Valerie the unit manager, arranged an exploratory meeting to discuss the request. This was shared with the team, and each team member was then able to add in their proposed days off and shifts based on the above ground rules. Joe, Raes team manager, has recently found out that the organisation has a carers network, and wants to share this information with the team. It is important that organisations adapt to new ways of working to enable and support staff to work from home where necessary. Joe puts it to Rae to consider whether some of the meetings could be held virtually using the remote working software. different ways members may be able to reduce their pensionable pay. Be prepared for this. The employer considers the request and makes a decision within 3 months - or longer if agreed with the employee. Registered Company (No. This was discussed with the team and agreed. 16 December 2021 These frequently asked questions (FAQs) on flexible working have been created to outline how line managers and employees may respond to common queries and challenges around flexible working. They were referred to occupational health, who agreed that this was a reasonable adjustment relating to a disability. Applications to work flexibly must include: the date a statement that this is a statutory request details of how you want to work flexibly and when you want to start an explanation of how you. Our campaign supports you, your employer and RCN workplace reps to create healthy working environments and habits. The agreement also removes limits on the number of requests that can be made and strengthens the processes employers must use when considering requests. If you work in the NHS, please check your local policy as you may be entitled to take a trade union representative to the appeal meeting. As an employee, you will still have access to learning and development (L&D) opportunities. They get paid the same every month, as their pay is annualised over the year. You can also use this mailbox to share with us any updated local policies or to let us know about good practice examples. At the NHS Staff Council in March 2021, a revised Section 33: Balancing work and personal life was agreed as part of the wider NHS People Promise work strand on flexible working. The three of them take it in turn to do each month. It can also help to include: the date you're sending it. Line manager Chris notices that something is not right and arranges a wellbeing check-in. This question is included here for their equality monitoring. Shift-swaps between team members after rota finalised must be agreed upon by the electronic roster team. Read more onagency workers. Watch our film to find out more about your right to request flexible working. However, a lot of the team had children and it was known within the team that night shifts were always the hardest to arrange childcare for. Find out more about the Fair Pay for Nursing campaign and how you can get involved. If you are not a solicitor, you are advised to obtain specific legal advice about your case or matter and not to rely solely on this information. If possible, give your employer a number of flexible working options to consider and maybe set them out in order of preference. If you aresubjected to any detriment (for example, bullying) or are dismissed by youremployers becauseof exercising your right to make a statutory application for time off, or for flexible working, you might be able tobring a claim in an employment tribunal. The NHS People Plan sets out an ask for the NHS Staff Council to work alongside NHS England to develop guidance to support employers to make flexible working a reality for our NHS people. This should alleviate and share some of the burdens and reduce the number of on-calls that everyone has to do. The manager discusses this with their clinical business unit leadership team and HR support team. Our flexible working enablers for change support employers embed the key changes to section 33 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service. They had much higher energy levels in the afternoon and evening. Your organisations flexible working policy should encourage you to identify if your request is to facilitate a reasonable adjustment (para 33.13 of the TCS). There are several positions available which will make it easier to accommodate preferred individual work patterns, and as an organisation, they encourage people to work flexibly. By enabling this flexible working request, Devin can still work within the current shift/timings; however, by re-setting the shifts they work to weekends, more evenings and nights, and less weekday shifts, they can go to their midday exercise classes and pick their grandchildren up from school. My current working pattern is Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5 pm, with one hours lunch per day (28h). These scenarios have been developed to guide you through the different circumstances relating to flexible working. Refusal of a flexible working application could, in some circumstances, be discriminatory. While employers are required to consider flexible working requests by law for all employees with at least 26 weeks continuous service, the Trust is committed to considering request from all employees, irrespective of their service, which also includes discussions/requests during the recruitment process. This flowchart for managing conversations around flexible working requests was created by the NHS Staff Council to support the NHS People Plan. Kumar held exploratory meetings with each of the team members, checking