DFID offers a wide range of flexible working patterns in order to support the individual needs of our staff, allowing them to balance the demands of work and their commitments outside the office. Flexible working also helps DFID deliver its agenda more effectively.
DFID offers most staff, including Staff Appointed In Country (SAIC), two ways in which they may work their contracted hours:
Standard Hours: Staff are likely to start and finish at set times, with limited time and duration for lunch breaks etc. Flexibility is allowed with your manager's agreement, however staff may not build up additional hours and convert them into leave.
Flexible working hours scheme (FWH): This offers flexibility on the hours worked by staff and allows them to work additional hours and convert them into leave, up to three days every 4-week period. Other types of flexible working that DFID offers include:
Employment Law rules that all staff with a child under the age of 17 or a disabled child under the age of 18 have the right to apply for flexible working and DFID has a duty to give each requests its full consideration. This right applies to all permanent or fixed term staff in the UK, as long as they meet the necessary criteria outlined in the act.
SAIC are entitled to apply for any form of flexible working, however it is at the discretion of the Head of Overseas Office to decide whether it is possible to grant this.
1. Line Managers should ensure staff who are working on a FWH scheme record their hours on a flexi sheet, which they must sign off on a monthly basis
2. Line managers should give due consideration to all flexible working requests from staff and seek to negotiate a suitable compromise should the initial request not be viable. Line managers are responsible for ensuring work is delivered, while trying to meet the needs of individuals wherever possible. New arrangements can be tested on trial for a period of up to six months
3. Heads of Overseas Offices should consider flexible working requests from SAIC and UK-Based staff on a case-by-case basis. All requests should be given due consideration, taking into account the structural and logistical constraints that apply in overseas offices
4. If a request for flexible working cannot be met and no alternative can be agreed, line managers must clearly outline the business reasons for this in writing to the individual and Head of Department/Overseas Office.
5. Managers must follow DFID's policy on discouraging long hours working on a regular, long-term basis. Line-managers must ensure the health and safety of their staff and ensure no member of staff exceeds the times specified in the Working Time Regulations 1998
6. Generally, ad-hoc arrangements to work flexibly only require the agreement of your line-manager, whereas more formal arrangements should be copied to HR core support.
Evidence has proved that staff are attracted to DFID because of, amongst other things, its comprehensive work/life balance policies. If DFID fails to take account of our staff's need or desire to work flexibly, we may risk:
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