What does flexible working mean to you? Share with Mumsnet Talent - £300 TK Maxx voucher to be won

[LucyBMumsnet]

As a parent you often have to juggle seemingly never-ending responsibilities, meaning flexible working becomes a crucial requirement when looking for a job. And it's not just parents who suffer — a lack of flexibility can be detrimental to anyone with care responsibilities, outside commitments or disabilities of their own.

That’s why Mumsnet Talent is dedicated to making parents' lives easier by promoting flexibility in the workplace. We believe it's possible to have a career without compromise, with a job that supports your lifestyle instead of dictating it. That's why every role we host is flexible or home-based, and why we strive to represent every sector and every level.

As champions of flexible working, we’d like to hear what flexible working - outside of times where employers have no choice - means to you. Do you have a flexible job right now? What form does flexible working take? Perhaps it’s a job share or part-time hours? Maybe it’s the ability to work from home regularly or flexi-hours so you’re able to drop your children off at school? What elements of ‘flexible working’ are most appealing to you?

Whatever flexible working means to you, share it on the thread below and you’ll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 TK Maxx voucher (to be spent in TK Maxx or Homesense).

If you're looking for a new job, look no further than Mumsnet Talent. Sign up here and explore more than 3,000 flexible roles currently waiting for your application.

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

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Truly flexible working, to me, means trusting your employees to do their work whenever and wherever suits them best, and enabling an environment where they can thrive, whether that is remotely, the office or a mixture.

Not treating them like children or prisoners, micromanaging their every step and assuming they're bunking off or unwilling workers if they don't fit the 9-5 stereotype.

And accepting reasons other than parenting for flexible patterns! Parents need flexibility, but so do people with other caring responsibilities - and sometimes people just want a better balance between work and life.

I've not yet found an organisation which practises what they preach, or which supports proper flexible working, which is one of many reasons I'm now self employed

Iam in healthcare, busy, patient facing with no flexible working available pm a day to day basis other than getting to go part time which I did after my children. It's toughwhen there is a school assembly, medical appointment or occasion however my job is in a caring role and people still get sick despite celebrations or occasions that are to he marked. I'd love the opportunity to work more flexibly from home or better hours. My shofts arevlong and end late. Term time would also be nice. My job matters and makes a difference which in the grand scale of things is important to me.

I value the fact that I am trusted to get my job done and to an extent it doesn't matter how I do it. And being able to wfh regularly helps me with that as well.

No fixed start and end times, just a general expectation of work to be done when and as I wish. Lots of communication by email not face to face. Minimal meetings.

Flexibility on hours and an ability to work compressed hours.

I work from home normally flexing my hours to suit my role and my family. Often it is a good balance.

I think flexible working is not just the ability to wfh; it has to be a culture in an organisation that acknowledges balance for all employees including parents. That does start with good policies for parents and carers and employers having the right resources and structures to deliver it.

At this time, it wasn’t hard for our organisation to facilitate wfh for the majority workforce, because we have: good cloud based IT, intranets and online trading, etc, boxed wfh kit inc. laptops, screens, printers, stationery and established systems to support all of this.

Flexible working means just that - not having to account for being present at my desk between 9-5, but being able to work from home without permission, disappear between 3-5 if I need to, knowing that I’ll make up the hours another day

We have flexible working. Core hours 7am-7pm and can clock in any time during those hours. Can build up to +14 hours flexi or drop to -7 hours flexi a month and that is fine. Lots of home working opportunities (I do 2 days a week normally, ie before Covid-19). It's a really relaxed place to work and great for working around childcare. I don't think I could ever go back to a rigid 9-5pm.

To me, flexible working means flexibility both ways. I need to be flexible and so does my employer. It also depends alot on trust.

working from home with option to do hours entirely when they suit you but key to this is to be flexible with employer and arrange in advance if they need you to work key dates/times.

Set your own hours across the week rather than specific days; work where is most appropriate for your needs (within reason); no clock watching and feeling like you have to find work to do in the last 30 minutes if everything is done - do more another day and call it a day!

Hours to work around school day and ability to work from home.

