HRMP21 -------------------– 1928741

INTRODUCTION

This paper analyses flexible contracts, why it has been such a growing phenomenon
across the globe and the positives and negatives of it. Flexi-time working, another
term widely used for flexible contracts had historically been introduced by Hewlett-
Packard in 1973 in the US, and has since seen eventual growth and acceptance by
organisations across the globe. Flexible contracts have become incresingly popular
in, mainly the OECD countries in the past decade. This increasing prevalence
reflects the change in patterns of labour market regulations, change in technology
over a period of time and mainly and most importantly, increasing female labour
force participation.
Interestingly, smaller businesses are also increasingly offering flexible contracts as
a smart recruitment tactic where they get to retain whichever employee best suits
their requirement. It is one of the ways they can stay spirited and successfully try
and compete with bigger firms that continually offer a better package of salary and
other benefits but may demand a more conventional work schedule. This paper
should look to discuss both the negatives and positives of Flexible Working
Contracts.

ISSUES FACING EMPLOYERS WITH REGARDS TO FLEXIBLE

CONTRACTS

1) Failure to include employees in planning stage – Companies often make a

common mistake when establishing flexible contracts-related-work system of
insufficient communication with their employees. This mainly happens because
companies often fail to seek proper input from employees on their interests and
needs. They also often fail to assess whether the new work arrangements is
appropriate for their type of work. This causes massive failures in the system as
communication gaps fail to address issues and concerns on both the employer’s part
as well as the employee’s. The best procedure is one that speeches employees’
individual desires or requirements and at the same time tackles the company’s needs
to provide high quality products and services. Also, some flexible workers may
have joined after the initial planning stage and in that case, couldn’t have an
elaborate idea or understanding of the company’s vision, mission and objectives.

2) Failure to identify that certain positions/individuals are not conducive to

flexible contracts – Failure to identify a respective individual’s work style and past
may cause the employer to misinterpret the demands of the arrangement. For
example, an employee who has shown aptitude to work well on his own would
surely not be an ideal applicant for telecommuting arrangements, and employees
without the needed physical and emotional stamina would not be able to sustain the
long hours needed for flattened work schedules.
 HRMP21 -------------------– 1928741

3) Relaxed or Casual Strategies that Lead to Inconsistencies and Biases -

Inconsistent use of relaxed or informal policies can cause bitterness, poor morale,
loss of employees and even legal action. To develop and prepare a formal written
policy is very important. This must also be consistent with the company’s flexible
work policy or plans, and must be clearly stated, non-discriminatory and just.

4) Decline in Communication – Arrangements in work, which require teleworking or

working from home, etc should try and be avoided as these arrangements, even
though cost effective, can result in a lack of business and social contact with
colleagues, supervisors and business managers. A decrease in communication can
result in severe damage to the organisation, and this must be avoided by conducting
staff meetings with the flexible contract employees to make them feel as if they are
a part of the organisation. Also they mustn’t feel excluded from information sharing
or alienated from co-workers and their managers. If working from home or
teleworking is part of an organisation, then all efforts should be made to keep the
employees communicating with each other only using email. Telephone and other
communication must always be a part of the organisation, especially between
supervisors and their subordinates.

5) Resistance of Management – Managers are not always comfortable to pass on

responsibilities to temporary staff. Even though flexible employees may have been
working for a particular organisation for many years altogether, they are still seen as
employees temporarily filling in for permanent employees in most cases. Even
though this may not be true, managers are not keen to surrender direct supervision
of staff “on-site” where they can visually assess the work manner of the employees.
In this case, a change in the mindset can be slowly and steadily brought about. The
managers cannot look at everything with a tainted eye and must learn to manage a
system based on trust and respect. The results rather than the work process must be
evaluated with more seriousness. More output can be attained if a person feels safe
wherever he is, in the organisation as a whole.

6) Failure to Monitor, Measure and Update Flexible Contract Arrangements -

Flexible work arrangements may require a continual process of improvements or
developments. It’s goals need to be continuously assessed and measurement of how
many or in what proportion they are fulfilled is also necessary because this is the
best way to find out if these arrangements of flexible contracts are working and are
successful in getting the job done. The lines of communication with employees need
to be kept open in terms of encouraging feedback and working on it. When trying to
initiate or implement a new plan, programs that measure how successful the
 HRMP21 -------------------– 1928741

attempts were should be implemented together so that success of implemented

programs can be measured and improved upon. Employees should also be given a
realistic picture of whether if the plan proves unsuccessful, a return to work
arrangements prior to the new program, may return.

7) Legal Consequences – Businesses have been charged with litigations in recent

years with a number of flexible contract neglects. Most flexible contracts lawsuits
have to do with the misclassification of employees as being excused from overtime.
There is also the hazard of a employee being wounded at home while executing
company business, which may also result in lawsuit. Employers must properly
determine which employees are excused and which are unexcused. Unexcused
employees are entitled to overtime pay for hours worked in addition to 40-hours in
any given workweek. These employees must be required to document and submit
hours worked.

8) Loss of Clients – Employers also expressed a general fear of loss of clients in

surveys widely available online when it came to flexible contracts related work.
Clients disliked interacting with a different representative of the company everytime
they had a query. The new person they were dealing with had no idea of the client’s
past concerns and the clients had to start explaining the new representatives from
scratch. This caused dismay among several clients and caused them to switch to
organisations that weren’t practicing this, many among which had been dealing with
the earlier organisation for several years. Surveys also show that these clients were
mainly of higher age and disliked the inconvenience of having to deal with new
representatives.

