Reference no: EM133306195

Assignment: CASE STUDY Introducing flexible working at Safelife Insurance Limited
Safelife Insurance Limited is a UK-based insurance company offering the full range of personal insurance including life insurance, home insurance, car insurance and travel insurance among other products. It is based in the Thames/M4 corridor and also has extensive online sales as well as 24-hour telephone contact facilities for sales and claims. It employs around 10 000 staff. Flexible working and Safelife Limited
Following the legislative changes in 2003 enabling parents to request flexible working, Safelife have taken the strategic decision that all staff should be able to request flexible working, although there is no commitment that the staff will necessarily be granted the option of flexible working. This strategic decision was taken for the following reasons: • The need to retain knowledgeable staff in a highly competitive labour market • The wish to increase the motivation of employees by giving them more control over their work • The expectation that this will positively impact sickness absence levels • To provide a high level of customer service.

The organisation believes that flexible working, which can include any reasonable request from a variation in start and finish times to remote working, also has benefits for staff as it can be used to meet employees' needs to fit with home responsibilities and to enable staff to have a better work- life balance. Teams as well as individuals are encouraged to review their objectives and current patterns of work and to devise a business case for changes to working arrangements, which meet the needs of the team members and also ensure excellent customer service.
In order to ensure fair treatment and transparency in taking the decision to allow flexible working, Safelife have devised a procedure to be followed by all employees making a request. This procedure requires those requesting flexible working to develop a business case that includes details of the proposed changes, costs, performance levels and spells out the customer benefits of the changes. 1. Case study tasks
In your role as the HR business partner at Safelife Insurance Limited you have been asked to prepare a briefing sheet for staff on the introduction of the policy on flexible working.

Question: The briefing note should include the following:

1. The strategic rationale for the introduction of flexible working

2. Details of the process for requesting flexible working

3. A framework for the development of the business case including recommended structure of the case

4. Details of the process for assessing the business case including the criteria which will be used.