Set amount of work which ideally can be scheduled around other commitments - school drop-offs or caring for relatives

ShirleyPhallus "I think a lot of people view “flexible working” as either being able to WFH occasionally or doing slightly different hours. To me, and my employer, it’s much more around having responsibility for doing your job in the hours that suit you and are appropriate to the business’s needs.

This is spot on. So many responses and expectations are 100% focused on the person and how it suits them. The cold hard fact is businesses aren't there for your convenience, they are there to make money and be successful.

If people can make arrangements which suit the business AND them - brilliant, crack on!

But it should be a mutually beneficial agreement, not one that only suits whatever the employee decides is best.

For me it means being trusted that hours will be worked. I'd love to find a flexible role that would allow me to drop children off at school, pick them up and be around for the holidays but opportunities like these are so rare, particularly if you're not especially keen on working with children.

I work flexi time - where there is some flexibility and the ability to accrue hours to have time off (which is particularly useful for school holidays), I would like more flexibility - where my monthly hours can be worked any time or the week, and outside 'core hours'. This would give me a better work life balance, and be able to not worry about accruing those precious hours.

Flexible working means flexible hours and the ability to work from home to me. Unfortunately, I've never had a job where this has been an option.

What elements of ‘flexible working’ are most appealing to you?

The ability to do my job to my full potential, with the support, and trust of my employer, the ability to work from home with the right equipment, and being able to work different hours each week, so if I work 30 hours one week, I can work 10 the next week (on my 18.5 hour contract)

As a teacher, this would be impossible to achieve, but the idea of being able to work different hours to maximise childcare options and to be more present with my family really appeals.

Do you have a flexible job right now?
Rather than calling it ‘flexible’, I would say I have a job which ‘fits’ my family circumstances. However, I had to change industry and take a significant pay cut to find that balance. I have just been furloughed, but hope I can go back to my job after the lockdown ends, as I would struggle to find another with the same conditions.
What form does flexible working take? I have a contract based on annual hours, with an expectation that I will work core hours and additional hours to support activities outside
these hours, then overtime pay if I go above this. I go into the office, but have a good relationship with my boss, who allows me to work from home or switch the days I work to accommodate illness or appointments. That trust takes time to build up and is something I really value. A truly flexible job would contractually enable you to go into the office or work from home whenever necessary without requesting permission, on the proviso that you complete all of your work to a good standard and meet all deadlines.
Perhaps it’s a job share or part-time hours?
I work part time, as it is the only way I am able to do the school runs and take care of the children after school. I also work term time only, as the cost of holiday clubs for 4 DC would wipe out my salary.
What elements of ‘flexible working’ are most appealing to you? The ability to be at home if needed, for example if one of the DC is poorly, or for routine dental appointments etc. There seems to be a perception among some organisations that a woman cannot work and parent effectively, whereas that doesn’t exist for men. Obviously, there are many roles and industries where you cannot have a flexible work environment because of the nature of the business. Flexible working has to be beneficial to the organisation and employees.

Flexibility on timing of hours worked and being able to work from home sometimes.

I work from home. I can also choose the hours I'm available to work, on a weekly basis. Every week I fill in an online form with my availability for the next week. I'm then given work only during those hours (although I sometimes don't get given all the hours I asked for). If other people change their mind about being able to work the hours they've agreed to work - eg they have an emergency and can't do the work - I can pick up the extra hours if I want to. Again, online.
The work is badly paid, but the flexibility allows me to fit another job around it. Sometimes I work 25 hours a week, and sometimes just a couple of hours - whatever works for me that week.

For me- normally it is being able to do school hours only in the office (9.30-2.30) and the rest once the children are in bed /at the weekend without (and this is the crucial bit) it compromising my career.

I feel very lucky to be able to work like that where I am now.

Right now it means being able to divide up the day with my husband so we can both work around the children. It is exhausting but would be a lot harder if our employees weren't supporting us to work flexibly.

Also I think it means being able to shift your working pattern as your family's needs change (so when both children were at nursery I preferred to do long days in the office and have whole days off. )

i work flexibly - WFH one day a week, do compressed hours when I am in the office. It is invaluable to me to be able to do some of the school runs, attend assemblies etc and it worth more to me than a (modest) pay rise