There are many different kinds of flexible working, including: part-time (working less than normal hours); flexi time (choosing when to work); compressed hours (working the same number of hours in a shorter period of time); and homeworking. If you’ve been working for your employer for 26 weeks, you have the right to apply for flexible work if: you have or will have parental responsibility of a child under 16 or a disabled child under 18 OR if you are the guardian, partner, or holder of a residence order of one of these and are applying to care for the child OR if you care for an adult who is a spouse, partner, civil partner, or relative, or co-habits your abode.

Please note that this right to apply is voided if you are an agency worker, in the armed forces, or have exercised the right within the last 12 weeks. Your employer may also turn your application down if they have taken it seriously and have good business reasons for doing so.

Average Working Hours Per Week

To discover the average number of hours you work in a week, divide the number of hours you have worked over a period of time by the number of weeks in that period (excluding rest days). For most adult workers, this period should be 17 weeks and the average number of working hours in a week should not exceed 48.

Average Working Hours Per Day

To discover the average number of hours you work in a day, divide the number of hours you have worked over a set period of time by the number of days you were required to work during that that period. As a night worker, this period should be 119 days (17 weeks) and the average number of working hours in a day should not exceed 8.

Working Hours within Shift Cycles

To discover your average working hours from shift cycles requires a little more effort.

To start with, divide the number of days in a period of time by the total number of days in your shift cycle to discover how many cycles you have worked in that period. Then multiply the number of hours you work in a cycle by the number of cycles you have worked and add any overtime – this will be the total number of hours you have worked in the period of time.

Subtract the number of rest days to which you are entitled from the total number of days in the period and, finally, divide the number of hours you have worked by the number of days you have been required to work. The resulting number is the average number of hours worked in a day which, for night workers, should not exceed 8.

Otherwise, as with all changes to employment contracts, employers must have the agreement of the employee before they can make changes to the working times and hours. Although they often offer incentives to work at night, employers are not required by law to offer extra pay, bonuses or rewards for working at night or during antisocial hours. They are required, however, to give special consideration to pregnant women and new parents, to whom night work might be especially inconvenient.

To protect night workers, an average night working limit is in place, dictating that night workers shouldn’t work more than an average of eight hours in twenty-four hour periods. Should the type of work involve significant amounts of mental or physical strain, an absolute limit of eight hours in any twenty-four hour period applies, including overtime in both the night and day.

Surveillance and security workers, workers who travel longer distances to work and those who work in many different places are all exempt from night working limits, as are various employees in the rail industry and those who work in environments that require constant staffing. Other workers excluded from night working limits include the emergency services, armed forces, domestic servants and workers who freely choose their own working hours.

Workers can choose to opt out of the 48 hours limit and work longer than 48 hours per week, but they must do so freely and in writing. They can also choose to opt back into the 48 hour limit, without suffering any unfair treatment or dismissal for doing so. Employees must, however, give ample notice to their employer that they wish to opt back into the limit.

This 48 hour period for adult workers can be calculated by taking the average number of hours of work an employee does per week over a 17 week period. Work counts as all their normal responsibilities, as well as any training, extra work-related travel time, overtime, working lunches and time spend on-call in the workplace. However, lunch breaks, travelling to and from work, holiday, volunteered overtime and time spent on-call away from the workplace do not count as working hours.

One possible alternative to overtime payment is offering time off in lieu, which allows the employee to take as many hours off as they have worked extra. The specific details of when time can be taken off vary from company to company. Employees only have to work overtime if their employment contract states that they have to, though even then they can refuse to do so if it will take their working hours above 48 per week. Exactly what counts as overtime should be outlined in the employee’s contract however; if the employment contract includes Sunday working hours, for example, then working on a Sunday will not count as working overtime.

Part time workers will usually only be paid overtime when they work antisocial hours for which full time staff would receive extra pay, longer hours than a full time worker or longer hours than are outlined in their employment contract.