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Employment

Flexible working and work-life balance: an introduction

It's important to balance your work and home life. The right to ask for flexible working aims to help employers and workers agree on work patterns that suit everyone. Find out what flexible working is and how to apply for it.

What is it?

'Flexible working' is a phrase that describes any working pattern adapted to suit your needs. Common types of flexible working are:

  • part-time: working less than the normal hours, perhaps by working fewer days per week
  • flexi-time: choosing when to work (there's usually a core period during which you have to work)
  • annualised hours: your hours are worked out over a year (often set shifts with you deciding when to work the other hours)
  • compressed hours: working your agreed hours over fewer days
  • staggered hours: different starting, break and finishing times for employees in the same workplace
  • job sharing: sharing a job designed for one person with someone else
  • home working: working from home
You can combine any of these working patterns to come up with something to suit your circumstances.
 

Interactive help

there are interactive tools to help you with your application

If you need help with flexible working, there are interactive tools to help you:

  • find out if you have the statutory right to apply
  • choose a type of working that suits you
  • prepare a case to convince your employer

Who can ask for it?

Anyone can ask their employer for flexible work arrangements, but the government has introduced a statutory right in order to encourage applications. Provided you are an employee (but not an agency worker or in the armed forces) and have worked for your employer for 26 weeks continuously before applying, you have the statutory right to ask if you:

  • have a child under six or a disabled child under 18
  • are responsible for the child as a parent/guardian/special guardian/foster parent/private foster carer or as the holder of a residence order
  • are the spouse, partner or civil partner of one of these and
  • are applying to care for the child

From 6 April 2007, you also have the statutory right if you:

  • are a carer who cares, or expects to be caring, for a spouse, partner, civil partner or relative or who lives at the same address as the person being cared for

Under the law your employer must seriously consider any application you make, but they don't have to agree if there's a good business reason not to. You have the right to ask for flexible working - not the right to have it.

How to apply

If you have the statutory right to apply, then there is a process you must follow.

If you do not have the right then the statutory process will still be helpful to you.

Other rights

Other rights that help you take time off work to care for others are:

  • parental leave, where you can book blocks of unpaid time off to care for young children
  • time off for dependants, which gives you unpaid time off to cope with family emergencies

Where to get help

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) offers free, confidential and impartial advice on all employment rights issues. You can call the Acas helpline on 08457 47 47 47 from 8.00 am to 6.00 pm Monday to Friday.

The Labour Relations Agency (LRA) offers free, confidential and impartial advice on all employment rights issues for residents of Northern Ireland. You can contact the LRA on 028 9032 1442 from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday.

Your local Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) can provide free and impartial advice. You can find your local CAB office in the phone book or online.

If you are a member of a trade union, you can get help, advice and support from them

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