The CIPD’s Flex from 1st campaign aims to make access to flexible working arrangements more equal.
The outbreak of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that in the case of flexible work design, the impossible is possible. Last March many organisations had to adapt to an enforced trial of homeworking.
The last year has demonstrated that for the majority, remote working works better than many could have imagined with most of the perceived barriers disappearing as managers, people professionals and organisations have learned to design work differently.
The CIPD’s latest research, Flexible working: lessons from the pandemic, found that following the pandemic, 36% of employers plan to introduce or expand the use of hybrid working. This involves combining time in the workplace with time at home, depending on the needs of the job, the individual and team needs, and team working practices.
Despite the increase in remote and hybrid working, flexible working practices in the UK still aren’t fair. Many people in lower paid, more manual occupations often don’t have access to the same flexible working opportunities as those in higher paid, managerial professions. Those who cannot work from home should still be able to benefit from having more choice and control over when and how they work.
That is why the CIPD is calling on employers to support flexible working for all and make the right to request flexible working a day-one right. We’re also calling for a change to UK law to make flexible working requests a day-one right for all employees, regardless of job role or sector.