Model Policy

Flexible Working

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Issued March 2022

All organisations who offer flexible working should include this section in their policy’s arrangements section. Alter and
add to this as necessary to reflect the controls in place within your business.

Flexible Working

Introduction

The company recognises that flexible working may:

 Improve employee retention, recruitment, and morale, and may also decrease stress.
 Help employees balance work with caring responsibilities, study or other interests or commitments.

We encourage employees to request flexible working when changing circumstances mean they would benefit from
different working arrangements.

Examples of flexible working which the company is able to consider are:

 annualised hours
 flexitime
 homeworking
 job-sharing
 part-time working.

[Add or remove options to reflect the flexible working choices which your business offers; other options may include
term-time working, compressed hours, or overtime.]

1. Annualised hours

An annualised hours system is where an employee is contracted to work a specific number of hours over the
year but provides flexibility over the employee’s monthly, weekly and daily working patterns. This can help an
organisation efficiently respond to peaks and troughs in workload without resorting to overtime payments, and
may also help the company retain staff whose skills are in demand at certain times of the year/month or week
but less well used at other times.

[HR department/line manager/name of individual] must ensure that:

 When employees are required to work at short notice, stress or other difficulties for employees with
commitments outside of work are not created.
 The company’s obligations under the working time directive must be met to ensure that longer shifts
and additional hours are within the law.
 Working longer shifts or additional hours does not cause fatigue or increase absenteeism.

2. Flexitime

[HR department/line manager/name of individual] can set up flexitime arrangements to operate according to
business need. It can be a way of allowing employees to build up additional hours which may be used to
reduce hours on other days or even take whole days off work with approval of the manager. Alternatively,
employees may choose and vary their working hours within set limits. The method agreed will depend on the

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 flow of work in the employee’s job. The Company acknowledges that flexitime may help retain and recruit staff
by accommodating responsibilities outside work.

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 An employee is required to work during a core time and must work an agreed number of hours during the
accounting period of [four weeks/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 [X] hours or a deficit of up to
[X] hours from one accounting period to another. A deficit of hours should be made up in the following
accounting period. Excess hours may be used to either reduce attendance outside of core hours or, take
additional leave (flexi-leave), subject to a maximum of [X] full days in any accounting period. Additional leave
should be requested and agreed with the employee’s line manager in the same way as annual leave.

[HR department/line manager/name of individual] will ensure that:

 Individuals using flexitime have the necessary skills to work with less supervision.
 The company’s obligations under the working time directive must be met to ensure that longer shifts
and additional hours are within the law.
 Working longer shifts or additional hours does not cause fatigue or increase absenteeism.
 Health and safety of other employees is not compromised for example in the provision of Fire
Marshals or First Aiders, through Lone Working, or by stress being placed on other colleagues where
there is understaffing at times in the day/week.

3. Homeworking

Homeworking is when an employee carries out some or all of their work from home rather than the employer’s
premises. [Name of company] may agree for a single day or week, or it could be a permanent arrangement. It
may help retain and recruit staff, particularly those who live further away from the workplace. It may also
provide savings on workplace accommodation and overheads.

[HR department/line manager/name of individual] will ensure that where the arrangement is frequent or
permanent:

 Structured communication with employees takes place to ensure motivation and trust is maintained.
 Homeworkers have the support necessary so they do not experience undue stress, isolation or falling
productivity and continue to benefit from career development and training opportunities.
 A risk assessment of the home workplace is carried out (usually by the homeworker once they have
received appropriate training).
 Appropriate equipment is provided to homeworkers by [name of company] and is maintained and
tested in the same way as other workplace equipment.
 The employee ensures that a safe working environment is provided and maintained at home.
 Health and safety of other employees is not compromised for example in the provision of Fire
Marshals or First Aiders, through Lone Working, or by stress being placed on other colleagues where
there is understaffing at times in the day/week.

4. Job sharing

[Name of company] recognises that job sharing (where two part time employees share a full time job) may be
suitable for some employees splitting the days or weeks between them. This arrangement may give improved
continuity during sickness or holiday periods and help meet peak demand requirements when both sharers
work additional hours to deal with a heavy workload. Job sharing may help recruit and retain staff, particularly
those with caring responsibilities or those who are reducing their hours ahead of retirement.

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 [HR department/line manager/name of individual] will ensure that:

 Staff are treated no less favourably than their full-time colleagues in terms of pay, training or other
developmental opportunities.
 Relevant health and safety training must be provided to both job sharers.
 Work is allocated fairly and that job sharers communicate effectively with each other and with
colleagues/subordinates.
 When employees are asked to work further hours the company’s obligations under the working time
directive must be met to ensure that longer shifts and additional hours are within the law.
 Working longer shifts or additional hours does not cause fatigue or increase absenteeism.
 Health and safety of other employees is not compromised for example in the provision of Fire
Marshals or First Aiders, through Lone Working, or by stress being placed on other colleagues where
there is understaffing at times in the day/week.

