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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To me, it means a company trusting you to do the job you are being paid for. Getting given great flexibility means I give it back and work more for it. A boss who appreciates that being visibly present in an office is not what gets the work done.

Flexible working gives me more energy to manage my disability and fatigue.
I'm a single mum and rather than rushing the children to school and rushing back to after school club and then rushing to fit in dinner, homework and baths in a limited space of time, we can do things at a bit more of a leisurely pace. I can start work when I'm ready, take breaks when needed and pick up when I'm able.
I still maintain boundaries and the work gets done but it's a lot less pressured..
Many improvements for our home life.

I work for a start-up and we’re trying hard to be forward thinking about this. We have no fixed hours and unlimited paid holiday, operating on what we call a “contract of trust” with all employees. The idea is that we are all adults who should be trusted to work as much as needed even if it’s not in the office. It’s great to see both men and women benefitting from the ability to flex their day around childcare and other responsibilities and the current circumstances have only furthered this.

My job is within integrated childrens services so it is office based with visits to service users.

However my manager is flexible. I have statutory work to adhere to and meetings that have to be attended. The flexible part comes in with being trusted to fulfill my work and hours.

I can go to the gym in the morning and start late if I want to. I can start early and finish early. I can WFH when I want and dial into meetings. I often start late, come home early, cook and eat with my family and finish off my hours in the evening.

Knowing I'm trusted and have that flexibility really helps my work/home life.

I think being equally flexible to men and women. My husbands employers often assume that I will do any childcare emergencies or fun stuff e.g. school plays.

Being able to work from home on occasion, do the hours that I want to suit my family and the business. To be able to take time off when I need it eg sports days, open afternoons and parents evenings

I work part time and do extra hrs when they are available but flexible work to me would be a mixture of working from home and in the workplace or predominantly at home with the opportunity to increase my hours when possible. Ideally for me it would be during school time or late night when the children have gone to bed.

Where I work was very flexible up till 6th November last year and they fetched a new contract in meaning we will have to work any hours + days they put us on as long as they give us 4 weeks notice, I have worked there for 18 years this year, It was a great place to work before the new contract came in we used to be able to juggle our hours or swap shifts to suit with schooling or school events or anything that matter but now they just say that's why we got 4 weeks notice to sort it out for someone else to have our children. I work in one of the top four Supermarket.

Flexible working for me means it is my choice how I prioritise my time to achieve a given goal.
As a parent, I need to be able to prioritise my role as a parent if circumstances call for it. There are always ways of catching up on a task to work around lost work time. It's about trusting my ability to do that fairly and still get the job done.
Flexible working is about not being punished for being a parent with bizarre absence scoring that don't reflect real life.
So yeah, choice, trust, priorities, real life and getting to the end goal on time however wiggly the route is to get there.

I think a lot of companies offer flexible working in terms of wfh, flexi hours or part time but to be truly flexible, an equal number of men and women need to take this up, and people at all levels.
My career progression has completely flattened since going part time after maternity leave. I guess I was very naive to think it wouldn’t.
So although my employer offers flexible working, it’s a double edged sword.
If everyone was working in this way, perhaps I’d have more promotion opportunity, but at the moment I’m overlooked (and undervalued imo!).

For me it boils down to trust between employer/manager and employee. As long as I take my objectives seriously, and meet them, there is great flexibility in my job to work from home, and work outside of core hours especially if time out of the 9-5 day is needed for childcare reasons, or doctor's appointments for example. We tell the rest of the team when we are/are not available, and so are not 'checked up on' all the time. It has made me a more loyal, more organized, and more hard working employee!

Actual flexible working should be having the freedom to start and end whenever you want so long as you work a set number of hours in a given day - and for greater flexibility, that could change on a day to day basis to suit that day's needs. That would be amazing, and allow so much more freedom for kids, hobbies, housework whilst still getting everything needed for work. However, on the flipside I can see why it's so tricky for employers as everyone would be all over the place - hard to schedule meetings, maintain a core staff function or be sure everyone is doing the full amount of work. It's also far easier if remote working.

In reality, most 'flexible' jobs just let you start or finish an hour either way or alter lunch to allow this. And it generally needs to be fixed on a regular basis. Which then becomes the new normal and really isn't flexible at all, but may still work better than the 9-5.

