Flexible working

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1. Overview

Flexible working is a way of working that suits an employee’s needs, e.g. being able to work certain hours or work from home.

Anyone can ask their employer to work flexibly.

Employees who care for someone (e.g. a child or adult) have the legal right to ask for flexible working.

This is also known as ‘making a statutory application’. However, you have to qualify and your employer doesn’t have to agree to the request.

There are different ways of working flexibly.

Two people do one job and split the hours.

It might be possible to do some or all of the work from home or anywhere else other than the normal place of work.

Working less than full-time hours (usually by working fewer days).

Working full-time hours but over fewer days.

The employee chooses when to start and end work (within agreed limits) but works certain ‘core hours’, e.g. 10am to 4pm every day.