Stokers A5 Handbook Policies APR24

FLEXIBLE WORKING POLICY & PROCEDURE

INTRODUCTION Stokers is committed to providing equality of opportunity in employment and to developing working practices and policies that support work-life balance, increase motivation, performance and productivity, reduce stress and encourage employee retention. POLICY This policy gives eligible employees an opportunity to formally request a change to their working pattern in accordance with the statutory procedure for such requests. Managers are encouraged to facilitate requests unless they cannot be accommodated for business or operational reasons. Employees who make a request for flexible working will not be subjected to any detriment or lose any career development opportunities as a result. This policy applies to employees only. It does not apply to agency workers, consultants or self-employed contractors. It does not form part of any employee’s contract of employment and Stokers may amend it at any time. changes to working arrangements, such as: • Reduction or variation of working hours; • Reduction or variation of the days worked; and/or • Working from a different location (for example, from home). The possible changes to working arrangements may also involve: • Job sharing; • Working a set number of hours a year, rather than a week (annualised hours); • Working from home (whether for all or part of the week); • Working only during term-time (part-year working); • Working compressed hours; and/or • Working flexi-time. To be eligible to make a flexible working request under this policy the employee must currently work for Stokers and not made any other formal request to work flexibly during the last 12 months. GENERAL PRINCIPLES Flexible working can incorporate a number of possible

PROCEDURE Informal Procedure Any employee interested in flexible working should initially speak informally with the HR department to discuss their eligibility, the different options and the effect of their proposed work pattern on colleagues and service delivery, before submitting a formal request. Formal Procedure The employee’s formal request should be submitted in writing to their line manager and HR department in good time and ideally at least three months before the desired changes would effect. The employee’s formal request must: • State that it is a flexible working request; • Explain the reasons for the request, for example, if the request concerns childcare or other family commitments, religious or cultural requirements, or adjustments because of a disability; • Provide as much information as possible about the employee’s current and desired working pattern, including working days, hours and start and finish times, and give the date from which the changes would ideally take effect; • Identify the effect the changes to the employee’s working pattern will have on their work, their colleagues and on service delivery. If the employee has any suggestions about dealing with any potentially negative effects of the proposed changes, they should also be specified; and • Provide information to confirm that the employee meets the eligibility criteria set out in this policy, including the dates of any previous formal requests for flexible working. Meeting In most cases the employee will be invited to a meeting before any decisions are made about the employee’s formal request. The employee may bring a colleague or a trade union representative to the meeting as a companion. The companion will be entitled to speak during the meeting and confer privately with the employee, but may not answer questions on the employee’s behalf. The meeting will be used to discuss the new working arrangements requested by the employee. The employee will be able to explain how the proposed new arrangements

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