5. Part-time work/term time only

Part-time work is a common form of flexible working which may enable the company to make efficient use of
machinery and provide improved customer service. It may help to retain and recruit staff who have other
commitments outside the workplace.

Term-time working enables an employee to reduce their hours or take additional time off during school
holidays.

[HR department/line manager/name of individual] will ensure that:

 Staff are treated no less favourably than their full-time colleagues in terms of pay, training or other
developmental opportunities.
 The workload of other colleagues does not become excessive if total hours within the team are
reduced.
 The workload and needs of the business are considered.
 Health and safety of other employees is not compromised for example in the provision of Fire
Marshals or First Aiders, through Lone Working, or by stress being placed on other colleagues where
there is understaffing at times in the day/week.

Applying for flexible working

The company acknowledges that employees who have worked for us for at least 26 weeks are eligible to make a
statutory application for flexible working. [It is recommended that this entitlement should be extended to all employees
to avoid allegations of sex discrimination, failure to make reasonable adjustments if the employee has a disability
and/or damage to staff morale. If you decide to extend this entitlement to all staff, also add the following:

This company extends the opportunity to request flexible working to all staff regardless of length of employment.]

Any employees who wish to make a request for flexible working should initially speak informally with:
______________________ [HR department/line manager/name of individual]

An eligible employee may submit one formal request for flexible working in a twelve-month period. The company notes
that an employee may be entitled to further requests if they are made in connection with a statutory entitlement such
as the right to request reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010.

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All requests must be made in writing [by email or letter/by filling in an application form that is available from HR
department/line manager/name of individual/the intranet] and should include:

 The date of application.

 The changes proposed by the employee.
 The date of the proposed change.
 The employee’s view of the likely impact of the change on the company.
 Steps which could be taken to mitigate the impact.
 Confirmation of whether this is a statutory or non-statutory request.
 Details and the date of any previous applications.
 Whether the request is made in relation to a disability.

The application should be made to _________________________ [HR department/line manager/name of individual]

who will explain what further information must be provided if an application does not contain all of the required
information.

The company’s HR policies include further details on the application process, the procedures which will be applied by
the company when considering the application and the appeals process (if applicable).

Relevant risk assessments for the work and workplace will be reviewed and where necessary amended, to take into
account changes brought about by flexible working.

Although the company will consider accommodating the request where possible, employees should be aware that the
request may be granted or refused. Alternatively, the company may suggest a partial agreement or a further variation
such as a temporary change or a trial arrangement.
The needs of the organisation

Any requests for flexible working will be given reasonable consideration. This will involve an evaluation of the following
factors:

 If the request is related to a disability and is for a reasonable adjustment.

 Health and safety aspects of the proposed change.
 The impact of the requested change on other staff, including their well being and their ability to implement
every day and emergency tasks.
 Any costs associated with the requested change.
 Any changes to management which will be necessitated.
 The current staff structure and skills available in the workforce.
 The job description of the affected role including skills and workload.

Management will normally agree to the arrangements, provided that the needs of the organisation can continue to be
met.

Health and safety aspects of flexible working

This company recognises that many changes requested by employees will be small scale and have limited impact on
the wider organisation or health and safety matters. However health and safety aspects must be considered by
managers before agreeing to a flexible working request. Managers should particularly work to mitigate the following
issues in the flexible working arrangements highlighted below.

Employees are entitled in law to be informed and consulted about decisions likely to lead to substantial changes in
employment contracts or work organisation. It is unlikely that agreeing a flexible working practice for one individual
would necessitate a consultation, however if the whole team or department were being moved to flexible working then
consultation would be necessary. Managers must therefore take advice from HR where larger scale changes are
under consideration.

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Right to appeal

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

The employee may lodge an appeal within [XX] days [organisation insert number of 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 [XX] days.

The employee will then be informed of the outcome to their appeal within [XX] days of the appeal meeting. These time
limits may be extended with the agreement of both the employee and [HR department/line manager/name of
individual].

Complaints and further information

The organisation strongly opposes any form of victimisation of individuals who work, or request to work, under flexible
working arrangements.

If an employee feels that they have been treated unfairly or are dissatisfied with any stage of the flexible process, they
should raise their concerns informally with [HR department/line manager/name of individual].

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 [HR department/line manager/name of individual].

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