how flexible they could each be. Therefore, this is one of the more challenging elements of flexible-working to accommodate. Rae also cares for their elderly mother, who has dementia. Example Raj is an estate agent working at a small estate agency. Your manager should keep you updated on your request and discuss your potential options and opportunities elsewhere. A new study has identified several workplace factors likely to be triggering burnout and exhaustion in nurses. Valerie explained that this would ensure that five out of six weeks David would have the permanent nights they wanted. If on-call duties form part of the job-plan and changes may involve a consultation process such a job-plan review for each of the individuals impacted by the changes. They ask about the full-time hours, explaining that they work term-time only and would like that to continue. Requests should be considered in the order they are received. Section 5.0 Employees Right to Request Flexible Working updated to include that the Trust is open to consider requests for flexible working from all employees regardless of how long they have worked for the Trust. Please get in touch with us atflexibleworking@nhsemployers.orgto share with us any updated local policies or to let us know about good practice examples. Please also see our Nursing Workforce Standardsfor guidance on workforce planning and rostering. Kumar also asked that they make themselves available for team meetings quarterly, should they need to be face to face. Flexible working can be a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010, so it is a good idea to make sure your employer is aware that this is the reason you are making a request as it is an additional statutory right on top of the contractual right set out in the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service (TCS) Handbook. Your representative may have information on what happened when other staff members have requested shift changes. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. This means he would work 7am to 7pm over 4 days so he can have Thursdays off to study. Remember, UNISON branches are currently working hard to ensure that this policy (and how its put into practice) is robust and fit for purpose. There are also some types of working patterns they could do from time to time, that are not pensionable, such as overtime above full-time . Backed by more than 2.4 billion in government investment ahead of the health service's 75th anniversary, it sets out how the NHS . Working full-time hours but over fewer days. Rhys works in outpatients as a healthcare support worker (HCSW) and works set hours. This is called 'flexible working'. in a range of areas, including employment. As an employee, you will still have access to learning and development (L&D) opportunities. It may be that you need to request a temporary change to your working arrangements which can be discussed informally with your manager. To have the statutory right to apply for flexible working you must: From 13 September 2021, contractual changes to the provisions for flexible working in the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service handbook (section 33), have taken effect. Jos shares that they are currently one whole-time equivalent(WTE) person down and have interviews planned this week. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); The information on the law contained on this site is provided free of charge and does not, and is not intended to, amount to legal advice to any person on a specific case or matter. The RCN publication, Working Flexibly to Support a Health Work-life Balance - A guide for representatives, provides some guidance on types of flexible working including case studies which may help you. Valerie and David were able to agree that if team training had been arranged, David would work days, and that in one week in the six-week rota rotation, David would work a blend of shifts. Your employer must consider your whole request (including any appeal) within a maximum of 3 months of receiving the original request. Before the exploratory meeting, the manager develops some draft rotas, which includes two days off a week on a Tuesday and Wednesday. Try to: Above all, be diplomatic. It may be that in your current work context, your manager might not be able to agree your request but there are alternatives available to explore. 1099808 (England & Wales) and SC045339 (Scotland) Karen was a person with a disability that made it difficult for them to perform well in the morning due to their medication, so Karen expressed a preference to start work later, and finish later (11am-7pm). This should not be the case. They then explore having to attend medical appointments and how these impact Raes day. Valid reasons for the refusal of all or part of a requestare: Hopefully your application will be successful but if not, you may be called to a formal meeting to discuss your application. Devin and Bethany then discuss the proposed plans with the whole team, ensuring that the communication is open and people can take ownership and contribute to filling the team rosters. Where there were gaps, the three managers would then fill these in with the staff available. They are thinking about handing in their notice and picking up bank shifts that suit their childcare requirements. Your employer should consider and decide upon an application within three months of receipt (including any appeal). Your organisations flexible working policy should, encourage you to identify if your request is to