This document discusses various flexible working practices including flexible hours, temporary working, job sharing, part time working, home working, multi-skilling, hot desking, and zero hour contracts. It provides definitions and discusses the pros and cons of each practice. Flexible working practices allow employers to adapt to employee needs and business demands while helping employees balance work and home life. However, some practices like zero hour contracts provide less stability and benefits for workers. Overall, flexible working can increase efficiency for businesses while accommodating individual circumstances.

1. Changes in
Working Practices
Business Studies
(A Level)

2. A range of employment
options designed to help
employees balance work and
home life
(Definition)

3. Flexible
Hours
Temporary
Working
Job
Sharing
Part Time
Working
Home
Working
Multi-
Skilling
Hot
Desking
Zero Hour
Contracts

4. Employees have an agreed number of working hours. These are
made up of core hours, (hours that must be worked) and the
remainder of the contracted hours are on a flexible basis.
(Definition)
The employer will set certain limits such as core hours and a
maximum and minimum number of working hours. It is made to
adapt to suit employee needs.
What it consists of?
Changing from full to part time
Home working
Compressed hours
Job sharing
Teleworking
Staggered hours
Changing working hours
Self-rostering
Shift working
Time off
Annualised hours
Term-term work

5. Employment for a specific amount of time
(Definition)
E.G. for 6 months to cover maternity leave
A temporary worker is not always guaranteed work, has
no career progression and does not have an overall
fixed pay.
Pros Cons
Fill employee absences Training
Save money and time Safety issues
Maintain staffing flexibility Legal concerns
Reliability

6. These workers work at busy periods to meet
customer needs, and have flexible hours
during quieter times. This employment help
employees to work around their day to day
schedule due to having less hours to work, this
also have cost-saving implications to
employers.

7. This involves working from home, most professional
jobs (such as design, IT, accountant, programming etc.)
will involve this type of work.
Pros (Employee) Pros (Employer)
Save time Less office space required
Less stress Reduction in overheads
Comfortable

8. A business train it’s workforce to be able to
do a range of different tasks. Multi-skilled
workers are likely to be better motivated and
change will be easier to implement in a
flexible workforce.

9. An employee has no fixed work space within an office
environment. The employee goes from job to job. This
cuts down the need for office space. Some workers (such
as sales team) may not require permanent desks.
Pros Cons
Cheap Breakdown of workplace
relationships
Greater Innovation Feel disconnected
Encourage new network
establishment

10. People share the same job (usually as a
fifty-fifty split)
Pros Cons
Flexible Bad communication
teamwork Not a full job

11. The employee has to be available for work but is not
guaranteed work.
If the employer is busy, the workers may be working full
time hours, however, if demand/labour falls, workers
may then be sent home.
Cons
No guarantee of work
No income security
Exploit workers

12. Businesses can expand and contract their
workforce quickly in response to demand
Temporary staff and subcontractors may be
cheaper to employ as they are unlikely to
get any of the benefits that may be available
to permanent staff
A flexible workforce is likely to make a
business more efficient

13. Temporary workers are less likely to
have the same commitment than
permanent workers
Communicating with a workforce
that works largely from home can be
an issue as teamwork will be lost