The insurance sector appears to be ahead of the game when it comes to new government legislation meaning workers can request flexible working from their first day at work.
Under the changes announced by government earlier this week, if an employer cannot accommodate a request to work flexibly, they will be required to discuss alternative options before they can reject the request.
For example, where it is not possible to change an employee’s working hours on all days, they could consider making the change for certain days instead.
The new legislation, backed in the government’s response to the Making flexible working the default consultation, will also remove the requirement for employees to set out the effects of their flexible working requests to employers.
Insurers Health & Protection spoke to including AIG Life, Zurich, Royal London and Cirencester Friendly revealed they already accommodate flexible working requests from day one.
And there could be consequences for those who are not already doing so.
Chloe Waters, senior consultant at FJN Recruitment Solutions, warned that insurers who fail to offer flexible working are only making it more difficult for themselves to secure talent.
“If you can’t offer flexible working, there’s a very, very tiny market of candidates that will entertain a role that is 100% office based,” Waters said.
“You’ve got to be flexible. Everyone is offering an element of hybrid, more home-based than office-based. It’s a definitely a topic on everyone’s agenda for sure.”
Support caring responsibilities
Laura Young, head of HR and development at AIG Life, explained advertising flexible working as an option to new joiners from day one helped attract and retain the best talent.
“Our culture is that we look out for each other and foster diversity, inclusion and wellbeing; for colleagues, for their families and our customers,” Young said.
“Flexible working supports people’s caring responsibilities and the feedback in our annual employee survey is this makes colleagues feel trusted to work in the best way for them and for us.”
She added that a third of employees at the insurer were homeworkers.
Applications doubled
According to Steve Collinson, chief HR officer at Zurich UK, the insurer has been a flexible work advocate for over a decade and the majority of employees work flexibly for at least some of their working week.
“We’ve taken this one step further and offer all new roles on a part-time, job-share and flexible basis – as well as full time,” Collinson continued.
“Since introducing this initiative, alongside our other family friendly policies, we’ve seen applications to the business more than double as we’ve been able to access a whole new pool of talent.
“Being an established flexible working employer has also meant that the transition to homeworking during the pandemic was seamless as everybody was already geared up to do so.
“We recognise that people have other commitments outside of work that they need to manage and that people are no longer prepared to work in rigid and out outdated patterns.”
Create inclusive workplace
Royal London confirmed its flexible working policy already allows for colleagues to request flexible working during the recruitment process or on day one.
As active signatories of the ABI’s Making Flexible Work Charter, the insurer said it continues to promote flexible working, through recruitment adverts and showcasing colleague case studies, to raise awareness of the possibilities and make it possible for those who would like it.
“Royal London has introduced a number of policies to ensure that it lives up to its promise of creating a workplace that is inclusive, responsible, enjoyable and fulfilling,” a spokesperson added.
Wider geographic area
Mike Hazell, director of HR at Cirencester Friendly, revealed the mutual’s employees can already request flexible working at any time, adding an extensive flexible working policy is a “massive” benefit.
“It allows our people to work in a way which suits both them and the business. We can already see this is having a positive impact on our overall staff retention through our low employee turnover rates,” he said.
“Cirencester Friendly’s default recruitment position for most roles now offers hybrid working. This allows us to be more competitive when attracting top talent and means we can search within a wider geographic area for key, strategic roles.”