In survey after survey, flexible working is the one thing parents consistently say they value above all other benefits. For working mothers it ranks higher than salary and location. Now Government policy seems to be reflecting parents‘ demands. A Government-backed review has recommended that the right to request flexible working be extended to all parents of children under 16 instead of those which children under six as it is presently.
Despite all the fanfare, though, there are still some blocks on finding flexible working, particularly for women trying to get back into the job market or looking for new jobs. A recent survey of over 600 mothers found:
- 90% say it is very difficult to find flexible work
- 86% feel flexible jobs seem to pay less than the same full-time positions
- 83% feel that it is hard to find flexible jobs which use their skills.
The survey was carried out by workingmums.co.uk, a recruitment website which offers challenging and flexible work to working parents. It aims to put qualified candidates in touch with family friendly employers. It has around 14,000 mothers registered on the site from all over the UK and across 26 industry sectors. There are around 1,400 employers registered. The calibre of candidates is high - they include chief executives, lawyers, accounts managers, IT executives and editors, many with between 10 and 20 years' experience.
What they all have in common is the desire to work more flexibly, whether that is part-time working, job sharing, flexi-time, working from home or other variations. There are a lot of varieties on offer. They include annualised hours - where the employee is paid for the total number of hours worked over the whole year, and the actual weekly contractual hours vary to account for busy and quiet periods - and compressed hours - where employees work their total number of contracted weekly hours over a shorter period.
As well as offering flexible jobs, working mums.co.uk also has a panel of expert advisers on range of issues, from childcare to employment rights. Many of the questions sent in to the experts concern how to negotiate flexible working successfully.
Some do not understand that the current legislation only guarantees the right to request flexible working. It does not mean that a person will necessarily be granted that right. It is up to the discretion of employers. It does, however, place a duty on them to consider the request carefully and, if they reject it, to do so on reasonable grounds which can be open to appeal. It also puts a time frame on the whole process.
However, before putting in a request, it is important for employees to check their company’s policy on flexible working. Some companies are more innovative in their policy on flexible working and may already have trialled different forms of flexible working from the usual ones of working different shift patterns or cutting your hours. For instance, they might offer term-time only working.
Parents should also have considered carefully the hours they want to work and how they want to work them, for instance, could they do some of their work at home in order to cut down on travelling time? They also need to look at their childcare options and ensure they fit with their working hours. Questions to consider include whether they can afford to work part-time or, alternatively, whether they can afford to work full-time and pay full-time childcare and whether they can split childcare or picking up times with their partner. Parents working from home should ensure they have proper childcare to cover their working hours. With regard to childcare, it is important that parents feel happy with the childcare they have opted for and that they have a back-up plan if, for some reason, their childcare falls through, for instance, if a childminder is sick.
Once parents know the hours they want to work and how, it is a good idea to make a business plan which emphasizes the advantages for both them and the company of working this way. For example, they could say there are aspects of their job – research, reading, data input – that could be done better at home with no other distractions around. It is important to bear in mind that not all jobs can be done flexibly.
It is also worth talking to other people who have negotiated flexible working and ask them about their experiences and tips.
The next step is to put the request in writing to their line manager and sign and date the letter. The employer then has 28 days to arrange a meeting with the employee to discuss the request. It is vital that employees are calm and business-like in their negotiations and don’t lose their calm if they are turned down flat [this is actually proof that the company is not abiding by the legislation as they should at least consider the case properly and give reasonable grounds for turning it down]. Similarly if they do not reply to a request, this are opening themselves up to legal action. They should reply in writing within 14 days of the meeting.
If an employee suspects their manager has not followed procedures properly or has not given due attention to the case, they can make an appeal to his or her line manager within 14 days of receipt of their decision. Reasonable grounds for dismissing requests for flexible working include that it would have a detrimental effect on other staff or on the company’s ability to meet customer need.
If this appeal is not successful, women employees may be able to lodge a claim with an employment tribunal on the grounds of sex discrimination, particularly if the decision forces them to leave their job.
Surveys show that the vast majority of employers do grant requests for flexible working, but there is still a lot of uncertainty on the part of employees about the finer issues regarding employee rights. Things like the number of holidays part-time workers are entitled to can be a particularly difficult issue to solve. It is important to get all these issues sorted out when negotiating flexible working, where possible.
For those who negotiate flexible working successfully, the rewards can be great. Izabela Suchomska got her job as office administrator at London-based accountancy firm Complete Accounting Solutions after applying through workingmums.co.uk. She has a two and a half year old daughter and was looking for part-time work. She has ended up taking a full-time post, however, because of her firm’s understanding attitude towards her childcare needs.
"It is really difficult to find jobs when you are a working mum because you may have to leave early, for instance, when your child is sick,“ she says. “My employers were understanding and because they had advertised through working mums.co.uk I did not have to worry about bringing up the subject of childcare.”
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