Being able to have that appropriate work life home life balance. Having the opportunities to work from home if you need it. A choice to make up hours in the case of childcare issues. A choice of where you work in the case of having several offices. Most importantly an understanding employer who will support their staff

Flexi working is important for a work- life balance. DH does it and it means we get more chance to do things as a family and is also better for his employers as he can fit his medical appointments in his own time instead of using work time.

For me flexible working is about getting your job done regardless of whether you are sat in an office for 40hours a week or not - it's the ability to where and when necessary for your role.

If I don't have a specific reason to be in the office I can wfh weekly and flex my hours to suit. Important that people know when you are working though to avoid chasing emails!

Depends on the role. I work part time from home but doubt I'd be able to find another job with the same flexibility.

Do you have a flexible job right now?
Yes my job was always flexible. I dont have core hours so technically I can work anytime and anywhere.

What form does flexible working take?
In practice this means I work 4 long days. I can clock out to do school run and clock in for a few hours when kids are in bed and take most fridays off.
Perhaps it’s a job share or part-time hours?
I work compressed hours. Its full time but compressed into 4 days

Maybe it’s the ability to work from home regularly or flexi-hours so you’re able to drop your children off at school?
Wfh 1-2 days a week and click in and out for school run etc
What elements of ‘flexible working’ are most appealing to you?
Fitting in with family life to get good work life balance. Being able to attend school sports days etc working more or less when suits

My role can't facilitate working from home. So, flexible working to me is the ability to work part time or reduced hours with a slightly set shift pattern. If a certain day off per week is needed, that would be part of the flexible working.

My area of the NHS and most others from experience, like to advertise they support flexible working applications, but service need will always come first.

Following my first maternity leave, I couldn't reduce my hours to part time as service demand wouldn't allow the reduction to be absorbed. You always have to justify/support reasons for flexible working and how the service could be maintained if it were granted.

I really feel for nurses in need of flexible working at this current time.

Flexible hours. So I know that if some mornings I can’t get in until 9:30, I can work until 5:30 to compensate without having to decide on a fixed pattern which might not always be possible.

An understanding boss is a big help too. By understanding I don’t necessarily mean relaxed or sympathetic, just willing to recognise the restrictions in individual employees’ lives and to create an environment where they can flourish.

This means you can leave for work earlier or later to avoid the rush hour, better coordinate work and family schedules etc. You can also choose to work a little extra, like 30-60 minutes per day, to save up hours/days for time-off in case you want for instance a long weekend.

In addition to flexible hours and wfh, I would like to see more consideration of the timing of meetings. There’s a regular seminar I’d like to go to that is always on a Thursday tea time/ early evening. Totally precludes me from attending due to childcare.
I think it would be great if workplaces could try to commit to meetings in core hours (e.g. 10-2 for example) where possible

My work is super flexible because I am self-employed. I work from home, get a commission and then it is up to me how I complete it as long as I do it to brief and by the deadline. I can work evenings, early mornings, work like crazy for three days and then not at all for two, for example. The only non-flexible bit is that I have to talk to a lot of people over the phone and that has to be done at their convenience, so if that is in the middle of the day on a day when the kids are at home and I would have liked to take them out somewhere, then so be it.
The most appealing aspects to me are being home when my children get home from school, being around during the holidays, not having to commute, being able to take time to myself for example go to the gym during the day, being with DH who also works from home. I have however made a conscious decision to take a considerable pay cut to do this, I would be earning more in an office. Another downside is work is always hanging over me...because I can work any time, I often feel I should be doing it when I am not.

Flexibility means being assessed on what you deliver rather than hours worked.
Start and finish times are not set in stone either and there should be some degree of flexibility as long as core hours are sustained.

Working flexible hours and the ability to WHF

I once worked in the civil service and had flexitime. It didn't really do much for me as I didn't drive at the time so was constrained by bus times. But for the parents it was great. A lot came in for 7 so they could leave at 3 or came in later so they could do the school run. You could also work extra and get up to two days off a month.

The other time was when I worked at a cinema. They were brilliant. I used to tell them when I was available around my ex's shifts and they would pretty much do the rota around me so I got the shifts I needed.