Flexible work tips for employees

Consider what’s possible in your position

These questions will help you get a sense of which strategies—remote work, adjusted hours, compressed work week or reduced hours–might be possible and what might not.

What's required for your job?

Attending meetings and regularly scheduled obligations on certain days or timeframes

Access to tools, technology and resources

A specific environment such as interacting with walk-in customers

Which of these could be impacted if you had a flexible work arrangement?

In other words, could you perform all of your job duties equally well?

Customer service

Communication

Productivity

Employees who report to you

Cross-training initiatives and other teamwork strategies

Goals established during your performance evaluations

Compressed work week and adjusted hours

Are you self-directed and comfortable working without close supervision?

Do you manage your time well?

compressed and adjusted considerations

Remote work

Are you self-directed and comfortable working without close supervision?

Do you manage your time well?

Are you comfortable working alone for long periods of time?

What equipment and technology will your arrangement require?

Are there any cost implications and/or cost savings for you and your college or division?

remote work considerations

Reduced hours

Are you aware of the pro-rated salary?

Are you aware of any health insurance and benefits implications?

reduced hours considerations

Talk about it with your supervisor

Before you submit your proposal, we recommend talking to your supervisor about it first and understanding all the context.

To prepare, you might consider:

Does your supervisor know about the types of flex work offered at UK?

Is there one type of flexible work you're interested in, or are you open?

Do you know if your college or division has any guidelines about flexible work already established that you could reference?

Will you discuss the topic generally with your supervisor first or lead with your proposal for flexible work?

Will you develop your own proposal to include any additional information such as cost savings that might result, or how you could measure your results or productivity?

Are you ready?

Send your proposal

What happens after submitting a proposal?

Your proposal will be submitted to your supervisor and the HR Work-Life manager will be copied for reference only. Your supervisor has the option to approve, request revisions or deny.

A conversation about flexible work could result in a variety of outcomes. Be prepared for any of these possibilities:

Agreement for a set time period
Trial before a longer-term agreement
Revisions and more discussion may be needed to reach an agreement
Additional leadership may need to approve
Current business goals and needs might not allow for any flexibility, but it could be an option for the position in the future
The position may not allow for any flexibility because of the specific responsibilities

Send a copy

Would you like to send a copy of this to yourself or a colleague?

Email address *