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Age UK calls for more flexible working

September 14, 2012 By Ken Eastwood Leave a Comment

Older workers locked out of job market

Call for automatic right to work flexibly

Source : Age UK

 

 

Every worker should be able to do their job flexibly unless a business can justify otherwise, according to a new Age UK report.

Age UK calls for more flexible working in ‘A Means to Many Ends‘[pdf], its report into the impact and availability of flexible working in the UK.

Age UK believe that an important way to unleash the full potential of Britain’s older workers, many of whom are unable to work conventional hours because of caring responsibilities and the need to balance other personal issues with work, is to change the UK’s traditional and more rigid approach to work.

These changes, the charity says, would enable older people to use their years of experience to contribute to the economy and extend their working lives. This would also de-stigmatise flexible working and encourage employers to examine how the practice could benefit their organisation.

Call for automatic right to flexible working

As part of this culture change, Age UK is also calling for all new and prospective employees to automatically have the right to request flexible working. Currently they must wait until 26 weeks in the job before making a request.

Angela Williams, Human Resources Director at British Gas, and Sarah Jackson OBE, Chief Executive of Working Families were among the speakers responding to the report at its launch at the QE2 centre in London.

Age UK’s Charity Director General, Michelle Mitchell said, “With their skills and knowledge, older workers are an invaluable asset to the UK economy. Yet, far too many people aged 50 and over are locked out of the job market because they are unable to work conventional hours, often because they have to care for a relative or have health issues.”

“In these tough economic times when the UK needs to make the most of its resources, it is just common sense for the Government and employers to embrace flexible working.”

735,000 people aged 50+ want to work but economically inactive

According to Age UK’s report, there are currently nearly 900,000 people in the UK working past the age of 64 and nearly 8 million people aged 50-64 who are economically active. But a further 735,000 people aged 50 and over want to work but are economically inactive. Factors including the UK’s ageing population, rising State Pension age and poor private pension return, mean in the future this number is likely to get even bigger.

While the Government has abolished the default retirement age, it needs to go further to create an environment that enables older workers to stay in the labour market.

Age UK’s flexible working report – ‘A Means to Many Ends’

Age UK’s report examines the extent and need for flexible working in the UK among older people and contains new analyses of the Labour Force Survey.

Major findings include:

  • 38 per cent of those in employment aged 50 plus worked flexibly in 2010 up from 30 per cent in 2005. But the figures hide the lack of flexible working in various industries.
  • Older workers in the public sector are most likely to work flexibly.
  • People in lower supervisory and routine jobs are less likely to be granted flexible working than those in managerial or professional roles.
  • As these findings suggest, flexible working is still not widely accepted as an option across the labour market.
  • Carers are less likely to be able to access flexible working options than other groups, for example those coming back from maternity leave.
  • 25 per cent of carers under the age of 70 report that caring responsibilities affect their work. Of these, 39 per cent left employment altogether.
  • There are particular barriers at the recruitment phase especially for those who are unemployed and need to be able to work flexibly from the outset.

Download Age UK’s report into flexible working – ‘A Means to Many Ends’

 

Age UK logo

 

Filed Under: nomadNEWS Tagged With: age uk, flexible, flexible working

Flexible Working Benefits

September 7, 2012 By Ken Eastwood Leave a Comment

Flexible working benefits employers as well as employees

Image by Kim Scarborough via Flickr

With schools going back this week, it’s business as usual on the roads for Britain’s commuters. But new research commissioned by Regus, the world’s largest provider of flexible workplaces, suggests that many employers are finally freeing staff from the daily commute, with two in five professionals (39%) able to work from locations other than the company’s main offices for at least half the week. This helps them reduce the cost and stress of with commuting and reclaim the hours lost in limbo between their work and home lives.

The 2500-strong poll found that this new flexible workstyle benefits employers as well as staff. Over two fifths (43%) of workers report that they put in longer hours when they don’t have to commute, highlighting the link between flexible location and productivity. 67% of workers also say they spend more time with their partner and family and 60% spend more time exercising and getting fitter.

