IT USED to be the preserve of mothers with small children. But as aspirations towards the perfect work-life balance soar, demand for flexible working is increasing across all ages, backgrounds and walks of life.

A recent survey undertaken by YouGov for Family Friendly Working Scotland revealed that being able to work flexibly is a reality, or a desire, for almost 80 percent of Scots.

The survey, of more than 1000 people across the country, claims 78 percent currently work flexibly or want to do so. In addition, 53 percent of respondents said that when looking for a new job, flexible working was an important consideration.

Nikki Slowey, joint programme director at Family Friendly Working Scotland, said: “It is not just working mothers who want a more flexible work pattern. A variety of people of all ages want to work flexibly for all kinds of reasons. Older workers may want to reduce their hours as part of a phased retirement while work life balance is increasingly important to younger workers starting out in their careers. Families with children or with elderly relatives may want flexibility to allow them to fulfil their caring duties.

“Other employees may want to pursue a passion or voluntary commitment which can allow them to gain experience and skills to bring back to the workplace.”

She added: “Employers are seeing the benefits of adopting flexible working in terms of increased loyalty, productivity and motivation levels amongst staff.”

The survey also revealed that of Scots who already work flexibly, 89 percent said it improves their quality of life, 86 percent said it makes them happier at work and 77 percent said they “go the extra mile” for their employer as a result.

Sophie Rogers, a singer-songwriter from Old Kilpatrick, is also a youth worker at West Dunbartonshire Council.

Her job entails working with the youth employability team, often with so-caled 'hard-to-reach' young people on their personal and social development.

The 27-year-old works 17 and a half hours over four days a week, Monday to Thursday, and uses Fridays to prepare for her weekend gigs. She sings and plays guitar and performs a mixture of her own songs and covers and has performed all over Scotland as well as in New York, Toronto, Spain and Holland.

“Music and working with young people are my two passions,” said Sophie. “I first got into working with young people through various arts projects and it is really rewarding.

“I really appreciate being able to work flexibility – there is a lovely feeling of trust from my employer. They trust that I will get the job done, so it’s a nice atmosphere to work in.”

She adds: “Before, my work life balance just wasn’t there, either work was taking over or there would be periods when I was gigging a lot.

“My work pattern was a bit chaotic. Now I really appreciate having regular work but also having that bit of time in the week to prepare for the weekend’s gig. I feel more settled.”

James Tindell, 38, from Edinburgh, balances a mentally stimulating desk job for Business in the Community Scotland with a physically challenging job as an aerial dance instructor.

He works four days a week for BITC coordinating employee volunteering schemes and spends his fifth day training as an aerial dancer mixing acrobatics and dance while dangling from a rope or silk suspended from the ceiling.

He also teaches aerial dance in the evening and at weekends.

James explained: “I am very lucky because I have two jobs I love. Together they keep me mentally and physically challenged. I never get bored. I don’t have children but working flexibly is still hugely important to me. I’m happier because of it and, I think, better at both my jobs because of the balance they give me.”

David Clyne, 44, works compressed hours, Tuesday to Friday, in his job as Recreation and Access Manager with the Cairngorms National Park Authority.

This allows him to spend long weekends with his partner, Katy McNeil, at their home in Edinburgh. When he took up the position in 2013 this flexible working pattern was written into his employment contract.

“Work life balance is important and if you can demonstrate that you can manage quite a significant workload well and manage a team well, then it really doesn’t matter where you are based,” he said.

“New technology means I can keep in contact with anyone, anywhere. I can access project management software which keeps me abreast of everything on my ipad and on my phone. Everyone is at the end of a phone.

“It’s all about mutual trust. If you can demonstrate that you are doing the job well and achieving the outcomes and everyone is kept up to date, it’s a win-win for everybody.”

He added: “We are a small organisation, but we work across six per cent of Scotland’s land mass. It makes perfect sense for us to be flexible about where we are. Just because you are sitting at a desk, doesn’t mean you are being productive.

“That extra day gives me the chance to travel down and spent the weekend with Katy or she comes up here. It works really well. We’re both really keen on outdoor sports – there is nothing better than starting a Monday by going up a Munro in the amazing Cairngorms knowing that you’ve got the hills to yourself. It’s a great start to the week before work on a Tuesday morning.”

Kate Heggie, 37, of Pencaitland, East Lothian, combines her job as a property manager with running her own retail business.

She has two children, Jamie, who is five and seven-year-old Anna.

“My youngest has just started school which means that I do have more hours in the week, and flexible working just absolutely makes the most of that,” she explained.

“It means that you can be there for your family, but in the hours that you don’t need to be, you’ve got all this time when you can be extremely productive.”

Kate works as a property manager for commercial and residential property company ISM (Dundee) Ltd for two-and-a-half days a week and uses the rest of her time to run Scandinavian homewares company Nordic Edit online and from a showroom near Dunbar.

“My business partner Karin and I went on a mini-break to Stockholm with friends and we absolutely fell in love with the culture, the style and the whole ethos of living,” she said.

“When we came back we realised that there was nowhere, even online, where we could go to get a little piece of that.

“The idea was that when my youngest started school that would give me more time in the week to pursue a new project. Because my main job is flexible, I knew I could juggle the two.”

Kate believes we can learn from the Scandinavian attitude to work and family. “In Scandinavia they are very big on work life balance,” she says. “They allow you to have a family and have it work with your job, not against it.”

How to become a flexible worker

Flexible working aims to find more effective and productive ways of working which meet both business and employee needs. All employees with more than 26 weeks service can make a request for flexible working. Some employers may allow staff with less than 26 weeks service to make a request, although such employees do not have a statutory right to do so.

Requests should be made in writing, dated, and refer to any previous applications for flexible working.

Employees should demonstrate how they think the changes may affect the business.

Requests, and appeals, must be considered and decided upon within three months of receipt.

Employers must have a sound business reason to turn down a request for flexible working.

Employees can only make one request in any 12 month period.

Source: ACAS