Flexible Working Policy

(A pdf version of this policy is available for download here)

This policy aims to encourage staff to consider flexible working arrangements. St Stephen in Brannel Parish Council recognises that a better work-life balance can improve employee motivation, performance and productivity, and reduce stress. Therefore, the Council wants to support its employees achieve a better balance between work and their other priorities, such as caring responsibilities, leisure activities, further learning and other interests.

St Stephen in Brannel Parish Council is committed to agreeing any flexible working arrangements, provided that the needs and objectives of both the organisation and the employee can be met.

It is St Stephen in Brannel Parish Council’s policy to encourage open discussion with employees. If an employee thinks they may benefit from flexible working, they can either:

Contact the Clerk to arrange an informal discussion to talk about the options
Submit a flexible working request, by following the steps in this policy

This policy does not form part of the employment contract, and can be amended at any time.

What is flexible working?

Flexible working is any type of working arrangement that gives some degree of flexibility on how long, where and when an employee works.

The following flexible working options are considered to be the typical arrangements that employees will request but the organisation recognises that there may be alternatives or a combination of options which are suitable to both the organisation and the employee:

annualised hours
compressed hours
flexitime
hybrid working
job sharing
part-time working
remote working
staggered hours
term-time working

Types of flexible working

Annualised hours: Annualised hours means an employee’s contractual working hours are calculated as the total number of hours to be worked over the year. The employee has some flexibility on when they work these hours over the year.

Usually the hours will be divided into set rostered hours during busy periods, and unallocated hours during quieter periods. An employee can decide when to work their unallocated hours, subject to some limitations.

Payment will be in 12 equal instalments. However, arrangements may be permitted where the pay for the work actually done is in the period the payment relates to.

Compressed hours: Compressed hours means an employee works their usual full time hours in fewer days by working longer blocks. There is no reduction in the employee’s pay. For example, a 5-day week is compressed into 4 days, or a 10-day fortnight into 9 days.

Flexitime: Flexitime allows an employee to choose when to begin and end work, within certain limits.

An employee is required to work during core hours and must work an agreed number of hours during the accounting period of a month. Their hours of attendance will be recorded and added up at the end of each accounting period.

An employee can carry over an excess of up to 15 hours (pro rate for part time employees) or a deficit of up to 15 hours (pro rate for part time employees) from one accounting period to another. A deficit of hours should be made up in the following accounting period. An employee can use excess hours to either reduce attendance outside of core hours or take additional leave (flexi leave). Flexi leave is subject to a maximum of 5 full days in any accounting period. An employee should request and agree flexi leave in the same way as holiday entitlement (annual leave).

Hybrid working: Hybrid working is a mixture of working remotely and in the employer’s premises. Working remotely can include working from home or other agreed locations.

Job sharing: Job sharing is an arrangement where a full-time post is divided into 2 part-time roles. The 2 job holders then share the overall duties and responsibilities. Their skills and the hours each employee wishes to work must be compatible, and meet the needs of the organisation.
Pay and benefits are shared in proportion to the hours each person works. Job sharing can be considered where the creation of a single part-time post is difficult, or where 2 individuals wish to work part-time.

Part-time working: Part-time working covers any arrangement where an employee is contracted to work anything less than typical full time hours for the type of work in question. For example, an employee who works Monday to Wednesday.

All posts are available on a part-time basis, except where this is not practical.

Remote working: Remote working means working from anywhere other than the employer’s premises. This can include working from home or any other agreed location.
The organisation can consider remote working as being an occasional agreed day, a mix of working remotely and in the workplace, or a full-time arrangement.

Staggered hours: Staggered hours means having a different start and finish time to other employees. For example, working from 7am to 4pm instead of 9am to 6pm.

Term-time working: Term-time working is where an employee’s contractual working hours are during school terms only.

An employee does not work during school holidays. Any weeks above their annual leave entitlement are unpaid. Salary can be paid in 12 equal monthly instalments.

Alternatively, an employee can ask to be paid for the time worked only and receive no pay during the holidays apart from their holiday entitlement (annual leave).

Working from home: Working from home or homeworking is when an employee regularly carries out all, or part of, their duties from home rather than the employer’s premises. The organisation can consider homeworking being an occasional agreed day, a mix of working at home and in the workplace, or a full time arrangement.

The needs of the organisation

St Stephen in Brannel Parish Council is committed to providing a range of appropriate working patterns. However employees and management need to be realistic and to recognise that not all flexible working options will be appropriate for all roles.

Where a flexible working arrangement is proposed the organisation will need to take into account a number of criteria including (but not limited to) the following:

the costs associated with the proposed arrangement
the effect of the proposed arrangement on other staff
the need for, and effect on, supervision
the existing structure of the department
the availability of staff resources
details of the tasks specific to the role
the workload of the role
whether it is a request for a reasonable adjustment related to a disability
health and safety issues

The organisation is committed to agreeing any flexible working arrangements, provided that the needs and objectives of both the organisation and the employee can be met.

Eligibility

All employees have a statutory right to request flexible working from the first day of employment.

St Stephen in Brannel Parish Council is also open to discussing flexible working arrangements with employees before their first day.

Submitting a flexible working request

An employee is entitled to submit 2 statutory flexible working requests in a 12-month period.

