Flexible working is a particularly hot topic at the moment. But what does the term flexible working mean and what are your rights?

Flexible working and your rights

More and more families are requesting to work in ways that allow them to better balance work and family life. Since 2003, parents of children younger than six or of disabled children and carers of adult partners or relatives living at their address have had the right to request flexible working from their employer. From April, this may be extended to parents of children under 16, although the Government is currently reviewing this proposal.

Eligible employees are able to request:

- a change to the hours they work

- a change to the times when they are required to work

- to work from home.

This flexible approach embraces everything from part-time work, job shares, annualised hours and term time work to working some or all of the time from home. The employer has a duty to consider their requests seriously, although they do not have to accede to the request.

To qualify to request flexible working an employee must have worked for at least 26 continuous weeks with their employer.

Employers can refuse a request on the following grounds: if they can demonstrate an inability to rearrange work among existing staff, if they can show flexible working will incur a financial burden on their company; if it will have a detrimental effect on their ability to meet customer demand and if they can show they will be unable to recruit additional staff and that the request will have a serious impact on the employee’s performance or quality of work.

The legislation lays out a formal procedure for applying for flexible working and employees have to argue clearly what the advantages would be to both them and their employer of allowing them to work flexibly, for instance, retaining an experienced member of staff. If an employee is unhappy about the way their company has dealt with their case, they can take their case to an employment tribunal.

Negotiating flexible working

Want a better work/life balance with flexible working, but don't know how to negotiate it? Here are WorkingMums' top tips for arguing your case.

1. Check out your company's policy on flexible working. They are obliged to consider flexible working, but they don't have to grant it if they have reasonable grounds not to.

2. Be clear about the hours you want to work and how you want to work them.

3. Emphasise the advantages for both you and the company of working this way.

4. Ask other people in your company who have negotiated flexible working for their tips.

5. Put your request in writing to your line manager and sign and date the letter.

Your employer then has 28 days to arrange a meeting with you to discuss your request. Be calm and business-like in your negotiations.

Benefits to your current employer

When negotiating flexible working you will need to detail the advantages to your employer. Here are some points to think about before drawing up your list:

1. Flexible working increases productivity and motivation.

2. Flexible working retains and attracts good employees.

3. Homeworking can reduce costs.

4. Letting parents work more flexibly can improve the reputation of an employer.

5. In our increasingly global environment with rising customer expectations of service levels and access to products etc, offering flexible working may well mean that your employer can adapt more effectively to your customers’ needs.

Finding a new flexible job

If you would like to find a flexible job, here is where your search could begin…

1. Try organisations that specialise in offering flexible work, like workingmums.co.uk, which works with employers who are keen to promote their family friendly credentials.

2. Check the websites of the firms you want to work for – look at their HR policy and check out issues like their attitudes to flexible working.

3. Ask indirect questions about the company’s policies at interviews. Do other employees normally work beyond their contracted hours? And how many work flexibly?

Remember that you still have to have childcare covered for flexible options such as working from home.

For top tips on homeworking, freelancing, setting up your own business and much more, click here.