How to work flexibly

Would you like to work flexibly?

But are you unsure how to go about it?

Or doubt you could persuade your boss?

This week is National Work Life Week, an annual event organised by the charity Working Families to highlight the importance of balancing work and home.

Working Families says a significant number of parents are unhappy with their work/life balance, and is calling for employers to adopt a ‘flexible by default’ policy.

We know from the interest last year in HR consultant Kay Heald’s guest post on the new flexible working legislation that fitting work around family commitments is a popular subject.

So we’re pleased to tell you about a free ebook, How to Work Flexibly, just launched by Flexible Boss, and sponsored by Plantronics.

Flexible Boss is a site that promotes flexible working as a solution to many of the challenges facing the economy and workforce. It provides information and research to employers and this is its first publication aimed at employees.

How to Work Flexibly points out that working from home or a remote location is only one way to work flexibly. You can also consider:

Working part-time
Job sharing
Phased retirement

The ebook explains the kinds of things you should think about before approaching your boss. You need to think about it from the point of view of your boss and colleagues as well as your own.

It guides you through the process of making a request to work flexibly, including the legal obligations, and reasons your employer is allowed to refuse. Plus useful tips on effective flexible working, if they say yes, and what you can do if they turn you down.

There are links to further information, including recruitment sites that specialise in flexible working if you decide the only solution is to change jobs. And finally some case studies to show how other people and companies have organised themselves to work flexibly.

Just click to read How to Work Flexibly.