How to manage a flexible working request

Flexible working is spoken about a lot in the charity sector, especially since the pandemic. There are different ways that charities can provide flexibility for their staff, such as offering part-time hours, remote working, compressed hours, and job shares. The NCVO says that “flexible working is a way of working to suit someone’s preferred working pattern, workload, or workplace”.

 

Research from recruitment agency TPP in 2024 showed that more than four in ten (43%) staff in the charity sector were working flexibly with set core hours and another 15% had no set core hours. At the time, more than eight in ten (84%) organisations in the sector were offering hybrid working and more than three in ten (34%) were offering fully remote options.

 

 

Why flexible working is important

 

Claire Campbell, CEO of work-life nonprofit Timewise says that flexible working “is literally life changing” as it helps people to work who wouldn’t be able to otherwise. This includes parents and carers, people with long-term health conditions, and older people.

 

Flexible working can have a positive effect on someone’s physical wellbeing. For example, in 2023, research carried out at Harvard and Penn State universities found that flexible working may reduce a person’s risk of having a heart attack or stroke. It’s also good for people’s mental health as it gives them choice and control over their working life.

 

Flexible working also benefits employers. It can help charities to recruit talented and skilled staff, as many are looking for an employer who offers flexible working.

 

 

What rights employees have

 

In April 2024, new legislation came in that allows people to make a request for flexible working from the first day in a new job. This is called “making a statutory application”. Before this, a staff member had to wait 26 weeks in a job before they could put in a request for flexible working.

 

Staff can make two requests for flexible working in any 12-month period. Only one request can be live at any time.

 

Staff can request a change to:

• The number of hours they work
• When they start or finish work
• The days they work
• The location where they work

 

How to handle a request for flexible working

 

When you receive a flexible working request, the NCVO says you should “consider it fairly” and “make a decision based on facts and not personal opinion”. You may be able to agree to the request straight away, but if you can’t, you should have a meeting with the staff member to discuss it.

 

Organisations can’t turn down a request for flexible working unless there’s a valid business reason (see list below). You can agree to a request for flexible working for a temporary period to see if it will work. This is a good approach if you’re not sure if the working pattern will work.

 

According to Campbell,  that it’s easier for organisations to offer flexible working than they might initially think. She explains: “It may seem that some roles are hard to make flexible. However, there are always options available, including: regular or occasional home working, working across different sites and offices, compressed hours, late starts and early finishes, team-based shift rotas, part-time hours, fewer or shorter shifts, job sharing, and taking back time after long days.”

 

The UK Government outlines the basic steps for handling a flexible working request. These are:

• The staff member writes to the employer. The request must be in writing
• The employer discusses the staff member’s request with them and makes a decision within two months. An organisation can have longer to make a decision as long as this is agreed with the staff member
• If the request is approved, the organisation must change the terms and conditions in the staff member’s contract
• If the organisation declines the flexible working request, they must tell the staff member and give the business reasons for why they have refused the request

The government says that an organisation can refuse a staff member’s flexible working request for reasons including:

• Extra costs that will damage the business
• The work cannot be given to other staff
• People cannot be recruited to do the person’s work
• Flexible working will affect quality and/or performance
• There’s a lack of work to do during the proposed working times 

Staff can complain to an employment tribunal if the organisation:

• Didn’t handle the request in a “reasonable manner”. This means thinking about both the advantages and disadvantages of the request, and talking to the staff member about alternative flexible working options
• Wrongly treated the staff member’s application as withdrawn
• Dismissed or treated a member of staff badly because of their flexible working request. For example, the organisation refused the staff member a promotion or pay rise
• Refused an application based on incorrect facts

 

Building a culture of flexible working

 

The NCVO says you can’t just rely on having policies and procedures that talk about flexible working. You need to create and foster a flexible working culture where people are happy to connect with other staff in different ways and build relationships with others.

 

It’s important to have conversations with staff that focus on outcomes and impact – rather than the number of hours worked. Talk openly to staff about wellbeing. Senior leaders can set a good example by being clear about boundaries, choosing a work pattern that supports their own work-life balance, and talking to staff about it.