Flexitime

Flexitime allows flexibility at the start and end of the working day and also allows an accumulation of hours at busy times and/or to fit the availability of the member of staff. Employees benefit by being able to fit work around personal commitments more easily and the University benefits by having a more flexible workforce that can adapt readily to the normal day-to-day peaks and troughs of workload.

• Flexitime may help employees to avoid the rush hour traffic in line with the University’s strategic transport plan, or to meet caring commitments at the start or end of the working day.
• Flexitime may help employees schedule work that does not require contact with others for quieter times of day to improve concentration.
• It may not always be possible to enable Flexitime schemes where the work must be covered during specific times, for example in customer-facing areas. Where flexitime is possible, arrangements for cover of essential hours/tasks must be clear.
• Flexitime may assist team working by encouraging staff to arrange cover between them.
• There are optional features for such schemes which need to be considered, for example what the core hours should be, if any, and whether ‘pop-outs’ should be allowed during those core hours.
• Appropriate supervision of the scheme will need to be put in place, for example to ensure that employees are not accruing inappropriate amounts of excess hours or running a substantial deficit.
• An appropriate time recording system may need to be arranged. Formal flexitime schemes require that employees record their working hours. Less formal flexible arrangements may be appropriate for employees who have greater control over the timing and pattern of their work, for example Academic and Research staff.
• Existing formal and informal schemes that are working effectively may be left in place.

For more information, please refer to the University's flexitime policy.