across. And if (like most of us!) you get a bit tongue-tied in stressful situations, you might want to practice making your key points ahead of time – it will help you to feel more confident and to express yourself clearly on the day.

If you’d like more information, ACAS has some great, free resources for both employees and employers, covering making and handling a flexible working request.

Bio

Lucy Elkin is the Founder of myworkhive.com – a social enterprise that helps people return to work after a long career break. myworkhive also hosts a job-board listing interesting remote jobs that really can be done from home, and runs a free, online coworking community for anyone working remotely. Lucy works part-time, from home, in rural Suffolk.

Image by Hannah Olinger from Unsplash.