Part-time hours

Working less than full-time hours. Staff can be contracted to work part-time or may drop their hours to part-time following a request to their employer. Part-time hours do not have to be full days – staff can work parts of days (e.g. mornings)

Staggered hours

The employee has different start, finish and break times to the majority of staff.

Compressed hours

Working full-time hours but over fewer days.

Annualised hours

Working hours spread across the year, which may include some school closure days, or where hours vary across the year to suit the school and employee.

Job share

Two or more people doing one job and splitting the hours. In schools you can also job share a TLR (on a fulltime or part-time teaching contract)

Hybrid working

A form of flexible working where workers spend some of their time working remotely (usually, but not necessarily, from home) and some in the employer’s workspace.

Phased retirement

Gradually reducing working hours and/or responsibilities to transition from full-time work to full-time retirement.

Sabbatical

Taking an unpaid break from work during which employees can pursue their interests, like travelling, writing, research, volunteering or other activities.

  • Ability to recruit from a wider pool of staff and to have a competitive advantage in the job market
  • Retention of experienced staff through phased retirement and improved succession planning
  • Benefits to students from different areas of expertise through job shares
  • Improvement in well-being, work life balance and morale for employees
  • Cost effective method of expanding a team
  • Helps reduce absences and improves productivity

  • Promotes an inclusive workplace and supports equal opportunities including career progression for women

  • Parental attitudes: some parents may not support the flexible working arrangements of employees, such as job shares. However, clear communication about how arrangements will work and the benefits to students as well as staff can counter-balance this.
  • Some flexible working arrangements (such as having 2 job share partners) may be costly for schools. However, if flexible working arrangements are successful and experienced employees are retained, the reduction in cost from recruitment and induction can offset this.
  • Some practices, like meetings policies, may need to be adapted to take account of flexible working policy. For example, meetings might need to be held only during working hours. Schools can also consider using online platforms to make meetings more accessible.
  • By accepting one request or being more proactive about flexible working, the floodgates will open. In practice, this is unlikely to be the case. It should also be recognised that it may not always be possible to agree every request.

  • Timetabling constraints make flexible working challenging to implement. However, it is possible to timetable effectively to accommodate flexible working by setting a date for FW requests to be submitted and by encouraging conversations about requests.

New legislation was passed in 2023 to make various changes to the flexible work regime. Regulations have now been introduced to make the right to request flexible working a “day one” right from 6 April 2024.

Background

The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act (Act) was passed in July 2023. It will make several changes to the flexible work regime, including:

• Allowing employees to make two statutory requests in any 12-month period rather than one

• Introducing a new requirement for employers to consult with employees before rejecting a flexible work request

• Reducing the decision period (within which an employer administers the statutory request) from three months to two months

• Removing the existing requirement for the employee to explain what effect, if any, the change might have on the employer and how that effect might be managed.

Before the Act was passed, the Government stated its commitment to making the right to request flexible working a ‘day 1’ right. This change was not included within the Act itself, but the Government indicted it would be included in secondary legislation.

Draft regulations

The Government has now laid draft regulations to confirm that from 6 April 2024, employees will no longer be required to have at least 26 weeks’ service to qualify for the right to make a flexible working request.

The Act will also be supported by an updated ACAS statutory Code of Practice on flexible working, which is also expected to be published in 2024.

Yes. Each request should be considered fairly and a timely response issued.

More information on the consideration of flexible working can be found on this website.

Flexible Working Ambassador Multi-Academy Trusts and Schools (FWAMS) have been appointed by the DfE to support school leaders to implement and embed flexible working in their schools.

Flexible working can support in the recruitment and retention of quality teachers and have a positive impact on staff wellbeing, as well as promoting equality in the workforce. Despite the benefits, there are challenges associated with implementing flexible working.

FWAMS can offer practical advice on designing a policy, on overcoming common challenges such as timetabling and budgeting, as well as highlighting the importance of ‘flexible hiring’. Whether you are a leader in a MAT, a mainstream primary or secondary, a special school or an alternative provision/pupil referral unit setting, a FWAMS will be able to offer bespoke support.