facilitate a reasonable adjustment. For Northern Ireland, theLRA(Labour Relations Agency) offers a free and confidential conciliation service prior to submitting a claim to a tribunal. At the NHS Staff Council in March 2021, a revised Section 33: Balancing work and personal life was agreed as part of the wider NHS People Promise work strand on flexible working. This policy provides examples of the different types of flexible working arrangements that may be suitable for some individuals and . Our Legal Advice Service is currently being generously funded by a funder which requires us to monitor the age ranges of the people using our services. The NHS Staff Council has developed a range of FAQs to help employers embed the new contractual flexible working provisions. This depends on local policies. The questions and answers include information on: rights and eligibility processes for requesting flexible working Read how West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership implemented a Working Carers Passport. Time limits apply. 15.80 If it is agreed that the employee will return to work on a flexible basis, including changed or reduced hours, for an agreed temporary period, this will not affect the employees right to return to their job under their original contract, at the end of the agreed period. Moira discusses with the team and initiates a new process where the team will self-roster before inputting the roster into the electronic roster. Moira would like the team to be more involved in creating the rotas as this will give them ownership, support their development, and allow for flexibility among the whole team. This means they have fewer weekends and nights to work, giving them a better work-life balance with their families. You need to give youremployer time to consider your request, so do not leave it too late. 24/7 workplace. Requesting flexible working is a new day one right for NHS staff working in England and Wales. Part of their agreed job plan is that they have an on-call element which requires 1 in 14 on-call weekdays/nights and 1 in 10 weekends. You will need to be clear about the requirement to come into the office and other places of work for regular meetings etc. 3-5pm is not a busy time and I have spoken to colleagues who have said they are happy to deal with my clients should they call. The NHS Staff Council has developed a range of FAQs to help employers embed the new contractual flexible working provisions. This guide for individuals will help prepare staff for positive conversations to make requests about flexible working and provide staff with the best chance of . ), (3) how your new arrangements would work in a crisis situation: (note consider if offering to make yourself available by telephone to deal with emergencies or urgent customer/client requests might assist with addressing business concerns. An agreement on new flexible working rights aimed at giving NHS staff a better work-life balance is announced today (Tuesday) by health unions and NHS employers. Yes. I have spoken with Joe Bloggs who has confirmed that he is happy to be a specific contact for my clients between the hours of 3-5pm so I can include his contact details on my out of office so that clients know who to contact in my absence. The NHS Staff council have produced a number of useful resources to support making flexible working accessible to all staff no matter what your role. Please, Independent health and social care employment, Education learning and development strategy, NMC consultation on post-registration standards, Chief Executive and General Secretary's update, section 33 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service handbook, NHS Terms and Conditions of Service handbook (section 33), Working Flexibly to Support a Health Work-life Balance - A guide for representatives, Creating an enabling future for carers in the workplace, be an employee, but not in the armed forces, have worked for your employer for 26 weeks continuously before applying (if you work in the NHS in England or Wales the rules are different, please see below), not have made another application to work flexibly under the statutory right during the last 12 months. Rather than looking for a new role, it's worth exploring more flexible working. It is possible that not all aspects of your proposal will be accepted, and your manager will propose a slightly different arrangement as a compromise. Please see, Step 2: Start early and prepare carefully, speak to your colleagues about your proposed changes. Flexitime The employee chooses when to start and end work (within agreed limits) but works certain 'core hours', for example 10am to 4pm every day. Devin would like to work more flexibly to give them a better work-life balance, so they can collect their grandchildren from school and attend social events during the day. He asks to work compressed hours over 4 days. Flexible working rules are different in. Please note that the scenarios are for illustrative . To support their mental health, Rhys would like to have some time in the week to themselves. If it is agreed for you to work fromhome,you may need to complete awork-stationassessment, check your local policy for more information. We will review these documents and welcome any . This is expected towards the end of July 2021, working with NHS England and Improvement to look at supporting resources and signposting for employers, line managers and staff to help deliver the cultural changes needed to make flexible working much more widely accessible. Kelly requests to come off the on-call rota for 12 months while they navigate their new situation. Rae works in a community role, meaning that they often have their working diaries planned for them by outside agencies. Yes, in accordance with the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, employees covered by these provisions can make more than one flexible working request per year and can do so regardless of the reason. 