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Flexible Work
-In General

As you can see from the links on the left, we are classifying our resources by flexible topic - like Flexible Location, Time Flexibility, and so forth. Some of our articles, however, cover a range of flexible work styles, and we include them in this "general" section: 

April 2003 special
on the new employment legislation

Employers: were you ready for the parental "right to request flexible work"?
Avoid ending up in one of the anticipated tens of thousand Employment Tribunal cases. Take the lead, rather than react on an ad hoc basis, we say. It's time to get some policies in place, in you haven't already.

Summarising the new "right to request" rules
It came into force on April 6. We provide a summary of the provisions, particularly focusing on the "right to request flexible work". With pointers to further resources to deepen your knowledge.

The strengths and weaknesses of the "right to request" legislation
Certainly a step forward in family-friendliness - but how much of a boost for flexible working as a whole? We analyse the provisions, poke around the less coherent aspects, and offer the government "two cheers" for its well-intentioned but slightly muddled approach.

Know your staff: Consult them online
We profile an online staff consultation tool aimed at creating a consensus for innovation and change in working practices.

Training for e-work: a flexible approach
You're keen to press ahead with e-work - but are people ready for it? What else do they need to know? How is your organisation going to approach developing the relevant new skills in your workforce? We map out an approach.

eWork & the European Knowledge Economy
The European Commission has always been an enthusiastic supporter of ICT-based working and the development of a "knowledge economy". We report on recent progress and the 2002 Status Report.

Sunset strategies - new approaches to flexible retirement
New research by the UK Department of Work and Pensions into flexible retirement highlights the benefits and barriers, and includes 20 case studies of flexible retirement policies from large employers.

Flexible work uptake in smaller businesses
A new study has found that flexible working arrangements, though often practised informally, are far more common in small organisations than is often thought.

Age Positive
The workforce is changing. Work patterns are changing. But are attitudes changing, or we stuck with old stereotypes of who makes a good person to employ? We profile a new government backed campaign which is combating ageism, and which supports flexible work as a means to encourage age diversity in the workplace.

Flexible work - The view form the HR department
What flexible working policies have organisations put in place? And what do HR directors feel are the priorities for future development? A new survey from Nextra looks at these issues and more. Amongst the findings is that 23% of senior managers don’t trust their staff to flexi-work – does this reflect your organisation?

Working in the E-Team
To follow up our popular article (see below) on how to be an "e-manager", we explore the ins and outs of being in the "e-team" - how to cope with the changes to work style, work space and work culture.

Work Naked. Really?
We review a serious book with a humorous title: "Work Naked". It's all about the shedding of the layers of corporate constraint and inhibition, and releasing the potential of your workers. Are you tempted?

Awareness-raising for flexible work
We look at the issues involved in raising awareness about flexible work - the necessary first step before setting off on flexible work programmes. In this article we outline how to take people gently and positively up the learning curve of new ways of working, outlining some of the hurdles and the pitfalls on the way and how to overcome them

Flexible working - law and practice
Once they've started investigating new ways of working, there are always 4 kinds of things people would like to know: is it worth it? is it safe? is it legal? - and just how do you do it? We review a new book that can help to answer these questions. Strongly recommended reading.

How to be an effective e-manager 
You've got e-work, e-business and e-commerce in place. Now you've got to manage it! This is how to be an effective manager in a remote-working world.
Lot of enthusiastic feedback about this article.

Union guides to flexible working 
We take a look at a couple of guides from IPMS, the union for managers, professionals and specialists, which take a comprehensive approach to flexible working.

Flexible working for smaller businesses  
An EU-backed project to help smaller businesses get to grips with new ways of working

The aging society - a flexible approach 
Flexible approaches to both work and retirement may help to defuse the "demographic time-bomb" of an increasingly aging society.

Implementing a flexible work project 
A practical guide to getting flexible work off the ground.

The Third Nextra 
eEurope Report
 
The Nextra eEurope Report aims to find out just how much Europe small and medium sized businesses are getting to grips with remote and flexible work, and the new technologies associated with them

Flexible Work and HR policies
A series of articles to guide the HR manager through the issues around implementing flexible working policies. Includes a very useful and practical checklist.

Flexibility and local government
Examining the ways that new ways of working and online service delivery can benefit local authorities

Flexible advice service
News of a partnership between Toshiba and HOP Associates to advise on flexible working solutions

Flexibility, Employability and Access to Work
A Flexibility Briefing Paper explores how flexible work relates to equal opportunities and social inclusion.

A practical approach to new ways of working
Review of a new guide from flexible work expert Stephen Jupp

Absence makes the heart grow fonder?
An exploration of how new ways of working can improve a companies performance in relation to absenteeism

Managers under pressure
An Institute of Management report highlights the stresses faced by managers and how they cope

How flexible is your organisation?
Try out our unique Flexigrid. A bit of fun, a bit of insight, as we say.

 

Guide to Flexible Working in the Information Age
Flexibility has written a book in association with Toshiba. It brings together the HR, facilities and IT issues in the context of how to originate, plan and implement a flexible working scheme. Here you can access it online.

 

12 ways to screw up a flexible work project 
Perhaps you've introduced flexible working - but is it going well? You may recognise some of the common pitfalls exposed in this humorous article.