Let's talk about flexible working.....do you do it, how does it work, what does your employer think? Share with MN jobs...

[AnnMumsnet]

Here at MNHQ, our colleagues on the MN jobs desk would love to know how you get on with flexible working requests with your employers, especially after a return from leave.

Our Family Friendly programme survey revealed just how strongly parents feel about flexible working - with a fifth of those who work flexibly, or who have done in the past, saying that it is 'priceless'. Flexible working is valued more highly by employees that other workplace perks, even more important than career and salary progression. And there's good news for employers who embrace flexible working, with flexible workers having an overwhelmingly positive view of their workplaces.

However, there's still some way to go when it comes to awareness of working flexibly: 27% of people surveyed did not know that they had the right to request flexible working.

So - AIBU to expect to be able to work flexibly after maternity (/paternity/ adoption/ fostering) leave? What's your experience of flexible working requests? What would be your dream flexible working pattern? Share your views and stories on this thread.

If you’re interested in a new job (flexible of course) sign up for Mumsnet Jobs alerts here and do follow them on Twitter @mumsnetjobs or Facebook. How about this one? an IT Systems Manager - with the option to work flexibly or part time? If your employer has been amazing for flexible working, get them to email us ([email protected]) to find out about the Mumsnet Family Friendly programme!

Thanks
MNHQ

Insight T and Cs Apply

I do a 4 day week over 5 ever since I came back from maternity leave. At first I had 1 full day off with short days the rest of the week so I could collect from childcare. Then we moved closer to work so I was able to do 4 full days. It suits my boss for me to be in every day however so in principle I do 2 half days but leave early some days depending if I'm collecting after school. I record all my time in the office so there's no comeback with my flexibility.

I work from home most of the time - I think instead of building more and more houses in the south-east of England we should ensure that everywhere has superfast broadband and improve transport links. So people can work away from the office more often, and live further away from London. I agree with the PP who said we also need to get away from the traditional 9-5 model. It should be possible in a lot of cases to have a number of people working from 7 to 7 for example, doing hours that suit their lifestyles.

It is also very obvious how many jobs are advertised FT even though they could easily be done on a part-time basis or on a job-share basis. It's lack of creativity on behalf of the employers, they just can't see beyond the 9-5.

A long time ago I had a summer job in a public sector organisation which was 9-5 but they did allow flexi-time so as long as you had at least 30 minutes for lunch and did core hours (10-4 I think), you could flex your hours. That might really help someone who say could drop off their kids at school in the morning and go in late, and then their other half does the pick-up. say after an after-school club.

There are plenty of ways to make it easier for people and employers tend to get it back, as people will catch up in the evenings or on days off, I know I do.

I work entirely from home, doing a 3 day week. It works for my family but I know I’m overlooked for projects/roles/promotions because I’m not there every day.

I have a leadership position in a primary school. I am not allowed to go part time never mind flexible. I have a small child and I’m looking for a way out. The holidays aren’t great but don’t make up for the relentless time pressures and lack of weekends without work during term time.

As cintacmrs says, it is just not feasible in many positions. I am a HCP. In my precious job on the wards I would never have managed flexible working.

I am currently in a part time position where I have childcare friendly (sort of) hours but it means career progression is pretty much non-existent. Even now I am missing the nativity of one of my DC’s as I cannot get the time off. I am looking into agency work instead but that comes without sick pay etc so I’m not sure.

It seems much more realistic in some sectors than others to get flexible work.

I think I’m very fortunate that I’m in a position where it doesn’t matter too much what hours I work, as long as I get my job done - however it is a full on, full time position so it’s very hard (single parent with DD in reception) but am fortunate to be able to wfh sometimes to cut down the commute, and be able to catch up in evenings after bedtime when necessary. It is very hard to factor in necessary travel, but childminder & ASC really help, along with family help.
I couldn’t do my job part-time, nor could I easily job share as it’s very senior, specialised in areas and also covers a lot of areas.

Sadly I was tupe'd with my flexible working about 18 months ago. My new employer clearly doesn't like it and questions my hours, leave etc often . I have been looking for new jobs

I am fortunate that despite others saying their private sector firm isn't great, mine has been. I work 4 days a week, 3 in the office and 1 at home. I really like it as I feel almost entirely involved at work but still have that one day at home with my youngest. My work have been consistently supportive with childcare emergencies, a shitty pregnancy and a DP who does a difficult job.

It's not 100% ideal - there is a background expectation of checking your phone on non working days, for example - but they have been one of the Sunday Times' Best Employers to work for for several years and it really does show.

