Suss out how much choice current employees get

“Try to understand how much choice staff are given when it comes to their benefits,” Fekaiki suggests. “The best employers will empower their teams to choose at least some elements of their benefits themselves to ensure they genuinely benefit them.”

Speak to current or ex-employees to fact-check claims made in interviews

Want to avoid signing on to a job that’s engaging in flexibility faking? Your best bet is to ask current or past employees how flexible their job really is or was.

Molly Johnson-Jones, co-founder at the global directory for verified flexible companies, Flexa, suggests: “Unfortunately, the popularity of flexible work means some employers are being tempted to make false or vague claims of flexibility on job adverts (eg marketing themselves as flexible when in reality they are not) to attract talent. We call this ‘fake flexibility’ and it makes it near impossible for jobseekers to make well-informed decisions about roles.

“The best way for jobseekers to work out whether a company is genuine about its promise of flexible working is to speak to current or former employees to get a sense of how these policies are being implemented in practice.

“You can also search for companies on the Flexa platform to check whether they’re a verified ‘flexible’ employer. We give companies a ‘Flex Score’ based on employee satisfaction and feedback about the level of flexibility offered, and also list the other key company benefits on offer to give you a transparent and objective overview of company flexibility and perks.”

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