Flexible working is an increasingly popular way for families to find the work life balance that we all crave. It enables working parents to manage their time between home and work, without making sacrifices in their career or their family.

What is flexible working?

Flexible working is any pattern of working that helps you manage your time as a parent and an employee. This includes patterns like part-time work, reduction of hours, working from home, job sharing and flexitime (where you can vary the hours you work and when you work them).

Who qualifies for flexible working?

You can ask your employer for flexible working if:

• You are an employee (but not an agency worker or in the armed forces)
• You have been with your employer continuously for 26 weeks or longer
• You have a child under 16 or a disabled child under 18
• You may also qualify if you act as carer for an adult over 18

Although your employer is legally required to consider your application for flexible working, they can turn it down as long as they give good business reasons for their decision. However, many employers are now opening up to the idea of flexible working,because it improves employee morale and helps them to keep hold of valuable workers. It may be worth approaching your employer on the subject even if you don’t qualify for the legal right to do so.

To find out more about who can ask for flexible working go to DirectGov.

What pattern of flexible working is right for you?

When making your application, consider what pattern would be best for your circumstances, and take into account the requirements of your job and your industry. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What effect would reduced hours have on my finances?
• What are my childcare options?
• Do I need to be at work during peak times of the day or at the same time as my colleagues?
• Would flexible working affect my chances of promotion?

How to apply

In your application state your case clearly, specifying what changes you want to make and why, and explaining how the changes would affect your employer and how any anticipated difficulties could be resolved. Standard forms for requesting flexible working can be downloaded from the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR: http://www.berr.gov.uk/).

Job sharing

One form of flexible working that is growing in popularity is job sharing, where two or more people share one job, splitting the hours, responsibilities, pay and benefits between them. It can be difficult to set up and requires a high level of cooperation between the job sharers, but if it works it’s a good way for parents to work part time in industries where this is not usually an option. An employer may either advertise a position as a job share or ask that you find a job share partner.

Related Articles:

If you're looking for tips for working parents, or specific help on achieving the work life balance, we think you'll like the following articles.

Working Parents: Tips on How To Cope!

Working Parents: How to Become a Mumpreneur!

Attaining the Work Life Balance