Revised Flexible Working Policy - Somerset County Council

(HR Policy Committee – 18 July 2011)Somerset County CouncilHR Policy Committee– 18 th July 2011Paper CItem No. 8Lead Officer: Richard Crouch, Service Director for HR and ODAuthor: Martin Walsh, HR Policy ManagerContact Details: 01823 355556Cabinet Member: Harvey SiggsDivision and Local Member:REVISED FLEXIBLE WORKING POLICY1. Summary1.1. The Employment Act 2002, The Work & Families Act 2006 and amendmentregulations 2009 provided the right for parents of children and carers of adults,who meet certain qualifying requirements, to request flexible workingarrangements. Somerset County Council adopted this right for all employees sothat they are able to request changes to working arrangements to suit individualneeds.1.2. The current review has been carried out to ensure the policy is still fit for purposein the light of the emphasis placed on flexible working solutions in the CorporateEmployment Strategy and the subsequent SMART Office Project.2. Recommendations2.1. It is recommended that Members of the Committee approve the revised policyattached as the appendix to this report.3. Background3.1. The policy already complies with the statutory process for making andconsidering requests for flexible working.3.2. To focus the policy on procedure and protocols, the overall length of thedocument has been shortened by moving detailed descriptions of the differenttypes of flexible working arrangements (e.g. term-time only, job share, reducedworking hours) out of the policy and into manager and employee guides.3.3. The revised policy places more emphasis on the need for flexible workingoptions to match the business needs as well as maintaining employees’ work-lifebalance.3.4. The revised policy incorporates SMART Office working styles.3.5. To ensure greater consistency of management responses to flexible workingrequests/proposals, the revised policy provides additional resources including: aBusiness Assessment Checklist, a Business -Led Proposal Form, a Flow Chart -Procedure for making a flexible working request, a Flexible Working Reviewform, Protocols for a flexible working appeal hearing, template letters and an1

(HR Policy Committee – 18 July 2011)Employee Guide.3.6. The revised policy provides a new process to improve corporate monitoring theprogress/outcome of flexible working requests by requiring request forms andconfirmation/reject letters to be copied to a central HR contact point.4. Consultations undertaken4.1. HR Managers were consulted to ensure the revisions take account of currentexperience of managing flexible working requests in the workplace.4.2. UNISON representatives have been involved in extensive discussions on theproposed changes to the policy.5. Implications5.1. In terms of equalities, there are separate processes in place for dealing withflexible working requests for employees who have a disability and who arepregnant i.e. The Policy on Employees with a Disability and the Maternity Policy.6. Background papers6.1. Revised Flexible Working Policy accompanies this report.Note For sight of individual background papers please contact the report author2