However, many workers’ aspirations to reduce the frequency of their commute are still thwarted by employer attitudes. 28% cited “company culture” as the main reason for single location working, implying the perceived need to be seen at their desk. This is despite the fact that a full half of respondents report that they have all the tools and technology they need to work anywhere.

Flexible working has hit the headlines over the Games as thousands of workers avoid travel into the Capital, but it is noticeable that many firms in the South East have focused their contingency plans on home working. However, this is often an unpopular and impractical option for staff. Many people miss the social interaction of the office and the clear separation of their professional and personal lives. Previous research has shown that less than 10% of professionals actually want to work from home[1].

For the two in five professionals who are genuine flexible workers, it seems that the key to success is having a choice of ‘third places’ – neither their home nor their office – such as local business centres, libraries and co-working hubs that allow them to avoid domestic distractions without a commute.

Steve Purdy, UK Managing Director at Regus comments: “September signals the return to normal traffic levels for commuters across the country and I’m sure many will spend their journey this week wishing they could work closer to home. Fortunately the number of professionals that are now able to choose between different work locations is substantial, although too many firms equate flexible working with home working. We are seeing a growing number of workers – from small business owners to executives of global corporations – working several days a week at their local Regus centre to avoid commuting to their company offices and to have a refreshing break in their normal routine.

“Congestion is reported to be one of the major sources of stress,[2] so it is very significant that workers reveal that the time saved on commuting would be spent on health and wellbeing activities such as getting fitter at the gym and spending time with family. Confirming previous Regus research linking happier and healthier workers to greater productivity, more than half of professionals say they devote at least some of the time saved on gruelling commutes to working more. So the benefits of flexible working are twofold, on the one hand workers are more relaxed and healthy and on the other they are also more productive benefitting the business too.”

One example of a firm that strives to minimise commuting for its management and staff is Portsmouth-based business and education consultancy, The IBD Partnership.

Raja Ali, CEO, comments: “I know from personal experience that commuting is a mental and physical drain, and one that easily knocks work-life balance out of kilter and saps productivity. So with our staff we try to be flexible and work where, when and how it suits us to get the job done most effectively – whether that’s at home, in the office, at the local Regus centre or on the move. In my business, we no longer have a fixed desk for each member of staff, where they work all day every day.”

 

[1] “Why Place Still Matters in the Digital Age”, ZZA Responsive User Environments, October 2011

[2] http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2012/05/16/stress-and-the-city-commuting-woes-causeing-urbanitis/

 

Regus Logo

Filed Under: nomadNEWS, nomadWORKSTYLE Tagged With: commuting, flexible, flexible working

Anywhere Working Podcast

March 13, 2012 By Ken Eastwood Leave a Comment

Our friends over at the Anywhere Working Consortium have produced this podcast with Microsoft’s Dave Coplin making some very sensible observations about the way we work.

 

 

 

Filed Under: nomadGENERAL, nomadNEWS Tagged With: anywhere working, flexible working, podcast

Men ‘discriminated against on flexible working’?

March 9, 2012 By Ken Eastwood Leave a Comment

Almost two thirds of working mums think men are discriminated against with regard to flexible working, according to a Workingmums.co.uk survey for International Women’s Day.

The survey of over 365 mainly female working parents found that 65% felt men were not given a fair hearing over flexible working.

The survey also showed 43% felt they did over 75% of the domestic chores and childcare.

Around 40% of working mums had taken a step back in their career since having children. Only 29% had progressed. The rest had stayed at the same level.

Thirty seven per cent of those who responded worked full time and 41% worked part time. The rest were not working.

Women were concerned about the lack of flexible new jobs. A third felt trapped in the job they went on maternity leave from because they could not find a new job which gave them the work life balance they needed.

A massive 89% had considered working for themselves to get a better work life balance, although 43% said they couldn’t afford to. On 27 March at Workingmums LIVE London, its second London flexible jobs fair, Workingmums.co.uk is launching a new Business Zone to give support and advice, including funding advice, to women considering setting up their own business or franchise or seeking self employment.

