By Lisa Gallagher, co-founder and director of Flexibility Works
At first glance, flexible working might feel ‘off topic’ in a campaign week all about reducing poverty.
But for many workers, especially those with caring responsibilities or health needs, the ability to flex work around their needs and responsibilities is essential. Flexible working can enable people to enter work, stay in work and progress at work, which has a direct financial benefit for workers and their families, and can provide a route out of poverty.
Flexible Working is about employees having more choice and control over where, when and how much they work, and agreeing that pattern with their employer because it works best for both parties.
When flexible working is implemented successfully, it can help support people to enter the workforce, stay in and progress at work, which is good for them and their families. Businesses benefit from gains in employee productivity, loyalty, recruitment and retention, reduced staff absence and reduced business costs.
It’s disappointing then, that our latest research on flexible working in Scotland shows workers on the lowest salaries (less than £20,000) are much less likely to work flexibly than workers earning more than £50,000.
Enabling factor
Our research with unemployed Scottish adults looking for work shows 66% of women and 52% of men say flexibility is essential and that it would be impossible to work without it.
Four in ten (41%) say flexible working would allow them to take on a role with more hours and earn more money, while one in six (17%) say flexible working would mean they could take on a more skilled or senior role.
According to our research with Scottish adults who are working and already have some flexibility in their role, almost eight in ten (89%) say they’d suffer in some way if their flexibility was taken away. In particular 21% of single parents, 26% of mothers and 27% of people with a disability or long-term health condition say they’d have no choice but to stop working.
Unsurprisingly, given the difference flex can make, demand for flexible working is high. A total of 61% of Scottish workers currently work flexibly, and another 21% don’t but would like to, which means more than 8 in 10 Scottish workers have or want flex.
Low pay = low flex
Our latest data shows a significant gap between the flexible working available to the lowest and highest paid workers, and the gap has increased in the last year.
Just half (51%) of all Scottish workers earning less than £20,000 a year work flexibly, compared with eight in ten (80%) workers earning more than £50,000, a difference of 29% percentage points.
A year ago 50% of workers earning less than £20,000 worked flexibly as did 73% of workers earning more than £50,000, a smaller difference of 23 percentage points.
While the pandemic has increased flexible working in Scotland overall, the benefits are skewed towards workers on higher incomes where good flexible working keeps getting better, while little changes for workers on the lowest incomes.
Initially we thought this was because more low paid workers are in frontline roles, such as in the care, manufacturing, and hospitality sectors, where employers need to be more open-minded and creative to create flexibility. But our figures show this isn’t the case. Frontline or not, the higher earners always have significantly more flexibility than lower earners.
Lack of trust is likely to be part of the problem because we know some employers still expect workers to ‘earn the right’ to work flexibly. But the full reasons are something we need to explore further.
In the meantime, we’re encouraging all employers to explore greater flexible working. It’s well documented flexibility improves employee mental health and wellbeing and boosts productivity, recruitment and retention for employers. It makes good business sense for employers to explore what flexibility they could offer to all workers but especially those in the lowest paid roles.
We ought to add here that we know part time workers in particular face other obstacles when it comes to escaping poverty. Many can’t find ‘quality’ part time jobs and end up taking accepting very low skill/low pay roles for the part time hours they need. And workers can be put off increasing their hours if benefit cuts, higher taxes and expensive childcare all eat into real ‘take home’ pay.
We need more quality part time and flexible roles so people can work at the level they’re skilled for, stay in work and progress at work. This is good for them and their families. But making jobs accessible to more people is also good for employers, especially those tackling skills shortages, and the wider Scottish economy too.
Top 5 tips for employers
Here are our top five practical tips to increase flexible working in all types of roles and at all salary levels.
- Get personal
Get to know your teams well by asking what works best for them. Find out if there are times of day that work better to avoid peak travel and additional childcare costs for example. We know flex is harder in some roles. But talking to your teams to find out what would make a difference to their work life harmony could give you new ideas and show you don’t need to make huge changes.
2. Consider all forms of flex
Home working is just one type of flex, and while it won’t suit all roles, there are other forms of flexible working you can try instead (or as well), such as part time and job share roles, compressed hours, or smaller changes, such as giving workers some choice on their start and finish times, being able to take time off for an appointment, or be able to swap shifts more easily.
3. Small changes can make a big difference
Some employers worry flexible working will mean no one ever comes to the office and everyone will drop to part time hours. But most workers only want relatively small changes, such as some choice on their start and finish time, more notice of shifts and input to rotas. By canvassing workers’ opinions, you’ll find out what will make the difference.
4. Advertise flexible working in job adverts
Many people, especially those who are not currently working, are put off applying for roles that don’t specifically mention flexible working. You will attract more and better quality candidates from a wider pool of talent if you offer flexibility up front. Be as specific as you can about the types of flex available for each role.
5. Trial it
Often the only way to know if something will work is to try it. A well-communicated trial – even within one department – with review and evaluation points scheduled in, is a sensible and practical way to see if changes will work.