Four out of five people see flexible working as important to job, survey finds

As new research from conciliation service Acas has found that four out of five people believe flexible working is important in a job, Ruth Wilkinson, head of policy and public affairs at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, agrees that an improved work-life balance strongly benefits workers.

She said: “Improvements in work-life balance, in the quality of working conditions, and increasing levels of independence and flexibility, support workers to lead healthier and more sustainable lives. This can achieve a lot in terms of nurturing workers’ job satisfaction and productivity, and bringing long-term benefits to mental and physical health, with resulting reductions in absenteeism and presenteeism.

“Work-life balance and flexibility in working arrangements should form part of open and constructive conversations with workers.

“Aligning flexibility and protection practices needs to be extended to different forms of working time, covering those who work at night, on weekends, on shifts and in other forms of on-call work, including the platform economy and on-demand work.”