I am currently on maternity leave and applied for reduced hours in my large private sector firm. I jumped through a million hoops, to no avail. Luckily I’ve found another role somewhere else!

My department is pretty good with flexible working. I am a manager and on slightly reduced hours 4.5 days which I work over four days starting really early so I can leave at four for nursery pick up. I can work at home when I want. Everyone in the team has some flexibility working regarding start and finish so long as they cover core hours of 10-4 and working from home is possible on occasion although not actively encouraged as a regular thing. It's about delivering what we need to and not about working the hours. Sometimes I need to do overtime but we are encouraged to take it back as TOIL if it's significant.

In customer facing roles where I work, we have one person per service point per time slot and then one 'spare' to cover holidays, illness, people going on training etc. However sometimes two people are needed at one specific service point as we know in advance it will be busy. The only way we can manage this is for us to demand flexibility from staff. in return we offer them as much flexibility as we possibly can. The 'spare' system only allows one person to be on leave at a time. However if two people want to be off on the same day, they can swap with someone else.

We can accommodate one or two people with no flexibility (can only work on Monday and Friday for example) but each time we make a 'flexible arrangement' for someone it means the rest of the team have to be more flexible or have fewer choices as that person cannot cover for holiday etc.

So really agreeing a 'flexible arrangement' for someone actually means allowing them not to be flexible in my employer's case. I used to be in charge of the rota and it was exhausting trying to keep on top of it.

I work for a quango where about 35 of us work from home around the country and the rest (another 200 or so) work in London. We are treated as an alien species, ridiculous restrictions on travel and subsistence, which would result in a mutiny if everyone at HQ had to comply. So for example, not paying any home worker allowance for heating or electricity, not allowing reasonable daytime subsistence if travelling (like a cup of tea on the train!), but everyone at hq gets naice tea and coffee provided. Awful presenteeism culture - colleagues not accepting that you are part of the same organisation "well I've never seen you in the office before"!!). And the IT is sh1te

I’m on both sides of this right now. I work flexibly (do 8-4.30 with one day wfh) and it’s fine.

However have just refused a flexible working request from someone in my team. I do feel bad but it really can’t be accommodated.

Also work flexibly in private sector IT - we now have quite a few people working flexibly/remotely/from home/part-time but we never ever advertise roles that way. It's seen as a good way to retain experienced and hard-to-find staff, but oddly not offered when recruiting unless someone asks for it.

I work in admin for a Local Authority and have been very lucky in that I've been able to change my working hours to accommodate my changing needs as DS has grown up, working term time and in school hours when he was in primary school, changing to. 3 full days as he moved to secondary. Most of my colleagues in my current team work some kind of flexible/ part time pattern. However these were mainly agreed some time back and it's not so easy for new joiners (nor that there is much recruitment anyway)

Placemarking for interest

arethereanyusernames surely your business just needs to think a bit more commercially...if Monday’s and Fridays are harder to fill why not recruit some people to cover those days specifically. Possibly even pay slightly more for working those days. Monday’s and Fridays often are cheaper days for childcare costs so that could be a very attractive option for some people

I'm public sector working flexibly. Reduced hours after returning to work from 1st mat leave and kept my flexible working so can still take time here and there when needed and can make up time on my free day and at home when necessary. Couldn't ask for more!

I work for a large global company in a project type role. I count myself very lucky as although my official office is 1.5 hours commuteI work from home 2 days a week minimum. When I have a lot on I can work from home more to cut out the commuting time. I can also take an hour here and there to go to a school event without needing to take holiday The flip side is then I am sometimes working until 9/10 in the evening when needed to finish work. But that's worth it for the flexibility.

I started a new job recently, doing 3 days but hours that fit picking up from after school club (start early, finish early). Found it wasn't working as too much work and child needing me more. Asked to work 4 days, split over 5 so still start early, but now finish in time to pick up child straight from school, except one 'normal hours' day once a week - they nearly bit my arm off and were happy to be as flexible as I need. Also, the big big boss thought it ridiculous I commute 2.5hrs each day on top of a pretty intense job so says I should be working from home more! Yes, please! So, from Jan, start new hours, probably 2 days in normal office, definitely 2 days from home, maybe 3 or maybe 1 day in another office. Hopefully will work more for my family. Will have to do ad hoc meetings in afternoons though so will just work around those and travel occassionally. Basically employer says as long as I log my hours per week, they don't care when or where I do them. Hope it works out but early signs of employers flexibibility are good.

@Believeitornot I think everyone should have the right to request flexible working. Regardless of responsibilities.

