Flexible working - what does it mean anymore?!

[Futurestate]

Hi All,

New to mumsnet and new to writing threads:-/

My boss has asked me to recruit some "Flexible workers"...but that means so many different things to me (as a working mum!).

I'm thinking:
Part time (employed PAYE)
Part time (self employed)
Part time (limited company company)
Part time (temp contract)
Job share
Zero hours contracts

....have I missed any?? What do you ladies consider "flexible working" and what works best for You?

Thanks for your help :-) x

Also working from home

Full time but choose hours (e.g. 7 hours a day, but could do 7-3 or 10-6 etc)

At our place it seems to mean having the exact same workload but getting less hours (and paid for less, of course) to do it in.

No wonder they love it.

To me it means working full time but choosing your hours within a set time band (e.g. 7 til 7), can work a short day one day and a long day the next, or less hours one week and more the next.

Watch out with part time self employed too - if they are actually employees for all intents and purposes the company could be in deep shit.

There's a handy checklist to work through on hmrc which should help identify where you should be treating them as an employee.

Of course, many people freelance and are genuinely self employed but hmrc are clamping down on cases where people who really are technically employed are treated as self employed.

But yes, ability to choose hours would be good.

If the employer is asking then I'd assume they want the workers to be flexible rather than the employer being flexible so would assume they mean people who do not want fixed times and are available at short notice for anything.

More generally I'd assume flexible working to cover things like part time, term time only contracts, ability to choose own hours and work around childcare and appts etc, ability to work from home occasionally/regularly.

I want flexible working in the sense of moving hours around appointments. Some OT friends pretty much choose their own hours.

Jobs that want flexible workers usually mean the opposite! They need workers who can work at the drop of a hat/stay late/change hours.

I'd say flexible is flexible in all senses, it'd depend on what the company is willing to achieve with flexible workers (Cover peak demands while not being able to increase the headcount? Get support at specific tasks which don't sum up enough hours for a full-time contract? Save employment costs by contracting externally and on-demand?).
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We do flexible working. We have core hours - must be in by 10, have to finish by 7 but within that can choose how early to start (from 8am) and finish. We can do long days and short days, or accumulate hours to take other time off

You need to discuss this with your boss. All of the above is wonderful for the individual employee but your boss also has to consider the other employees, making a profit to pay employees and keep customers coming back and the expectation of her/his boss.

Also flexi time. I nominally work 30 hrs/wk over 4 days, but actually, as long as it adds up to 120 hrs every 4 weeks, give or take 15 hrs. Working hrs are 7am-7pm. Core hrs are 10am-3pm. (Obviously if you only work core hrs you won't do enough hrs. Core hours is when you have to work without taking time off).

It all needs to add up st the end of my leave year. I love it. I allows me to finish earlier once a week to take my dc to an activity, or start a bit later if I need to go to the dentist etc, or travel at times to beat the rush. We can accumulate time in hand too - up to 15 hrs- and take a flexi leave day once a month.

I work full time but from home and on flexitime. It's fabulous. I do a lot of travel too and I have quite challenging deadlines to meet but it's up to me how I do it as long as I deliver. So I actually am happy to give more than required due to the flexibility. On Fridays I start work at 5am and finish at 2.45. In the holidays I work longer days once kids are in bed and take regular flexi days.

I'm in a professional occupation so obviously it won't work for all jobs but if you have trust it's a fantastic way to work.

So don't rule out full timers. Also job sharing.

We have a highly flexible workforce but get ticked off badly when the employee does not see it as a two way street. For example we are entirely comfortable if someone takes time to visit there school, base from home/be away from work with children unwell and so on. We are entirely uncomfortable with someone doing as I describe and then refusing to take a call at six pm solely because that is not contracted hours. Employees and employers who do well in flex see it as a two way street.