9) Fall in Employee Productivity – Employers were afraid of employee productivity

falling over-time because of reasons pertaining to the feeling of belongingness to
the organisation. The flexible or part-time employees may not feel one with the
organisation as they are not a part of it and may not do the best job that can be done,
leading to fall in productivity of the employees.

However Flexible contracts are not all bad. As opposed to negative factors, there are a
handful positives as well. This paper attempts to compare the negatives with the
positives, with the positives being listed below.
 HRMP21 -------------------– 1928741

1) Being seen as modern and forward thinking employer – If an employer’s image

in public is that of a modern and forward thinking employer, it greatly helps uplift
the company’s public image and the work spirit. Every employer wants to be in this
position. To be viewed as a fair and just employer grants the employer a good image
and makes him a desired employer. Also, an organisation that has a good external
image tends to work efficiently to preserve that image and this also acts as
motivation to the employees.

2) Helps with recruitment – Flexible work is a great way of finding the right
employees for permanent work. It can greatly help with recruitment of permanent
workers. Flexible work gives the employer a good idea of whether a person would fit
well in a certain organisation in a particular job. While this can be a great tool to
recognise and recruit such people, it can be used for greater organisational building.

3) Improving Motivation – Motivation in any organisation is very imporatant.

Getting work done on time helps to control costs and maximise profits. Motivational
advantages can lead to happier employees that ultimately result in better functioning
of the organisation. It is very important to have motivated employees in the
organisation. Motivation is usually in monetary terms when it comes to the sales. It
simply works by the principle, whoever sells more gets greater commission, which
basically leads to the sales team working harder to sell more and more of what the
company produces. This motivation leads to benefit of both, the salesman, as well as
the company.

4) Improved Retention – Employee retention is very imporatant in any organisation.

A high Human Resource (HR) Turnover can lead to several problems and also
causes non-costeffectiveness. A high HR Turnover means that the company has to
spend lots of money advertising for jobs in various media publications in print and
electronic forms. This costs a lot of money and is undesirable. Employee retention
becomes very important over time, and flexible workers can prove to be a very good
source when it comes to retention. If enough flexible workers can be motivated or
retained in the form of permanent workers over-time, a lot of unnecessary expenses
can be saved, which can lead to better cost-effectiveness and eventually more profit.

5) Allows a person to work when they accomplish most, feel freshest, and enjoy
working – Different people feel more comfortable working at different times. In
organisations where flexible work is practiced, this is often possible. Eg. Call Centre
Helplines. Some people may feel fresher and more energetic working at night
against working in the day. Flexible work makes this possible for them. For other’s
 HRMP21 -------------------– 1928741

who like working in the day, may do so. This also brings out an employee’s best
efficiency and helps achieve maximum results out of every employee.

Conclusion

The interesting observing made is that flexible working contracts aren’t as bad as
imagined. They can actually help achieve job satisfaction, by helping the worker be
comfortable with what he’s doing and when he’s doing it. As mentioned above, one
of the biggest advantages of Flexible work is the very possibility of being able to
work at night if comfortable, or at any time of the day a person may prefer. This
helps bring out the best in a person and helps the employee achieve comfort in the
job.
Another major advantage would be the training opportunities that can be taken
advantage of by the employees. Surveys widely show that the job training given to
employees on temporary jobs is about 20% better in quality than compared to
employees in permanent jobs.
3 months for men and 6 months for women is usually how long temporary jobs last
at one go before the employees are accommodated into permanent jobs, which on an
average last for 3 ½ years for men and 2 ½ years for women. This again shows how
well the flexible work system can be used to get into permanent jobs in good
organisations. Hence, temporary jobs are a stepping-stone to permanent work.
Also, if temporary jobs are probationary in nature, which generally tends to be the
case, successful workers should eventually move into permanent employment
without suffering long-term negative wage effects. Permanent employment can be
achieved through flexible contract work, also flexible contracts as mentioned above,
are a great way of achieving one too many things, both for the employer as well as
the employee.
 HRMP21 -------------------– 1928741

References:

 DirectGov. 2010. Advantages to flexible working. [Online] Available at:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/Flexibleworking/DG_
184874 [Accessed 25th October 2010]

 Schaefer, P. 2005. Flexible Work Arrangements: Employer Solutions to

Common Problems. [Online]. Available at:
http://www.businessknowhow.com/manage/flex-work.htm [Accessed 25th
October 2010]

 Dex, S. and Scheibl, F. 2010. Flexibility [Online]. Available at:

http://www.flexibility.co.uk/flexwork/general/SMEs.htm [Accessed 27th
October 2010]

 Basu, A. and Altinay, E. 2010. Family and work in minority ethnic

businesses in the UK [Online]. Available at:
http://www.jrf.org.uk/system/files/n13.pdf [Accessed 31st October 2010]

 Hilpern, K. 2008. Part time, Full Potential? [Online] May. Available at:
http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/85346/part-time,-full-potential.aspx?
searchwords=employer%20reviews%20flexible [Accessed 28th October &
31st October]

 Foster, C. 2007. Metropolitan Police Service: the Working Families

Employer of the Year. [Online] (166) July. Available at:
http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/77522/metropolitan-police-service--the-
working-families-employer-of-the-year.aspx [Accessed 20th October 2010]

 Lissenburgh, S and Smeaton, D. 2010. Employment transitions of older

workers: The role of flexible employment in maintaining labour market
participation and promoting job quality. [Online]. Available at:
http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/343.pdf [Accessed 31st October 2010]