28 February 2022. To support this, the NHS Staff Councilhascreated a flexible working request flowchart which details the stepsline managers and staff in the NHS should take whenmaking a request for a flexibleworking arrangement. The key changes to the framework for agreeing local flexible working policies are: These changes to theNHS terms and conditions of service handbookwill go live from13 September 2021. The ambitions in the people plan highlight the desire to make flexible working available to all, regardless of role, grade or organisation, and organisations should look to support working flexibility for all staff. Your story will be shared anonymously (unless you give us your contact details below and we discuss whether you're happy to give permission to use your name). moving to annualise hours or going part time) are expected to go through the proper formal process to ensure all the details are agreed and captured. They agreed that this should be a temporary arrangement for six months, with a review to be held at month five. Stephanie share how they are feeling, they have low energy and blame the two on-call shifts they do every week. Q I dont see the point in asking my manager as I feel that they will say no, what should I do? It is a change of department, but would be an excellent opportunity for them, as the location is closer to their home address. Kumar wanted to accommodate the request as much as possible, as it was a simple reasonable adjustment that would make Karens worklife so much better and reduce the amount of sickness that they were taking. If you're a parent or carer, your employer might have other ways for you to take time off. We have updated our flexible working enablers for change to support employers to embed the key changes to section 33 of the NHS terms and conditions. Removal from the on-call register as a flexible working arrangement. Q) I have a disability and need flexible working as a reasonable adjustment, whats the best way to ask for this? If you are unsure about your options, please, If you have a disability, your employer is legally obliged to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate your disability. result of a request for flexible working is regarded as a permanent variation to the employee's contract, unless . It is also important to look at your organisations local policy on flexible working, which should set out a process on how to make flexible working requests. It applies to all NHS staff whose terms and conditions of service are covered by the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook. Having conversations as a line manager within your teams are also valuable to help find solutions and accommodate team needs. ], [If you are unable to commit to a permanent contractual change, I would be happy to agree to a trial period of [ 3/ 6 ] months so that the business can properly assess if it is a viable option.] For example, if you work in a GP surgery (and are not covered by AfC) but have worked for your employer for at least 26 weeks, are legally classed as an employee and have not made Yamuna is a porter and notices an advert on NHS Jobs. The first ever NHS Long Term Workforce Plan was commissioned by the government to set out a series of interventions train, retain and reform the workforce, and put the NHS on a sustainable footing into the future. give solutions to any problems or issues which may arise, or have arisen from previous shift changes. Statements, papers, and guidance that has been agreed jointly through the NHS Staff Council. [Or:] I have previously made [a flexible working request / flexible working requests] on [give dates]. However, I would be happy to try a combination of the following: (note add in here any other options you may be willing to consider, it is good negotiation tactic to offer alternatives) so that my new working pattern causes as little disruption to the business as possible. I confirm I have at least 26 weeks of service (note there is no requirement to confirm your length of service but theres no harm in doing so), [I have not previously made a request under section 80F Employment Rights Act 1996. The right to request flexible working is a statutory right for any employee who has worked for their employer continuously for over 26 weeks. Whether youre a cleaner, nurse or paramedic working shifts, a member of the finance team or working as an OT or ODP (to name a few), we want to hear from you! They would still need to come to the office on a rotation with the other team members, so that everyone covers the in-office requirement fairly over a month. An agreement negotiated by UNISON and health unions through the NHS Staff Council means that as of 13 September 2021, all employees of NHS organisations in England and Wales have a contractual right to request flexible working from day one of employment. Ideally, I would like my new working pattern to be as stated above. This should be the same for stretch and promotion opportunities. Terms and conditions. Jos initiates a health and wellbeing conversation during their one-to-one with Stephanie.
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