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Seeing photographs of your friends’ children on their first day back at school on social media is commonplace during the first week of September. The pictures are full of smiles and excitement. But the pictures don’t tell the full story as many parents can become anxious as to how they will juggle their work commitments with the new challenges that arise when a child starts school.
For the continued health and wellbeing of a working parent an organisation should remain flexible in its approach to working hours.
Flexible working requests
A parent facing new or additional responsibilities has the right to ask for flexible working, this is a request to change their current working pattern to provide care for their child. These change requests can include:
Full time to part time hours.
Staggering hours meaning an employee can start and finish work at times to accommodate the school pick up and/or drop off.
A change in pattern, for example, an employee requests not to work weekends.
Compressing existing hours, for example, an employee requests to do their usual hours over four days instead of five.
Working from home to manage childcare needs.
Job share.
A request to self-roster where shifts are created to reflect the wishes of the employee.
Working term-time only.
Applying for flexible working
Employees with 26 weeks continued service or more can make a request for flexible working, known as a statutory application. Some organisations have their own policy for flexible working.
To apply an employee must put their request in writing detailing:
the changes to their working arrangements with a desired start date.
whether they have asked for flexible working previously and the date of the previous request (only one request should be made in a 12-month period).
any benefits to the organisation as a result of the change.
Once a manager receives this request is it best practice to discuss the arrangements with the individual to fully understand the reasons behind the change and to offer any other solutions or compromises which the employee may not have considered.
An agreement or refusal must be given to the employee usually within three months. If the request is to be refused there must be a legitimate business reason such as:
incurring additional costs.
workload unable to be relocated to other employees.
negative impact on customer service.
the business plans to restructure the existing workforce.
Temporary changes to a working pattern
Some parents may find themselves in a situation where they only need changes on a temporary basis. This can often be the case when a child starts school and the family need time to adjust. A request for a temporary change does not have to be as formal as the statutory application and can be initiated by a conversation between employee and manager.
An indefinite flexibility to the temporary arrangement will not be sustainable and both parties should agree an end date at which time the parent will return to their usual contract. We would advise setting a maximum time limit of 12 months.
Taking a collaborative approach
Asking a team how they propose to adapt if a team member reduces their hours or arranges to work remotely can be extremely beneficial. Putting control back to the team will boost trust between employer and employee, strengthen the workplace culture and take some pressure off the line manager who has to manage the change.
Good Work Plan: The government’s proposals to support families
Within this plan the government has stated that it is aware that more must be done to improve the clarity and understanding of an organisations’ policies to maintain and increase momentum on closing the gender pay gap, to help individuals balance their work and childcare commitments and to maximise earning potential for all. The government aims to:
encourage all employers to make it clear which roles are open to flexible working when recruiting.
ensure organisations communicate their flexible working policy which could be greater than the statutory scheme.
ask that employers with more than 250 employees publish their family-related leave and pay policy and flexible working policy.
The government recognises that children need time with their parents to develop and flourish.
“The role of parents in caring for and educating their children in these early years should not be underestimated and we want to give working parents the choice and flexibility they need to combine work with family life. Supporting working parents to combine work with childcare not only helps individual parents, it also helps the people that they work for: employers have access to a wider pool of talent and are better able to cultivate and retain that talent.”
We’ll keep our eye on this proposal and report back to you later in the year.
Benefits to the organisation
As the employee strikes a healthier work-life balance, the organisation benefits from:
improved morale, productivity and customer service
a reduction in absenteeism
the ability to attract talent from a wider pool
a reduction in recruitment costs
increased loyalty and retention
a boost to its ability to innovate and welcome change
improved relationships between employee and employer
greater health and wellbeing across the workforce
How we can help you
If you’d like to discuss any of the issues detailed in this blog, get in touch with us today. We’re here to help.
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