Flexible working: the history, the new bill, and a practical framework for employers
Flexible working is an area we’ve been leading in since Zoe Young published her book Women’s Work in 2018 which documented her academic research into the experience of mothers. Since then, Half the Sky has worked with large-scale organisations such as Linklaters, EY and Nando’s, to design in flexibility.
Here we take a look at the history of flexible working from a policy standpoint, review the recent amendments to policy, and outline our insights on how to make it work. (Spoiler: the key is approaching flexibility flexibly.)
The history
The term "work-life balance” was introduced into UK policy under a Labour government in 2000. It is used to describe employment and social policies that support a combination of paid work with care, voluntary and leisure activities – policies related to childcare provision, early years education, maternity and paternity rights and leave.
“Flexible working” didn’t show up in legislation until 2003 when the Right to Request Flexible Working gave parents of children aged under six (or of children with disabilities aged under 18) the right to apply to work flexibly and required employers to consider applications seriously.
In 2006 this was extended to parents and carers of children under 18 in England, Wales and Scotland. And in 2014 it was further extended to all employees, irrespective of parental or caring status.
The benefits for business
At the time it was estimated that this would deliver economic benefits of around £450 million in ten years due to increased productivity, lower staff turnover and reduced absenteeism, as well as improvements to employee health and well-being.
The grey area: managerial discretion
The above has now (in 2023) been the law for almost ten years. And the weakness in the legislation has been this. Only employees with at least six months' service have had the right to request flexibility and it doesn’t mean employers are required to grant it. The evaluation of competing demands for flexibility have been left entirely to the employer – and managerial discretion can work for or against an individual.
It’s our view that industry’s support for caring responsibilities shouldn’t be a benefit employees must compete for. This puts the responsibility on the individual to make it work and our research has shown it doesn’t lead to the most successful outcomes for employee or business.
The amended bill
Flexibility needs to be supported by policy and by industry-wide cultural change – particularly in sectors like Law and Finance where client demands tend to be prioritised over employee well-being. This is something that is changing, but not fast enough.
It’s good news for industry and employees that the bill has been amended and will soon be law. It advances our collective adoption of flexibility at work, which is proven to increase productivity.
The big changes are these:
Employees can request flexibility from the start
Employees can make two requests per year instead of one
The employee no longer needs to explain how it will work
The employer is obliged to respond to the request in a shorter time
A practical framework for flexibility
In reality, flexibility is more complex than simply offering part-time hours.
From our deep research and practical industry experience relating to flexible and hybrid working, we’ve uncovered the different ingredients of flexibility – the ones that are truly meaningful for employees and make for successful outcomes for everyone.
As the new bill becomes law and the conversation around flexible working is brought to the fore and businesses are addressing their practices, we are keen to share our approach.
Our perspective is that every job will have different opportunities for flexibility and while there will be some unmoveable constraints around time and place in some roles, our framework helps employers connect what can flex to what their workforce needs.
5DFlex® is a comprehensive framework for the design of flexible working. It covers multiple types and modes of flexibility through combining five key factors:
Hours
Schedule
Location
Format
Contract
This allows for 700+ unique scenarios and the journey we take businesses on enables them to navigate the options that will work best for everyone – employers, teams, and individuals.
It’s not a quick fix. Designing in flexibility is a process that must be supported by shifts in culture, policies, and processes too. But our work has shown us that when employers truly embrace flexibility as principle and stay open to what that might involve, it delivers a return. It might be different, but it is possible, and it is the future.
