Flexible working can be defined as “a way of working that suits an employee’s needs, eg. having flexible start and finish times, or working from home.” The worker or employee has greater control of the hours they work, where they work, and how they can fit work around other commitments. There are many health benefits associated with this way of working.

1. Personal commitments

Those with restrictive working hours will experience the frustration when their child has a school assembly that they have had to miss again or they need to arrange a repair man to come to the house. Flexible working allows an individual to balance their personal commitments with their normal working hours.

2. Commuting

Research has suggested that millions of people spend more than two hours commuting to work every day. For those who request to start work an hour or so later, this commute time can be considerably reduced. Furthermore, by choosing to work from home, an individual will avoid the stress of travelling on cramped trains or driving to work in tail-to-tail stretches of road, which can ultimately affect their productivity for the rest of the day.

3. Costs

With train fares increasing by a further 2.3% at the start of this year, the commute to work is becoming ever more expensive. Choosing to work from home can cut commuting costs completely, whilst requesting to work flexible hours may mean the employee can travel off-peak.

4. Work Environment

Those who work flexibly have the power to choose their own work environment. The workforce is made up of a range of different working styles, and an individual’s working environment can have a positive, or negative, impact on their working style. Flexible working gives an individual more control over their work environment – this could be at the kitchen table, in a specifically designed home office or in the café on their local high street.

5. Less ‘Burnout’

Staggeringly, only 30% of UK workers take a proper lunch hour, with 24% regularly working through their break. Furthermore, the average person works eight weeks a year for free due to the amount of unpaid overtime they regularly do. With such a large number of individuals not taking a healthy amount of downtime, it is unsurprising that 51% of employee’s experience ‘burnout’ at some stage.

Flexible working is an effective way to prevent ‘burnout’ from happening as the worker has more control over their breaks and working hours.

6. Peak Performance

Flexible working hours allows workers to perform at their peak. For example, if an individual is a ‘morning person’ they will perform better by starting work earlier in the day and finishing up earlier. If they are a ‘night person’ they will feel fresher starting later and finishing later. When both are working the hours they feel they accomplish the most, productivity levels will be boosted.

7. Childcare

One of the biggest struggles that workers face is childcare. Although working from home will likely require childcare, the worker has more control over their hours meaning that work can fit around the school run, assemblies and parent’s nights.

8. Boosted Morale

A flexible working environment is great for boosting an employee’s morale. Giving them the control over their own schedule and working environment makes for a happier individual, and a happier individual will be more productive.

9. Health Benefits

It has been shown that having a flexible working schedule has a positive impact on diet, work-life balance and stress. In the same study is was revealed that home-workers experience 25% less stress than their colleagues working in a traditional office environment.

10. Environmental

From a macro-environmental perspective, flexible working can have a positive impact on an individual’s carbon footprint. If working from home, there will be less need to travel long distances to an office, reducing car emissions. Meal times become greener as there is less usage of plastic bags and coffee cups at lunchtimes. Additionally, due to the remote nature of working from home, the company and worker will likely rely on electronic means of communicating, therefore the amount of paper used on a daily basis can be substantially reduced.

Overall, flexible working has many benefits for the individual. It allows them more command over their personal life, health, achievements and environment. This sense of control boosts productivity levels, which can only benefit their company as a whole.

Do you want to regain control of your own working hours and environment? SmartPA is for you! Submit your query form today!