Flexible working options must become the norm post-lockdown now we’ve shown it can be done

Linda J. Dodson

Life is beginning to return to normal, with shops open and pubs and hospitality venues preparing to unlock their doors. Many of us will be desperate to get back to the way things were – but perhaps not in every area of life. 

The lockdown has shown that for many people, working from home is possible. It has forced employers that previously may have encouraged presenteeism to admit that their employees are perfectly capable of getting the job done without being in the office. It has allowed employees to experience a new work-life balance, which they may not be willing to give up readily. 

Since lockdown, 85pc of parents have worked flexibly, a stark shift from before the pandemic when a third of parents were not even given the option to do so, according to Working Families, a charity. About one in eight said they would like to continue doing so once lockdown lifted but did not think it would be an option. 

Flexible working makes a significant difference to the lives of people with children or other dependants, particularly women – not least while schools remain closed. Childcare is expected to be hard to come by and more expensive for some time to come. 

This is why 26 major employers – including bank TSB, British Gas owner Centrica, insurer Zurich and tracks operator Network Rail – have called for improvements to flexible working to ensure parents no longer have to choose between their children and their career. People already have the right to request to work from home or change their work hours, but the bar for employers to refuse this is low and bosses who do agree have no obligation to change them back. 

There will be other benefits to a widespread increase in flexible working: property prices, for one. With swathes of the population out of work and forced to eat into their deposit savings before they can qualify for Universal Credit, and first-time buyers all but excluded from the market because of tighter lending restrictions, the ability to live further away from the office and outside expensive cities will be a welcome catalyst in a jammed system. 

This is not a call for the end of the office. I’m sure many of us are looking forward to returning to the workplace – it has its perks, not least water-cooler gossip, time away from the family (as much as we love them) or the poky one-bedroom flat and, in times like these, air conditioning.

But after these past few months, employers really have no excuse to refuse to accommodate the different needs and desires of their staff. Those that do may find their desks are empty anyway. 

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