Flexible working: challenging negative attitudes
The rise in remote working during the Covid-19 pandemic saw “can you hear me?” and “you’re on mute” shoot to the top of everyone’s vocabulary – but beyond technical issues and pets wandering in the background, the change in working patterns was hailed as an equaliser for those struggling to maintain a work/life balance.
Three-quarters of survey participants said they consider flexible working to be advantageous to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), particularly for working parents and carers (particularly women), as well as neurodiverse workers and those recovering from illness or injuries.
Sixteen percent of respondents reported that they have a physical or mental condition or illness lasting, or expected to last, 12 months or more.
One respondent described flexible working as “essential” to begin levelling the playing field in terms of gender issues and caring responsibilities.
“Many of the barriers to work for disabled people, people with mental health challenges, neurodivergent people, women with dependents etc are solved or significantly eased with working from home and flexibility around hours. It’s a no-brainer,” said another respondent.
In addition, several participants said that working from home felt “safer” compared to feeling excluded or minoritised in the workplace, with the sentiment that people are “more equal” on a screen and via distance.
However, the report also underlined issues around access to opportunities as a result of flexible working, with concerns that people working from home would be rendered less visible.
This ranged from difficulties with integration and team-building to missing out on career progression pathways.
“Many of the barriers to work for disabled people, people with mental health challenges, neurodivergent people, women with dependents etc are solved or significantly eased with working from home and flexibility around hours. It’s a no-brainer”
Respondents said remote working can be detrimental to young professionals, who are keen to fit into a new team and to be in an office environment. This extends beyond formal training to interactions such as informal conservations with more senior members of the team and picking up ‘soft skills’.
From a disability perspective, one respondent flagged that joining a remote team had generated feelings of isolation, and being left under-stimulated.
Other respondents noted a strong resistance to flexible working within some organisations.
For example, one manager was said to have referred to working mothers as “shirking from home”, while an HR director was reported to be reluctant to employ women with children as they would “want to leave early to do school pick-up/want part time hours”.
A few respondents reported that they had requested flexible working for various reasons and had been denied, particularly if they did not have children.
Statutory obligations
The report underlined the need for firms to assess the potential contribution that flexible working can have on diversity among the talent pool and the workforce – thereby fostering diversity of thought, improved decision-making and reduced turnover.
Regular communication with all team members wherever they work is a simple solution to instances of operational, social or cultural exclusion, with manager and employee agreeing on the most effective form of communication, whether that be Teams messaging, email or phone calls.
Firms could also consider implementing so-called anchor days, when the entire team is present and collaborating, the report suggested.
The report also highlighted that companies need to ensure compliance with statutory obligations in relation to flexible working requests.
“Truly flexible working is a huge draw for some marginalised people so that needs to be a cornerstone of any strategy”
The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act is expected to take effect in mid-2024, which would establish several rights in relation to employment contracts (subject to secondary legislation).
Under the new legislation, an employee making a request for flexible working will no longer be required to explain what effect, if any, their requested change would likely have on the employer, as well as how any such impact could be addressed.
An employee will be entitled to make two requests in any 12-month period rather than one, as is currently the precedent.
In addition, an employer will not be permitted to refuse a request unless the employee has been consulted about such refusal. The time for an employer to make a decision will be two months.
“Flexible working brings significant benefits to insurance workplaces and generally enhances EDI,” said the report.
“Leaders must challenge negative attitudes towards part-time working and flexible working, maximise the benefit of times when the whole team is together in-person and consider how to ensure that people who routinely work from home do not miss out on the advantages of being visible in the workplace.”