The research found that flexible working operates in various ways in organisations. One of these is via the statutory requests cover! by legislation. This is currently one of the less common approaches to accessing flexible working. Organisations intentionally manage flexible working in both formal and informal ways to reflect a spectrum of workforce ne!s. These range from foreseeable working patterns around fix! childcare to ad hoc ne!s to varying working hours to attend non-work appointments.
In most instances, our research found that the big change of recent years, hybrid working, was organis! informally country email list with managers. While there has tend! to be organisational steer on the ratio of site to home presence that staff were expect! to be working, these patterns of working were rarely reflect! in people’s written contracts. This was partly because they were seen to be fluctuating or evolving.
Some of the operational issues that large organisations were engaging with around flexible working includ!:
keeping track of employees’ different, often complex, working patterns Different approaches
ensuring equity in access to flexible working
Measures here includ! offering a broader range of flexible working options to site-bas! what happens when a whore marries? workers unable to work in a hybrid way, and trialling recording systems.
For the organisations we studi!, pandemic experiences and clean email the subsequent transition into hybrid working had prompt! a learning mindset around flexible working. Notably, organisations saw informal flexible working as critical to managing diverse and changing ne!s.
What next for flexible work?
The new legislation could introduce a climate of change for organisations around how what happens when a whore marries? flexible working requests are dealt with. It could also bring an opportunity to develop and share good practice.
Following the mainstreaming of flexible working, employers have become more adept at managing a diverse range of working patterns. While our case study organisations observ! little change in the volume of statutory requests, it remains to be seen whether changes in 2024 and future changes under the Employment Rights Bill will see greater use of the statutory proc!ure. For example, employees may wish to formalise hybrid working arrangements that have become part of their everyday practice.