Low paid Scottish workers have least flexible working amid 'lack of trust'

Low paid workers in Scotland have the least flexible working, and the gap between the number of flexible staff on the lowest and highest salaries has widened, according to a new study.

Just over half (51 per cent) of all Scottish workers earning less than £20,000 a year work flexibly, compared with eight in ten (80 per cent) workers earning more than £50,000, a difference of 29 percentage points, figures from Flexibility Works reveal. The report shows that a year ago 50 per cent of workers earning less than £20,000 worked flexibly as did 73 per cent of workers earning more than £50,000, a smaller difference of 23 percentage points.

The figures are from Flex for Life 2023, an annual in-depth analysis of flexible working in Scotland by social business Flexibility Works, with support from the Scottish Government and The Hunter Foundation. The study is based on research with more than 1,000 Scottish workers, 248 employers and 216 unemployed Scottish adults looking for work. It found that salary was the key differentiator on whether someone worked flexibly or not.

Nikki Slowey, director and co-founder of Flexibility Works, said: “We’re concerned that while the pandemic has increased flexible working in Scotland overall, the benefits are skewed towards workers on higher incomes where good flexible working keeps getting better, while little changes for workers on the lowest incomes. Initially we thought this was because more low paid workers are in frontline roles, such as in the care, manufacturing and hospitality sectors, where employers need to be more open-minded and creative to create flexibility. But our figures show this isn’t the case. Frontline or not, the higher earners always have significantly more flexibility than lower earners.”

She added: “Lack of trust is likely to be part of the problem because we know some employers still expect workers to ‘earn the right’ to work flexibly. But the full reasons are something we need to explore further. In the meantime, we’re encouraging all employers to explore greater flexible working. It is well documented that flexibility improves employee mental health and wellbeing and boosts productivity, recruitment and retention for employers.”

The report shows that the desire for flexible working remains high but stable. About one in five (21 per cent) Scottish workers do not work flexibly but would like to, which together with the 61 per cent who work flexibly means 82 per cent of Scottish workers have or want flexible working. This compares with 84 per cent last year, and 73 per cent pre-pandemic.

Neil Gray, secretary for wellbeing economy and fair work, said: “This research shows an increase in jobs offering flexible working arrangements in recent years, but underlines that more can be done to continue encouraging employers to unlock more vacancies to flexible work at the point of hire and to support workers in lower paid roles into better and more flexible work. Businesses that offer flexible working arrangements can recruit and retain a wider range of talent. Improving access to flexible working is an important means to support people who are managing care commitments or long-term health conditions to enter, or remain in paid work and will enable employers to access and retain valuable skills and experience in the workplace.”