Flexible working opportunities can benefit everyone - employers, employees and their families. Most employers now recognise that it makes good business sense to provide flexible working opportunities for their staff. Find out if you have the right to request a flexible working pattern.

What is it?
'Flexible working' is a phrase that describes any working pattern adapted to suit your needs. Common types of flexible working are:

• flexi time: choosing when to work (there's usually a core period during which you have to work)
• annualised hours: your hours are worked out over a year (often set shifts with you deciding when to work the other hours)
• compressed hours: working your agreed hours over fewer days
  staggered hours: different starting, break and finishing times for employees in the same workplace
• job sharing: sharing a job designed for one person with someone else
• homeworking: working from home
• part time: working less than the normal hours, perhaps by working fewer days per week

Remember, this list is not exhaustive and there may be other forms of flexible working that are better suited to you and your employer.

For more information on flexible working visit Direct.gov

Information taken from Direct.gov