This lesson suits upper-intermediate to advanced learners. After listening, to test your learning.
Learning notes
Lesson language objective
Asking for flexible work
Asking for flexible working arrangements
- I would like to work more flexibly.
- Flexible work allows me to have a good work-life balance.
- I prefer hybrid work.
- It cuts down on my commute.
- Let’s play it by ear and revisit this arrangement.
Talking about working from home
- My work life has been bleeding into my home life.
- I feel like I’m working 24/7.
- I have a hard time clocking off work.
- I’ve been more productive.
- I have a lot on my plate but, working from home allows me to manage my life better.
Colloquial expressions:
To rock the boat means to disturb a situation. I don’t want to rock the boat by changing our current workflow.
To have a lot on your plate means you have a lot of responsibilities. She has three ongoing projects right now. She has a lot on her plate.
To play it by ear means to act flexibly according to how the situation changes. I’ll have to play it by ear if I can go to the picnic tomorrow.
To bleed into means to slowly spread to something. My personal life is bleeding into my work life.
To clock off means to leave work or to stop working. I’ve clocked off for the day.
To slack off means to make less effort. I’ve been slacking off in the gym lately.
24/7 means 24 hours a day, 7 days a week or all the time. The convenience store is open 24/7.
Vocabulary:
Flexible working arrangement (or flexible work) - A situation in which an employer allows workers to choose the times that they work so that they can do other things, such as care for children.
Hybrid working arrangement (or hybrid work) - An arrangement in which employees work part-time in the workplace and part-time either at home or in another location.
Transition – To undergo a change
Cut down – To lessen
Work-life balance –Harmony between your personal life and work.
Commute – To travel between home and place of work on a regular basis.
Downtime – Time when a person isn’t active or working.
Pros – Advantages
Cons - Disadvantages
Remuneration – Money you receive for work or a service you provide
Cultural information:
In Australia,
This applies to employers are must consider and discuss the request legally offer flexible work to certain workers, such as those who are primary carers, employees with disabilities and those who are aged 55 and over.
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Source: Getty/Nitat Termmee
Transcript:
Hi! Welcome to the SBS Learn English podcast, where we help Australians to speak, understand and connect.
My name is Josipa, and like you, I’m still learning the English language. Today we are practising how to ask your employer about a flexible working arrangement as well as how to talk to your friends and family about working from home.
Flexible work comes in different forms, such as part-time and casual work, different start and finish times and working from home. The type of flexible work you can ask for will, of course, depend on the type of work you do.
But how do you talk to your employer about flexible work?
Let’s listen in on this conversation between Maryanne, an employee who wants to extend her flexible working arrangement, and her employer, Allan.
Allan:
Hi Maryanne.
Maryanne:
Thank you for meeting with me today, Allan. I know that staff are returning to the office full time, but I’d like to ask if I could continue doing flexible work. I believe I’ve shown that I am just as productive when I work from home.
Allan:
Well, you know, I don’t want to rock the boat now that we have a workflow in place, but I was hoping you could make the transition to more of a hybrid working arrangement. We would love you to come to the office at least twice a week so that you can collaborate face-to-face with other team members.
Maryanne:
Sure, I can do two days a week. That will still help me to cut down on my weekly commute and it would give me a good work-life balance.
Allan:
I’m glad to hear it. We can revisit this arrangement in another three months or so to see how it’s going. I'm happy to play it by ear.
Let’s take a closer look at Maryanne and Allan’s conversation.
First, we heard Maryanne,
I know that staff are returning to the office full time, but I’d like to ask if I could continue doing flexible work.
In Maryanne’s case, having flexible work meant working from home.
Maryanne also said,
I believe I’ve shown that I am just as productive when I work at home.
Maryanne says that she has been productive even while she was working from home. Being productive means, she was able to work as well as expected, or even more than expected.
Being productive is one reason you can give, to convince your employer to allow you to do flexible work.
Some other reasons you can give to show that flexible work suits you include that you are more satisfied with your job, you are less stressed and you have taken fewer sick days.
For example, you could say ‘Ever since I started doing flexible work, I’ve been less stressed because I don’t have to rush to pick up my kids from school.’
Allan then said,
I don’t want to rock the boat now that we have a workflow in place.
To rock the boat means to disturb a situation.
The expression can also be used in other situations that aren’t related to work. For example, ‘We’re now getting along so well that I don’t want to rock the boat by bringing up the past.’
Allan also said,
I was hoping you could transition to more of a hybrid working arrangement.
To transition means to undergo a change.
