Employees and employers can agree any flexible working arrangement that meets both their needs.
When considering flexible working, it's best to start by thinking about what might be possible.
Flexible working can take many forms. Organisations can implement specific types of flexible working in different ways. Some examples are below.
Part-time hours
Part-time working means working reduced hours compared to full-time.
For example, working:
- 3 days a week, instead of 5
- 32 hours a week, instead of 40
- 9am to 1pm each day, instead of 9am to 5pm
Staggered hours
Staggered hours means having a different start and finish time to other employees.
For example, working from 7am to 4pm instead of 9am to 6pm.
Remote working and working from home
Remote working means working from somewhere other than the usual workplace.
For example:
- working from home
- working from a mixture of client offices, coffee shops and hotels
- choosing where to work within agreed limits
Employers and employees should agree:
- where's suitable to work remotely
- how to keep in touch
- how to keep safe
Hybrid working
Hybrid working is a mixture of working remotely and in the workplace.
For example:
- working 3 days from home and 2 days in the workplace
- working at least one day in the workplace, with the option to work remotely the rest of the week
Flexitime
Flexitime means having flexible start and finish times, within agreed limits.
For example, an employee works 8 hours a day. They choose when to start and finish as long as they work 10am to 4pm each day.
Job sharing
Job sharing is when 2 people do one job and split the hours. Depending on the job, employees might need to work together some of the time to hand over work.
For example:
- one employee works Monday to Wednesday and the other employee works Wednesday to Friday so they both work on Wednesdays
- one employee does the job every Monday and Tuesday, and another employee does it Wednesday to Friday
Compressed hours
Compressed hours means working the same total hours over fewer days.
For example, an employee works longer days to do their hours over:
- 4 days each week, instead of 5
- 9 days each fortnight, instead of 10
- 14 days each month
Annualised hours
Annualised hours means working an agreed number of hours over a year, with flexibility on when to work these hours.
For example, working a total of 1,500 hours over the year while doing:
- a minimum of 30 hours a week in October, November and December
- a minimum of 16 hours a week the rest of the year
Term-time working
Term-time working means working when schools are open.
For example, working Monday to Friday during school terms only.
Team-based rostering
Team-based rostering means taking team members' preferences into account when scheduling when they work. This is more common in retail and hospitality sectors.
For example, the team manager asks team members to submit their working pattern preferences. One team member says they cannot work on Fridays. The manager schedules other team members to work Fridays when planning the team rota.