Flexible working for parents

Flexible working is prized more highly than pay rises, say more than half of women jobseekers surveyed by a recruitment consultancy. And new legislation makes it easier for parents trying to change their working patterns. We speak to mothers who've already swapped full-time jobs for flexible hours.

• Who can benefit
• Part-time, flexi-time - what's best for me?
• Making the first move
• Be prepared
• What's next?
• They've turned me down - now what?
• Useful contacts

Find it fast >> Have you asked for flexible working hours? Tell us here What are you entitled to? Find out in our working parents section

Who can benefit

From Monday 6 April 2009, all parents of children aged 16 and under have the right to ask their employer for flexible working arrangements.

The new rule is an extension of the right to request flexible working that employees with children under the age of six and those caring for disabled people, already have. It means that an additional 4.5 million employees are now eligible to request flexible working - that's around 10 million overall.

So what is flexible working? Flexible working is any working pattern that is adapted for the benefit of the individual and that also suits their employer. The types of flexible working include part-time, flexi-time, compressed hours, staggered hours, job sharing and working from home. Many employers already offer flexible working, but this new law means more parents should have the confidence to approach their boss if they haven't before, because now they have the statutory right to ask.

It's important to remember though, that the new rules give people the right to ask for flexible working, not the right to have it. Under the law your employer is obliged seriously consider any application you make, and can only reject it if there are good business reasons for doing so.

Making a flexible working request is easy. Visit www.direct.gov.uk and click on the 'employment' section for more information and template application form.

Part-time, flexi-time - what's best for me?

"I felt disjointed. I'd leave the office on a Wednesday lunchtime and come back on the Monday and no one thought to tell me what had happened in the meantime."

She worked full-time, but hit childcare problems after her second son, Thomas, started school. Then she felt it was time for a major rethink. "I'd used two childminders and one nursery and I felt to get someone new would have been too much."

Instead, she cut her hours and now works school hours most days. In the holidays, she starts at 7.30am and finishes at lunchtime. "Getting home early makes a heck of a difference. I can help with homework, make them tea and toast, and just be around to give them support."

But, don't just consider part-time work. There are all kinds of working patterns you could consider:

• Compressed hours - full-time hours squeezed into fewer days, such as working eight long days over a fortnight
• Working from home - being flexible about where you work to save on travelling time
• Term-time working - working school hours with time off in school holidays
• Job-sharing - splitting a full-time job with a colleague

Making the first move

Talk informally to your manager to sound out your options and the company's attitude, before beginning formal procedures to request flexible working.

Susan Blundell says that approach worked for her: "Just writing a letter means they don't have the context. You can speak better in private and you can maybe get them on your side."

Employment Lawyer Emma Patchett from Outset UK Ltd agrees, "Find out from HR how they want the appeal to be made - your company may have its own application form that they expect you to use."

Don't be dogmatic. Announcing, "I want to work a three-day week or I'm leaving", will just irritate your employer.

Be prepared

Research your company and look for examples of flexible working - if necessary look at other comparable firms. If you want a job-share, sound out potential working partners before making the application.

As well as deciding what's best for you, you have to consider whether your job can be done effectively in a new way. The initial onus is on you to argue how new arrangements can work. In your application you must explain the effect of your new hours on the company's working practices.

Carol Hulme, 37, a personnel advisor for the Yorkshire Building Society, has two children and works three days a week. She says you need to muster your arguments about how your new role will benefit rather than harm the company, "It's the first thing your manager will ask, you need to be ready with the answers."

Get it down in writing

You can download detailed information on applying - and get an application form, from the Government's Tiger website.

You have to apply in writing to your employer saying that you are asking for the change 'under the statutory right to request flexible working'. You are asking for a permanent change to your terms conditions and you're allowed to make only one request a year, so be careful - can you manage on less money if you cut hours? Will new childcare arrangements work? And don't forget to make the application well before you actually want the arrangement to start.

What's next?

The employer must have a meeting with you within 28 days of getting your request. You can take a colleague with you for moral support.

Within 14 days of your meeting, your boss must write to agree to your new working pattern and to state when it will start, or to explain why your application has been rejected - it can only be rejected on certain business grounds. These timescales can only change if both sides agree.

They've turned me down - now what?

"Ask your employer to look at a trial period (although they are not legally obliged to agree to this). Be prepared to be flexible and consider their suggestions too," says Emma Patchett.

If your appeal fails you may be able to go to an outside body such as ACAS or an employment tribunal to pursue your case.

We want to hear from you!
Did you find it hard to reduce or change your hours after you had children? Contact us on the Working Mums discussion forum where you can give us the benefit of your wisdom, get advice and make contact with other working mums.

Useful Contacts

• Call the ACAS Flexible Working Helpline on 08457 47 47 47
• Visit the DTI website for more information on the working parents legislation
• www.tiger.gov.uk is a useful interactive site with more information on flexible working
• Visit www.direct.gov.uk and click on the 'employment' section for more information and template application form.

Where to next?

• Don't be a manic mum: 12 ways to juggle work and kids
• Your top ten questions on parental leave answered
• Follow our guide to choosing childcare
• How to adjust when you return to work after having a baby
• Chat to other working parents on our Working mums and dads discussion forum