We are committed to improving the working lives of our staff and recognise that flexible working arrangements can lead to improved retention of existing staff and improved recruitment to a service which is sensitive to people’s needs.
We aim to ensure that a fair and equitable approach is adopted to consider requests for flexible working and that the needs of the service and individual employees are balanced.
Flexible working requests may include:
- Part time working - which for staff on AfC Terms and Conditions is less than 37.5 hours per week
- Job sharing - this usually means two people voluntarily sharing the duties and responsibilities of one full-time job, and sharing the pay, holidays and other benefits accordingly.
- Term time working - this is essentially an agreement to allow an employee extended unpaid ’holidays’ to coincide with school holidays. It can apply to full-time and part-time staff, trading time off for a reduction in income but retaining a permanent contract. Pay is averaged over 12 months.
- Annualised hours - these schemes give organisations and staff extra flexibility to vary their patterns of work across each year, according to service need and individual preference. The total number of hours to be worked in the full year is agreed at the outset. Exactly when these hours are put in each week or month becomes a matter for agreement between managers and members of the team.
- Team based self-rostering - this is a ‘bottom up’ approach to scheduling work, giving staff more control over the pattern of their working week. Staff put forward the times they would like to work. This information is then used to compile shift patterns that match individual preferences as closely as possible, whilst maintaining agreed levels of cover at all times.
- Career breaks - this is an extended period of leave from work that begins with an intention to resume working at an agreed date in the future. The leave is usually unpaid.
- Flexible retirement - this scheme allows you to reduce your hours or responsibilities before or after retirement.
- Working at home - some posts do not require the employee to be permanently on site. A combination of working at home and on-site is often an option. This can be a useful short-term solution to providing assistance to an individual having to manage a change in their personal circumstances.
- Compressed hours - a member of staff undertakes a full time job in fewer and longer blocks during the week. The is most commonly seen in 9-day fortnights, or 4-day weeks. Employees will work full time, extending the length of their working day to compensate for these additional days off.