You can use transition in other situations in which a change occurs. For example, ‘The transition from being single to being married was easy for him.’
Allan also said,
We would love you to come to the office at least twice a week so you can collaborate face-to-face with other team members.
Allan is hoping Maryanne can make the transition from working only at home to a hybrid working arrangement.
A hybrid working arrangement is a situation in which an employee works part-time in the workplace and part-time either at home or at another location.
To collaborate face-to-face means to work in person together.
Maryanne agreed to this arrangement and said,
That will still help me to cut down on my weekly commute.
To cut down means to lessen.
Cutting down on her commute means that Maryanne spends less time travelling from her home to her workplace.
Maryanne also said,
It would still give me a good work-life balance.
A work-life balance can either be good or bad. A good balance means there is harmony between your work life and personal life.
Allan said,
We can revisit this arrangement in another three months or so. I'm happy to play it by ear.
To play it by ear means to act flexibly according to how the situation changes.
The expression ‘to play something by ear’ can be used in a lot of situations. For example, ‘I think it might rain tomorrow, so let’s play it by ear and see if we can go hiking'.
In our second scenario, Maryanne and Allan are friends who are talking about working from home. Because they are friends, their conversation is more casual than the previous one. Let’s hear them.
Maryanne:
I’ll be going to the office twice a week. I’m looking forward to it. Ever since I started working from home, my work life has been bleeding into my home life and I haven’t had any downtime.
Allan:
I know what you mean. It’s hard to clock off when you’re working from home. Although in my experience, working from home has more pros than cons. I have a lot on my plate but, working from home allows me to manage my life better.
Maryanne:
True, but it can be challenging. I thought I’d have more time to slack off working from home, but it felt like I was working 24/7.
Let’s be honest - there are pros (advantages) and cons (disadvantages) to working from home and, Maryanne and Allan had an open discussion about them.
Maryanne said,
Ever since I started working from home, my work life has been bleeding into my home life.
Working from home has made Maryanne’s work life bleed into her home life.
To bleed into something means to spread into it.
Maryanne also said,
I haven’t had any downtime.
Downtime is the time when you are not working or being active.
Because her work life was bleeding into her home life, Maryanne felt that she had no downtime. She had no time to rest.
Allan replied,
It’s hard to clock off when you’re working from home.
To clock off means to leave work or to stop working.
Allan said,
I have a lot on my plate but, working from home allows me to manage my life better.
You have a lot on your plate when you have a lot of things going on at the same time. For example, ‘She’s a mum and a business owner, so she has a lot on her plate.’
Maryanne said,
True, but it can be challenging. I thought I’d have more time to slack off working from home, but it felt like I was working 24/7.
When something is challenging, it means it can be difficult. For example, ‘Running is challenging for someone who doesn’t like exercising.’
To slack off means to put less effort when doing something, such as work.
Maryanne thought that working from home would allow her to slack off, but it was the opposite! She said she felt like she was working 24/7.
24/7 means 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In short, 24/7 means all the time.
My guest today is the Head of Planning and Delivery at SBS Radio. Her name is Pamela Cook and she often speaks with her team about working flexibly.
Hi, Pamela, thank you for your time
Pamela:
Hi Josipa! Thanks for having me on the podcast.
Josipa:
Can all employees request flexible work arrangements?
Pamela:
Anyone can make a flexible work request with their employer, but in Australia, some workers have a legal right to request flexibility in certain situations under the Fair Work Act.
They need to have been working for the employer for at least 12 months. Plus they must be,
- parents or caregivers of children who are school-aged or younger;
- or they are a carer;
- or they have a disability;
- or the employee is 55 years or older;
- or are experiencing family violence or taking care of someone who is.
Josipa:
I see. I don’t think that a lot of people know that.
Pamela:
I agree. It’s important that we know that flexible work can be requested if you are a worker in the situations I just mentioned.
One option is to set an arrangement for a trial period, say three to six months, to see if it works for the employee and employer. They can then assess and if changes need to be made, the plan can be revisited.
Josipa:
Yes, I trialled working from home in the beginning but found that a hybrid working arrangement suits me better. I like that I can work with my manager to choose the days I work from home and the days I work from the office.
Pamela:
Yes. That’s definitely a pro of flexible work. Not only does your job satisfaction increase, flexible work lessens stress and absences and, it allows people to have a better work-life balance.
Josipa:
Thank you, Pamela.
A big thank you to our educational consultant Professor Lynda Yates, our guest Pamela Cook, and Paul Nicholson and Coni Laranjeira who voiced the characters of Allan and Maryanne.