This x 1000. Not only because it brings obvious benefits to working parents, but because it normalises flexible hours and working patterns for everyone.

It would reduce the amount of people forced into archaic working hours set for no good reason (see my next point) and also reduce the amount of negativity directed towards parents who are often perceived as "part timers" (even when that is explicitly what they have agreed!). I am not a parent myself but have seen how resentment can build up when everyone else has to stay behind and mum or dad skips off on time, "early" every day.

I also think there should be more innovation in terms of working hours. We should question why 9-5, 5 days a week is appropriate or necessary for one person.
Also this. Why 9-5? Why Mon-Fri? I appreciate there are some logistical issues with staffing certain workplaces (reception, security, admin cover etc), but by and large, people should have the option to work the hours that best suit them and their lives, as this inevitably benefits the employer thanks to a more "grateful" workforce. I can pick and choose when to WFH and when to commute in. When I go to the office I start work a good 2-3 hours before any of my colleagues get in (100% alone in the building till they arrive), and leave correspondingly before they do. My hours suit me, their hours suit them. In return I am flexible and work/travel overseas evenings, weekends and odd hours when the business needs it, knowing I can go go the dentist or do a volunteer shift which would otherwise be impossible if I was tied to my desk for a fixed time.

Mine is overwhelmingly to ensure I miss rush hour on the commute and the odd occasion I have to rave then I end up frazzled and stressed, not serene and calm. All that said, one of the company directors seems to be agitating for that to revert back to 9-5 presenteeism, which seems to be based on quite spurious reasons. I am hoping it is a damp squib as if he pushes through his clockwatching, so will many people and productivity will nosedive...

ShotsFired [Flexible working for everyone] normalises flexible hours and working patterns for everyone.

Very bad form to quote myself, but one other key thing about this 'normalisation': I'm a member of a facebook page which lists job vacancies. Any half-decent job that goes up is inevitably spammed by people demanding to know if they can do it in school hours and term time only (or variations of).

This sort of response just makes the potential applicants look demanding and aggressive before they've even had a chance to show their skills in interview. Now, I understand that this is simply because there's no point in them applying for roles that don't fit round the school run, but after a while it starts to gain a very negative connotation for all working parents that they aren't committed, or won't be at work more than 5 mins because the school will call etc. All this while truly unreliable staff are glossed over but the visible parent leaving for the school run every day is resented.

Ensuring that flexible working is a positive choice for all employees will, I think, start to dispel these more negative connotations, if everyone is working to the pattern that suits them best and leaving at 2 or starting at 10 is normal and perfectly acceptable.

The company I work for does have the provision to apply for flexible working, though I haven't officially been through the process.

My base location was recently changed contractually and I now face a 1 1/2 hour journey to drive 24 miles to the office. The office is massively oversubscribed, works on a hot desk policy and is in the middle of nowhere, with limited parking.

My role is global and therefore my working hours can extend in to the evening.

I feel I have a choice. I can drive 90 minutes to find there is no parking left, drive to the nearest public car park, which is a good 20 minute walk to arrive in the office and find there is nowhere to sit. Or I could be a lot more productive and work from home.

My immediate bosses have issues with this as clearly if I'm not in the office I am sitting at home painting my toenails! There is a female manager, more senior than my immediate bosses who is a huge advocate of work life balance and flexible working. A spoke to her after being told by one boss that if I want to succeed I must be visible and she said 'what a load of bollocks'.

I will go down the formal route if I need to, though my bosses could turn it down, which puts me off.

I just don't get in this day and age, when a role doesn't require someone to be in the office why firms don't actively promote working from home. The company get a lot more 'free' time from me, as I don't claim overtime for working late, and I feel that the more I'm pressured to be 'visible' the more likely I am to start working to rule and that doesn't help anyone.

I teach and job share. This year it has meant no pay rise under the new rules as the targets just don't lend themselves to not being in every day. We also get open resentment from colleagues even though we both do more between us than one person could and earn less. It's a very double edged sword.

Professional role in an HE institution. I'very just started the role and though it was advertised as full time, they have agreed to let me work 4 days a week. Initially they wanted this split over 5 days, but I stuck firm! I have really good flexibility. As long as I work my hours and get stuff done, no-one is checking up on me and I am free to come and go as I need. My manager has already indicated that WFH regularly could be an option once I have finished probation. I also get a very generous annual leave allowance (to the point where I may struggle to use it up!). I am bloody lucky. My husband is a lecturer (full time) and has similar flexibility, subject to lecturing timetables. We are very, very fortunate to the point you'd have to stick dynamite under our seats to get us to leave!