Happy Flexible Working Awareness Day!.

Today is Flexible Working Awareness Day in the UK, so we thought we would shed some light on how embracing this is a real positive for both employers and employees. ​Most importantly it can increase a company’s chances of snapping up the best talent in the current candidate driven job market too.

When the law changed in June 2015, flexible working became available for all employees providing they met the minimum criteria of being continuously employed for 26 weeks or more. These individuals are now able to request to work flexibly, although only one request for a flexible working pattern can be made within a 12-month period. This can include a change to hours/days worked, work location or term time only working, amongst others. 

It’s a fact of life that companies need to become increasingly employee-centric in the coming years to remain competitive. Those employers who make changes now to shape their business around the needs of their staff, however they are employed, are likely to achieve significant competitive advantage.

There is of course no guarantee that your company can accommodate all flexible working requests but it is in your interests to seriously consider flexible working as an integral part of your overall benefits offering, not just as a token gesture. 

Why you may ask? Well times are changing in the workplace generally with millennials expecting to have more say in how they manage their work/life balance than their predecessors for starters. For example, you may be reluctant to let people work from home regularly but its shown that output is usually increased as commuting becomes less of an issue and people can work at times when they are the most productive. Li the best person for your vacancy lives miles away from your office, distance no longer becomes so much of a barrier if they can spend at least some of their working week in their home. They can focus on work rather than long commutes. Less stress, more productivity so everyone wins!

It is important in the current jobs market to retain great talent once you’ve recruited them and employees will in the main stay with companies that show they value their staff. One of the most tangible ways to show this is to provide a comprehensive employee benefits package and flexible working is now very much a key component of this.