Fair Flexible Futures
Timewise was founded to tackle the lack of quality part-time jobs and drive the flexible conversation forwards. The pandemic has increased workplace inequalities, with women, carers and those in frontline sectors among the hardest hit. The Fair Flexible Futures project has set out to amplify the voices of people who need more control over how much, when and where they work through fairer flexible working.
The aim of Timewise’s #FairFlexibleFutures campaign is simple: to make good jobs flexible and flexible jobs good. A series of case studies, spotlighting a range of organisations including Islington Council, Rowlinson Knitwear, and Guy’s and St Thomas’, show how different employers have adapted to the pandemic.
In its new report, Timewise analyses how part-time employees are faring compared to full-time employees, and explores what more needs to be done to support them. The report finds that part-timers have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, facing higher levels of reduced hours and redundancy. They have also been less likely to return to normal working hours, and less likely to hang on to roles during lockdowns.
While flexible and hybrid working are at the heart of the government’s newly evolved Flexible Working Taskforce, part-time is not currently on the agenda. Timewise is calling on the government to include the right to request flexible work from day one in the Employment Bill, and to offer incentives to support flexible job creation and progression opportunities, in publicly funded job creation and support schemes across national, regional and local governments. And it is calling on employers to embed fair flexible work across their organisations, leading change for a fairer, more flexible future.