Over recent months, I’ve had multiple conversations with HR leaders and company directors who are beginning to question something many of us assumed was settled: Is flexible working actually working in practice, for everyone?
The pandemic taught us that flexibility is essential for a healthier work-life balance. It gave people autonomy over when, where and how they work, and many organisations have worked hard to embed flexible working policies that are genuinely appreciated.
I certainly could not run a business with small children without flexibility over my work and I finished early yesterday to sit in the sun and read my book for 2 hours as it felt like an opportunity that couldn’t be missed. If we are happy to make the time up and it suits our lifestyle, then that is great. My concern is when working to make up hours brings resentment, feels relentless, and prevents us from truly switching off.
I’m not suggesting we go backwards as flexibility remains one of the most important tools we have for protecting wellbeing. But these conversations have highlighted a growing truth: flexible working is not always experienced as freeing. In some cases, it’s quietly becoming another source of strain.
How can flexible working begin to create pressure?
- When flexibility becomes “make up the hours” culture
Many employees feel they must make up every hour spent at a medical appointment, school event, caring responsibility, for example. No one explicitly asks them to but often workloads, internal expectations and company cultures can mean they feel they have no choice. The risk here is no real downtime, and a sense that flexibility simply means shifting work into free time.
- When people stay for the flexibility, not the job
Some organisations are seeing low engagement scores, low morale and declining productivity yet turnover remains stable, with the main reason given for wanting to stay with that company for the next 12 months being the flexibility, not because they feel connected to the work or the culture. This creates a quiet disengagement that is difficult to spot but deeply damaging over time.
- When managers feel permanently “on”
Flexible working has blurred boundaries for us all, including managers. Many feel they must be reachable on non‑working days, during annual leave, or outside contracted hours and often reinforce this themselves by replying at those times which also models this unhealthy behaviour to their team. This creates a culture where availability becomes the norm, and genuine rest becomes rare.
- When flexibility leads to saying “yes” to more
This is the newest pattern emerging from conversations: Because for many, we can work more flexibly and be at home more, we’re saying yes to more non‑work responsibilities (a food delivery during working hours, feeding a neighbour’s cat, checking in on a friend at lunchtime, taking on extra errands). Individually these seem small, but collectively they chip away at cognitive bandwidth and create a sense of being “always on duty” for both work and life. Flexibility becomes a magnet for extra tasks, not a buffer against stress.
Sadly, we are in a stress crisis and flexibility should ease the load, not add to it
Across sectors, stress levels are rising sharply. Flexible working should be part of the solution but only when it’s implemented in a way that genuinely reduces pressure rather than redistributing it.
This is the moment for organisations to pause and ask: Is our flexible working policy working as intended or is it unintentionally adding to the strain?
Practical tips: making flexibility work as intended
These simple, reflective prompts can help managers and HR teams review flexible working in a supportive, non‑judgemental way.
Help your people build healthy boundaries
- Normalise saying “no” or “not right now.”
- Encourage people to protect non‑working days and breaks.
- Reinforce that flexibility is not about absorbing more tasks at work or at home.
- Offer training or resources on boundary‑setting and energy management.
- Model these from the top e.g. avoid communication outside of working hours, be explicit about your own boundaries, celebrate healthy boundary setting when you see it
In 1:1s, ask reflective questions
- “Is flexibility helping you manage life or adding pressure?”
- “Do you feel you need to ‘make up’ time even when no one asks you to?”
- “Are you taking on more because you’re home?”
- “What boundaries would help you protect your wellbeing?”
Review team norms
- Are people emailing when you would not expect them to e.g. late at night?
- Are managers modelling healthy behaviour?
- Are expectations clear about response times?
- Is workload realistic within contracted hours?
Revisit the policy itself
- Does it clearly state that flexibility is not about extending the working day?
- Does it protect non‑working days and annual leave?
- Does it support carers, parents and those with health conditions without creating guilt or pressure e.g. not having to make up hours and a focus on output not input
A Final Thought
Flexible working is still one of the most powerful wellbeing tools we have but only when it’s used as intended: to give people more control, more balance and more space to breathe. As pressure continues to rise across the UK workforce, now is the time to ensure flexibility is truly easing the load, not quietly adding to it.