Three companies I have chosen that offer
flexible working are Marks and Spencer's, Heritage Care and Lloyd's TSB.
Marks and Spencer offer flexible working, as
they offer their employees a choice to work full time or part time, and job
sharing and term time working. Job sharing is one alternative work option. Two people share the same
position in a company, each working a certain part of the week. Term-time working is designed primarily to help parents of school-age
children work only when their children are at school. That means giving them on
average 13 weeks of time off per year, allowing them to be with their children
during the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays, as well as during all
half-term breaks. Mark’s and Spencer’s keep employees happy and employ
temporary workers who only work during term-term to cover term time workers
work while they are away.
Heritage offer there staff flexible working as they start with minimum 21 hours for part time staff and allow full time employees to work up to 35hours per week. Heritage Care also offer a employers a bank carer role. I currently work as a bank carer for Heritage care, I let management or DRP (designated responsible person) know when I am available to work and they ring me a few days before hand to confirm whether there is work available on days I have specified. I can let staff know days and times are available for the following 6 weeks. Another advantage is when the permanent staff's rota is completed I can see which days there is work available so I can choose my own shifts which are guaranteed. However a disadvantage of this is the rota is completed every 6 weeks. Bank carers are given annual leave based on how many hours they work per week, and enhancement hours on the weekend. Heritage care also offer up to 35 hours of sickness leave which is paid for. Roles within Lloyd's TSB are incredibly diverse, they offer full time, part time, job share, term time and home working hours.
At Lloyds TSB part time staff are entitled to a holiday allowance from 24 days,
increasing to 30 days per year. (Lloyds TSB, 2011)Paid time off
members earn paid time off as soon as they start working for Lloyd’s TSB. The benefit package includes a variety of
time-off options. Based on where the holidays fall on the calendar, staff will
also receive nine or 10 paid company holidays each year, including New Year’s
Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July (one or two days), Labor Day,
Thanksgiving, and Christmas and bank holidays. (Lloyds TSB, 2011)
Different forms of flexibilityFlexitime This
allows you to choose, within agreed limits, when to start and end your working
day. You work a standard core time, but you can vary your start, finish and
break times each day.For
example, within limits, you may also be able to carry over any excess or
shortfall in the number of hours you are required to work. This could be
something like one or two days a month.
Part time workingPeople who work part time are permanent employees who have a set number of weekly hours. This is really beneficial to students as they can work part time and save money while they study, and they will not get taxed if they do not work over 21 hours. Annualised hoursThis averages out an employees working time across the year so they work a set number of hours per year instead of per week. This is beneficial for businesses that are busy during a certain time, for example if a business is busy during the Christmas period, they can call in their annualised hour workers. This also benefits the employee as they will not be made redundant if the business cannot afford them at certain periods.
Zero hours
This is where employees have no fixed hours;
they are called in when their employers need them to fill temporary positions
as they occur.
Home
workingHome
working is where you work all or part of your contracted hours from home. It
allows you to spend all or part of your working week doing your job from home
or a different location to your workplace.For
example, if your job is computer based and you do not have to be in the office
every day you could work from home providing you have the required equipment.
Term-time workingThis
is where employees work following school term patterns. Employees work as
normal during term-time then during school holidays you don't go to work but
you are still employed. For example you could choose not to work during school
holidays if employees want to spend time with their chldren.
Staggered
hoursStaggered
hours are where you and your workplace colleagues have different start, finish
and break times, allowing your employer to cover longer opening hours. It is
essentially a shift system.Your
pattern of working hours will normally be the same from day to day and week to
week. For example, you might start every day at 9 til 5.
Advantages
for the employees due to flexible working
Flexible working offer increases opportunities for employees to fit in family needs, and ensures parents to spend quality time with their children. flexible working enforces equality amongst genders within the workplace. Usually mothers have to give up their work completely and this results the woman to becoming financially dependent on her partner or spouse. It further reduces the woman’s chance of any promotions in the workplace as well as reducing her national insurance contribution, meaning the state pension is also reduced. Furthermore, if women take time out from work to have children then they are more likely to lose skills, so if the company offer flexible working, mothers are still eligible to obtain and develop further on their skills. (Campaign.libdem, n.d.)
Flexible working also helps employees manage their work load more efficiently as they will have time to relax and spend with their family , this will also motivate employees when they do come to work.
Advantages for the employers due to flexible working
Advantage of flexible working include reducing employee sickness and absence, this is beneficial for the employer and the business as a whole because everything will be organised and all work loads will be completed.Employees will appreciate it the time they have been given off, therefore when employees are asked to work overtime, come into work during their days off or even carry out tasks they do not usually do, employees will be more likely to accept the request.
Flexible working will also motivate and boost up the employee's confidence, they will be more engaged into what they are doing and work to the best of their ability. Flexible working will also reduce absenteeism due family commitments as well as health issues caused by stress. (Campaign.libdem, n.d.)
Disadvantages for Line Managers in regards to Flexible Working
It will be difficult for line managers to keep flexible working employees up to date on issues as different employees will be working at different times, this can result in employees feeling left out which may demotivate them. The line manager may set up a meeting where some employees may not be available in the morning, so the meeting would have to take place when everyone is available. This further slows down the decision making process and makes the business run slower. mployees with flexible working hours will not have as much time to learn and develop the skills taught by the line manager, so this will not only cause conflict but also would be a disadvantage to the company as there would be one less employee incapable to pull off the task expected from them.
References:
Advantage of flexible working include reducing employee sickness and absence, this is beneficial for the employer and the business as a whole because everything will be organised and all work loads will be completed.Employees will appreciate it the time they have been given off, therefore when employees are asked to work overtime, come into work during their days off or even carry out tasks they do not usually do, employees will be more likely to accept the request.
Flexible working will also motivate and boost up the employee's confidence, they will be more engaged into what they are doing and work to the best of their ability. Flexible working will also reduce absenteeism due family commitments as well as health issues caused by stress. (Campaign.libdem, n.d.)
Disadvantages for Line Managers in regards to Flexible Working
It will be difficult for line managers to keep flexible working employees up to date on issues as different employees will be working at different times, this can result in employees feeling left out which may demotivate them. The line manager may set up a meeting where some employees may not be available in the morning, so the meeting would have to take place when everyone is available. This further slows down the decision making process and makes the business run slower. mployees with flexible working hours will not have as much time to learn and develop the skills taught by the line manager, so this will not only cause conflict but also would be a disadvantage to the company as there would be one less employee incapable to pull off the task expected from them.
References:
Simply-Docs
(2012) Zero Hours Employment Contract Template [Online]. Available from: http://www.simply-docs.co.uk/Document.aspx?documentID=1338
[Assessed date: 22 February 2012]
M&S
(2012) Flexible working [Online]. Available from:
http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/mscareers/rewards_benefits/lifestyle_options/flexible_working [Assessed date: 22 February 2012]
Directgov (2012) Different types of flexible working [Online] Available From: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/Flexibleworking/DG_184872 [Assessed Date: 17th February 2012]
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