An employee can only have one live request at a time. A request will stay live until any of the following happen:

the organisation makes a decision
the employee withdraws the request
the employee and organisation agree an outcome
it’s been 2 months since the date of the request

All requests must be made in writing and be given to the Clerk.

Any request must include:

the date of the request
the changes that the employee is seeking
the date the employee would like the proposed change to start
whether this is a statutory or non-statutory request
whether the employee has made any previous flexible working requests to the organisation
the dates of any previous requests
If the request relates to a reasonable adjustment for a disability under the Equality Act 2010, the employee should make this clear in the request.
If a request does not contain all of the required information, the Clerk will advise the employee what else they need to provide and ask the employee to resubmit the request.

Responding to a flexible working request

The Human Resources committee will consider the proposed flexible working arrangements, looking at the potential benefits and adverse effects to the employee and to the organisation in implementing the proposed changes.

Each request will be considered on a case-by-case basis in the order that they are received. Agreeing to one request will not set a precedent or create the right for another employee to be granted a similar change to their working pattern.

Where an employee’s request needs further discussion, the Human Resources committee will invite the employee to a consultation meeting. If a meeting is arranged it will be held within 15 working days of the organisation receiving the request. This time limit may be extended with the agreement of both the employee and the Human Resources committee.

Where an employee’s request can be approved in full without a consultation meeting, the organisation will confirm this in writing within 20 working days of receiving the request. This will include details of the new arrangements and an invitation to talk about the new arrangements.

This time limit may be extended with the agreement of both the employee and the Human Resources committee

The organisation will make a decision on all requests, including any appeal within a maximum of 2 months. This time limit may be extended with the agreement of both the employee and the Human Resources committee.

Consultation meetings about flexible working

If the employee is invited to a consultation meeting, the Human Resources committee will discuss:

the request
how the proposed working arrangements might work
how it could be of benefit to both the employee and organisation

The employee will be given advance notice of the time, date and place of the meeting. If the initial date is problematic then one further date will be proposed. This meeting will be in person or a video call if neither of those are possible.

At the meeting the employee may, if they wish, be accompanied by a colleague or a trade union representative

If the employee fails to attend a meeting and then fails to attend a rearranged meeting without good reason, their request will be deemed to have been withdrawn.

Communicating a decision after consultation

After a consultation meeting, the request may be granted in full, in part or refused. St Stephen in Brannel Parish Council may:

propose an alternative option
grant the request on a temporary basis
ask the employee to try the flexible working arrangement for a trial period

If a working arrangement is agreed, the employee will be sent a confirmation letter within 15 working days of the consultation meeting. This will include details of the new arrangements and an invitation to talk about the new arrangements.

If the organisation refuses the request, the employee will be given the decision in writing within 15 working days of the consultation meeting.

Right to appeal decision

The employee has the right to appeal the decision if their request is refused or is only agreed in part.

The employee may lodge an appeal within 14 days of being notified of a decision on their application.

This should be done in writing and clearly state the grounds on which they are appealing. The appeal will be heard within 14 days. The employee will then be informed of the outcome to their appeal within 14 days of the appeal meeting. These time limits may be extended with the agreement of both the employee and the Human Resources committee.

At the appeal meeting the employee may, if they wish, be accompanied by a workplace colleague or a trade union representative.

Requesting a reasonable adjustment

St Stephen in Brannel Parish Council is committed to reducing and removing disadvantages for disabled employees.

If an employee needs to change where, how or when they work because of their disability, they can request a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010. If an employee requests a reasonable adjustment, they do not need to also make a flexible working request.

To request a reasonable adjustment, an employee can send the request by email or letter to the Clerk and include:

that they’re making a request for a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010
the adjustment they’re requesting
the Clerk will discuss your request with you within 10 days of receiving the request. The outcome will be confirmed in writing within 14 days of the discussion, including any agreed reasonable adjustments. These time limits may be extended with the agreement of both the employee and the Clerk.

Trialling new working arrangements

Where there is some uncertainty about whether the flexible working arrangement is practical for an employee or the organisation, a trial period may be agreed.

A trial period will allow enough time to implement and get used to the new arrangement before making any decisions on its viability.

The organisation will put any trial arrangements in writing to the employee. This will include their new working pattern and make clear that it is only a temporary change to the employee’s terms and conditions.

The employee will be informed in writing of the start and end dates of the trial period. The organisation may reduce or lengthen the trial period where necessary, with the agreement of the employee.

The organisation will reserve the right, at the end of the agreed trial period, to require the employee to revert to their previous working arrangement. In this situation, the organisation will give the employee two weeks’ notice.

Varying an employee’s contract

Where flexible working practices are agreed as a permanent change, any variation to the employee’s terms and conditions will be put in writing. Written confirmation of the changes will be sent to the employee within one month of the change being agreed.

If the employee has any questions or concerns they should contact the Clerk.

Complaints and further information

An employee should raise any concerns with the Clerk if they:

are not satisfied with any stage of the flexible working request process
feel they have been treated unfairly because they’ve made a flexible working request

If informal discussions do not resolve the matter to an employee’s satisfaction, they should raise a grievance under the organisation’s grievance procedure.

For further information an employee should contact the Clerk.

(Adopted by Full Council at the meeting held on Wednesday 1st May 2024 under minute number FPC 89/24. Due for review in April 2027.)