Research from charity, Working Families[i] published this week revealed that high paid parents who earn more than £70,000 a year are much more likely (47 percent) to work flexibly than those earning below £40,000.

Adrian Lewis, Director at Activ Absence says: “it’s unacceptable that flexible working is becoming a privilege for high earners and that companies need to do more to let people work flexibly if they want, especially working parents. The Government introduced the flexible working law in 2014 which gives every employee the right to ask to be able to work flexibility, but despite what was perceived as good intentions back then – many companies are just not allowing it, especially for lower earners. 

“This resistance to flexible working will lead to companies missing out on talent, especially women, who may end up not returning to work post maternity if their employers are inflexible to the demands that raising a family can bring. “Working flexibly should be available to all across the entire salary scale as it brings many business benefits such as helping to recruit and retain talented people as well as being good for employee motivation which can have a positive impact on productivity.” Research from staffing app, Coople[ii] recently found that more than half of employees value a healthy work–life balance above employee benefits and additional pay.” 

And one of the largest global workplace surveys of its kind conducted by Vodafone[iii] revealed this year that 83 percent of respondents said adopting flexible working had resulted in improvements in productivity and 61 percent said it had helped increase company profits. Adrian added. “For some organisations, especially smaller ones not knowing how best to manage flexible working, ensuring it’s business as usual has been a barrier. Understandably having people come in at different times can have an impact on the day to day running of a business and also on other staff, but there is technology out there to help. 

“One solution is investing in an absence management system that will keep track of where everyone is in the organisation at any one time – whether they are working remotely, not due in till later, on holiday or off sick. This gives managers a clear view of where each team member is and it can prevent flexible working clashes, ensuring there are always enough people in the office. “With the right policies and technology in place flexible working is easy to manage and something more businesses should embrace.”