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures and the survey found 28% of working mums felt their children saw them as inspiring role models, while 22% felt their kids thought they were stressed out and exhausted.

Most thought that girls were less likely than in the past to think that some jobs were not for them. Some 75% thought things were getting better on this score, but six per cent thought that in recent years girls had become more likely to think that some jobs were more for men than women.

Some 80% of working parents thought children should be educated about work life balance issues to prepare them for the impact on their working life, but most thought this should happen at secondary school. Others felt children should not be held back in what they want to do because of considerations about whether they have a family in the future.

The survey also looked at issues like childcare. Almost half used grandparents for childcare. A quarter had no back-up care in the case of an emergency.

Gillian Nissim, founder of Workingmums.co.uk, said: “The results of this survey show that, although much progress is being made on flexible working for women, there is concern that men are finding it more difficult to negotiate this. This has a knock-on effect on women who, due to the high cost of childcare, may be forced out of work or to work fewer hours than they would like. There is also concern about the lack of new flexible jobs. If the Government extends the right to request flexible working to all workers we hope that it will become the norm and businesses will begin to think of flexible working as the default position when recruiting, thus opening up roles to a more diverse talent pool.”

Filed Under: nomadNEWS Tagged With: flexible working

Health Benefits and Inequalities?

February 17, 2010 By Ken Eastwood Leave a Comment

There is evidence to suggest that flexible working might be beneficial for employees’ health if they are allowed to have input into their own working patterns, a review by Cochrane Researchers suggests. The study may throw some light on potential health benefits associated with current trends towards more flexible working in the UK and Europe.  

mobil & flexible workingIn Scandinavian countries, flexible working arrangements for employees with families are commonplace. Last year, the UK government extended legislation allowing parents of young children to request flexible working, meaning all parents with children under 16 now have the right to request flexible working arrangements. Although it is assumed that such policies are beneficial, it is important to try to understand health impacts in more detail.

The Cochrane Systematic Review included ten studies involving a total of 16,603 people which focused on various different forms of flexible working. Self-scheduling of working hours was found to have positive impacts on a number of health outcomes including blood pressure, sleep and mental health. In one study, for instance, police officers who were able to change their starting times at work showed significant improvements in psychological wellbeing compared to police officers who started work at a fixed hour.

“Flexible working seems to be more beneficial for health and wellbeing where the individuals control their own work patterns, rather than where employers are in control,” said the review lead, Clare Bambra of the Wolfson Research Institute, Durham University in the UK. “Given the limited evidence base, we wouldn’t want to make any hard and fast recommendations, but these findings certainly give employers and employees something to think about.”

Co-author Kerry Joyce, also based at the Institute, added: “We need to know more about how the health effects of flexible working are experienced by different types of workers, for instance, comparing women to men, old to young and skilled to unskilled. This is important as some forms of flexible working might only be available to employees with higher status occupations and this may serve to increase existing differences in health between social groups.”

Citation: Joyce K, Pabayo R, Critchley JA, Bambra C. Flexible working conditions and their effects on employee health and wellbeing. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD008009. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD008009.pub2. 

Filed Under: nomadNEWS Tagged With: flexible working, health, inequalities

Snow Online?

January 19, 2010 By Ken Eastwood Leave a Comment

John Popham, Head of Skills & Regeneration for Sheffield-based Sero Consulting, asks:-

Why, in 2010, are we not making more use of the Internet to cope with these conditions. As in many areas of British life, you will probably tell me that the UK has such extreme weather conditions so infrequently that it is not worth the cost of preparing for them, but, as this is now the second consecutive winter where we have had significant snow fall, and it appears likely that climate change may well make this a regular event, surely we should seriously think about how we prepare for such occasions. And, in this context, as we are supposed to be moving increasingly towards both delivering more education online, and adopting more flexible working practices, surely these should come into their own at these times, shouldn’t they? 

Read the rest of John’s excellent blog post and ensuing thought provoking comments here.

Filed Under: nomadGENERAL Tagged With: flexible working, home working, internet, snow
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