Flexible Working Case Studies
Royal Group of Hospitals
The Royal Group of Hospitals employs over 6,800 staff 75% of whom are women. Providing flexibility has enabled the Trust to retain trained, skilled staff and attract a wide range of applicants as many of our posts are advertised as suitable for part-time working or job sharing. The Trust works closely with staff and their representatives to ensure that we provide as many working options as possible while still providing the best possible care for patients.
Policies and procedures are reviewed with management and staff representatives and updated in line with legislation and best practice. Even before the introduction of flexible working legislation the Hospitals offered a range of flexible working options. These were available to all staff, as long as the service needs of the Trust could continue to be met. Working options offered include reduced hours, job sharing, term-time working, compressed hours, career breaks and unpaid leave. Given the range of jobs within the Trust and the fact that we provide a 24-hour service, certain working options are more suitable in some jobs than others.
Some staff, for example, work “flexitime” which means that they can choose within certain limits when they start and finish work. This can give them the opportunity to travel to work at a quieter time or ensure that their children get off to school safely.
Nursing staff who work shifts and cannot vary their starting time so easily may request to work a 4-day week with longer shifts giving them more days at home each week. For example, two members of staff have been able to reduce their childcare needs from 5 days a week to 3 days while still working full time but each working 4 longer days.
A special effort is being made to accommodate requests for flexible working options as a result of increased traffic congestion caused by improvements being made to the Westlink/M1. Staff have been encouraged to suggest other flexible options which facilitate their travel to work arrangements and enable the Trust to continue to provide the optimum service during this period.
Staff also have access to paid carer’s leave and compassionate leave and maternity, paternity and adoptive leave which is in excess of the legal minimum requirements.
An equality impact assessment of employee friendly policies was carried out in 2003. Following that a booklet providing a “Guide to Employee Friendly Working Options” was produced and a decision was made to monitor all requests for employee friendly working options to ensure that access to policies was available to as many staff as possible. Figures for 2004 show that over 1,400 requests were made for access to flexible working and work life balance related policies and in 99% of cases flexible working was made available.
Barnardo’s Northern Ireland
Barnardo’s Northern Ireland employs almost 500 staff, working with approximately 4,500 children and young people across 30 services. We acknowledge that enabling employees to balance work and home responsibilities can provide benefits for both employees and the organisation.
The nature of our work means delivering services, often 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Working with children in difficult circumstances means that the nature of the work is often demanding and stressful. Retention of staff is important not only for the organisation but also in providing stability for the children we work with. It is therefore imperative to get the work-life balance correct. Barnardo’s is committed to giving children back their future and it therefore stands to reason that it should allow its own staff to commit to their own family situations.
Barnardo’s operates the following types of flexible working arrangement:
- reduced hours;
- compressed hours;
- term-time;
- job sharing;
- home-based working.
Up to now there have been about 10 staff who have been granted flexible working hours. While the majority have been reduced hours some of these have been to work term time particularly in our education-based service.
Kathie Corrigan is Senior Practitioner in the PACT Project, a service which provides residential support to young parents and their children. She says:
“I had worked full time for seven years in the service when I became pregnant. Unfortunately I had to take time off due to related illness. Having the baby changed my perspective. There was a realisation that I needed to get a balance between spending time at home with my baby but at the same time not wanting to jeopardise my career prospects. On returning to work I was able to use my existing accrued annual leave to work three days per week. I approached my manager about extending this arrangement through flexible working. The service was keen to retain an experienced member of staff with considerable knowledge in a difficult and specialised area of work. Retention of staff also provides much needed continuity for the young people with whom we work. This is particularly relevant as PACT has grown considerably in recent times bringing in many new staff. Through flexible working I now job share, working three full days. This suits me for childcare arrangements while full days in the workplace allow more to be achieved. Arrangements were put in place for one year and will be reviewed with options to continue with the existing arrangement or to return to work full time. This arrangement has benefited me, my child, the organisation and the young people who use the service.”
Trish Moore is Children’s Services Manager with the Learning Together Project. This service provides educational support to primary-aged children in an after school setting.
Trish says: “I joined Barnardo’s in August 1997 as Project Worker/Teacher and at that time I was working in a part-time capacity which was increased to full time when I became the Service Manager. As our service is an educational one which runs to a term-time schedule in line with the schools we work with, it became more appropriate to work on a term-time only basis, especially when we were not running summer schools as we had done previously. I really enjoy this flexibility of contract and it enables me to be at home when my children are off school. The other teachers in the service are also on term-time only contracts which they equally enjoy. It provides a work/home life balance and enables me and the other staff to be refreshed and prepared for each new term. This type of contract also ensures that efficient and professional staff are retained in the Project which ensures stability for the service and for the children. I feel this contract has benefited myself, the teachers, the organisation and the children who use the service.”
Stream International
Stream International is a Call Centre for some of the major computer hardware and software manufacturers. We are a 24x7 operation and therefore it is important we have programmes to assist employees to manage their home life as well as their work life. The Company recognises the importance of offering its employees flexible working.
On an annual basis we conduct an Employee Survey and from the feedback we have received we have implemented several initiatives for the employee to include career breaks, sabbaticals and enhancement of maternity leave and paternity leave. These initiatives are incorporated into our ‘Wellness Program’ and our focus is the importance of ‘work life balance’ if we are to continue to attract staff and retain existing employees.
Stream Story – Flexible working hours
Collette O’Connor has been working full time with Stream going on 7 years. To fit in with her childcare arrangements Collette asked for a ‘sabbatical’ for the summer to look after her child during the school holidays. As the structure was already in place Collette said it was very easy to request the time off and as a result has been doing so for the last 3 years. Collette has since reduced her hours and works a shift to accommodate her child’s school hours.
