| Introducing Flexible
Work
Welcome
to the world of Flexibility!
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Recent Features |
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Shrinking the office - what's the formula?
For many employers, one of the most sought-for benefits of
flexible working is to create the potential to reduce office
costs. But moving from aspiration to implementation can be
tricky. How do you know what can be achieved, what are the
steps you need to take to maximise the benefits and how do you
get everyone to buy into the process?
Equalities Commission says
"work flexibly"
It's time to break free from the shackles of 20th century workstyles, according to the UK Equal Opportunities Commission.
It is these outdate workstyles that waste potential and embed
disadvantage.
Flexible work for carers -
new "right to request"
In April this year, the "Right to Request" flexible work in the
UK was extended to include carers of spouses, partners and
relatives. We look at the new provisions that came into
force in April 2007, and highlight how employers need to
respond.
UK Minister calls for
flexible working for all
TA government minister, Beverley Hughes, threw the cat amongst
the pigeons by calling for the right to request flexible work to
be extended to all workers
Managing Flexibility -
courses for managers and employees
Managing Flexibility is CD-ROM introducing flexibility for
managers and supervisors, showing them how to implement flexible
work and how to support their staff as they move to new ways of
working.
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. |
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The articles in this section of our journal are divided into
6 topic areas:
- Flexible work in general - wide-ranging articles,
or cutting across more than one of the other topics
- Flexible location - home working, mobile
working, 'teleworking'
etc
- Flexible technologies - technologies to help you
work flexibly - explained simply but accurately, we hope!
- Time flexibility - flexi-time, part-time working
etc
- Flexible contract - agency workers, etc
- Flexible offices - what happens to the office when
flexible working is introduced, innovation in workplace design, etc
You can access these sections from the menu on the left of
the page. Each section has an introductory page and a list of
articles.
What is meant by Flexible
Work?
Flexibility and Flexible Work are
terms used to describe a wide range of work styles and
employment practices. Broadly speaking, they are used to
describe all kinds of employment which differ from the
traditional 9-5 full time job with a permanent contract.
The "flexible" aspect
of these type of jobs can in different instances relate more to
the employees, or to the employer, or to both. That is, from the
employees point of view, flexible work may allow more freedom to
organise their employment to fit in with other parts of their
life. For an employer, the flexibility may come with the
ability to organise labour resources more in line with the
varying needs of customers, or with peaks and troughs of demand.
In this section
In this section we explore the
various kinds of Flexible Work - as outlined in the table below.
We examine also:
- the trends in the uptake of
flexible work
- the impact on the workplace
- the technologies used
- how to plan for flexible work.
Use the links in the navigation
bar on the left to find articles in each of the Flexible Work
categories.
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Types of Flexible
Work |
| Flexible
Location
Flexible location includes:
- working on the move
- working from home
- working from
telecentres/satellite offices
Variously described as location
independent working, teleworking, telecommuting, home
working, remote working, anywhere/anytime working. and many more |
| Flexible
Time
The most commonly found
forms of non-standard or flexible hours arrangements
are:
- flexible hours or
"flexitime" schemes
- part-time working
- jobshare
- compressed working
weeks
- annualised hours
- zero hours
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| Flexible
contract
Contractual arrangements
can include any of the above, but in particular usually
refers to the following kind of arrangements:
- outsourcing
- use of agency workers
- temporary/fixed term
contracts
- casual labour
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