So you want to work flexibly? We don’t blame you. It’s great. You could work fewer days per week, or do flexitime around life commitments, or maybe try remote working. You might be returning from maternity leave and want some flexibility with childcare commitments. (Parental leave is a temporary option, and after it ends you still need to take care of your little one.) There are plenty of reasons you’d want to do it, and we totally get it. That's why we've put together this handy guide to help you make a statutory request for flexible working. We'll tell you how the process works – it’s dead s ..read more

Do you use Microsoft Teams? Do you want a simpler way to manage your employees' days off? If so, you've landed on the right article, your working life is about to get a whole lot easier ? There are two ways to add annual leave to your Microsoft Teams Calendar: the not-so-straightforward method, and the straightforward one. Just use the Teams Calendar: Surprisingly, this isn’t the easy way...! Despite being a powerful tool for communication and collaboration, the Teams calendar just isn’t built to be a comprehensive leave tracker. As you’ll see below, adding annual leave directly to your Teams ..read more

Your annual work hours are a reflection of how you spend a significant portion of your year. Calculating them lets you grasp the commitment you're making to your job and how much time you have left for personal pursuits. Typically, in the UK, if you're working full-time at 37.5 hours per week, you'd rack up around 1,800 hours annually, taking into account public holidays and annual leave. The total can vary, though, depending on how many holidays you're entitled to and any additional hours you might work. Part-time employees can end up working any number below that, of course. Calculating work ..read more

You’ll need to know the number of working days in a year for planning your work schedule and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. In the UK, the exact number of business days you’ll work can vary from year to year. The figure is influenced by the number of public holidays that year, as well as whether it's a leap year or not. When you calculate your annual work days, you typically exclude weekends and public holidays from the total count. On average, you're looking at around 253 days in a normal year, although this number will slightly increase in a leap year. It's important to remember th ..read more

You’ll need to figure out the number of working weeks in a year for planning your work schedule, managing annual leave, and calculating entitlements. A standard year comprises 52 weeks. But how many of those do people normally work? Well, it's not quite as simple as you might think. The figure will change depending on public holidays and each employee’s annual leave entitlements. Here’s how it all works. How many working weeks are in a year? The standard number is typically around 47-49 working weeks in a year when working a full-time job. Your exact number of working weeks can differ based on ..read more

Back in the mid-to-late 1800s, a typical working week was a soul-crushing 70 hours. Most people worked around 12 hours a day 6 days a week and were only given Sunday off as it was a holy day. That all changed in 1926, as Henry Ford realised that giving workers extra time off would boost morale and productivity. He implemented a working schedule at his car factories of Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, with Saturday and Sunday off. The trend was globally adopted and has been used ever since, to what we now know as the standard work week. In recent years, compressed hours have been making another ch ..read more

Have you ever had an HR issue and found yourself wondering what on earth you’re supposed to do? We know that HR & Employment Law issues can be tricky – and we also know that dealing with those issues isn’t what you got into business for. Whether you’re having a full-on HR or Employment Law crisis, or you just want some friendly advice, you can relax knowing you’ve got access to HR experts who are here to give you the right help with all your HR headaches. We’ve asked one of the advisors behind the line, Jonathan Howells, a few questions about the advice line, so you know exactly what it’s ..read more

What would you do with two extra Fridays each month? Go hiking in the countryside? Spend more time with your family? Laze around playing video games? Study part-time for a new qualification? With a 9-day fortnight, all of these are possible. For some, it sounds like a dream work schedule. And it's gaining traction in the world of business, for companies of all sizes. But surely there’s a downside. Does it make you less productive? Is it more stressful? Is it complex to roll it out across an organisation? Let’s find out. The 9-day fortnight explained The name explains itself, really. Usually, i ..read more

Annualised hours contracts offer a flexible approach to structuring work time and payment. Under this type of contract, your work hours are calculated over the course of a year rather than on a traditional weekly or monthly basis. This arrangement can benefit both you and your employer, because you get more control over when you work. It’s especially useful if your role is influenced by seasonal demands or peaks in business activity. But is this working arrangement actually good for employees? How about the companies they work for? Let’s take a look. What annualised hours are and how they work ..read more

Garden leave is a term you might encounter when you or someone you know is changing jobs. Essentially, it's the practice of paying an employee to stay away from work during their notice period, rather than having them come in every day. This time away from the office isn't holiday. The worker is still employed by the company, receiving their normal salary, but they’re not required to actually perform their usual duties or attend the workplace. For the company, this is often about protecting their business. If you're moving on to a role with a competitor or starting your own business in the sam ..read more