Flexible working policy and guidance

1. POLICY STATEMENT

Birkbeck recognises that employees have personal responsibilities and obligations in addition to their work responsibilities. The College also appreciates that, at times, it can be difficult to balance those responsibilities. Requests to formally vary working hours through flexible working will be given full consideration and will be discussed with the employee with the understanding that any agreed flexible working arrangements must take into account the wider business needs of the College.

Note that Birkbeck operates hybrid working arrangements for the majority of its staff, under the Hybrid Working policy. All staff may seek other forms of flexible working through a request under this Flexible Working Policy.

Family leave, Career breaks (Birkbeck staff only), Leave of absence for academic purposes, Variation in hours (PDF) (Birkbeck staff only) and Hours of work policies allow for alternative leave/varying of hours under other circumstances.

Birkbeck staff can also read our Flexible working FAQs (staff only).

2. SCOPE

This policy applies to all eligible Birkbeck employees. It excludes agency workers who are bound by the Agency Workers Regulations and contractors who are bound by the terms and conditions governing their contracts within their respective organisations. The policy provides a framework within which the College can fulfil its business objectives and provide flexibility regarding working hours and arrangements for employees on open ended and fixed term contracts who meet the eligibility criteria defined within the specific sections of this policy.

While this policy covers current Birkbeck employees, we are open to discussing and giving consideration to requests for flexible working from potential employees during the recruitment process.

3. DEFINITIONS

Hybrid Working is a form of flexible working where employees spend some of their working hours or days at their contractual place of work and some of their time remotely within the UK, usually at their home.

Flexible Working is an umbrella term which describes a type of working arrangement which gives a degree of flexibility on how long, where, when and at what times employees work, examples of different working arrangements can include part-time hours, compressed hours or job-sharing.

Homeworking is a working arrangement where an employee works solely or mainly from home and for contractual purposes, their regular work base is their home.

Remote Working refers to work undertaken away from Birkbeck sites.

4. PROCEDURE

This section outlines the procedure to be used to request flexible working arrangements and employees’ rights and responsibilities in this regard.

4.1 ELIGIBILITY

Birkbeck employees can request flexible working arrangements:

from day one of their employment with the College; and
if they have not made two applications for flexible working within the last 12 months (except in cases where the new application relates to a characteristic covered by the Equality Act 2010); and
do not have another application to Birkbeck for flexible working in progress, including any appeal.

An employee can request a change to the following:

the hours when they are required to work
the times when they are required to work
how work is to be carried out between home and the office (where appropriate).

See Guidance section for types of flexible working offered.

4.2 SUBMITTING A REQUEST FOR FLEXIBLE WORKING

An employee must submit a written request to their line manager, by completing the flexible working arrangements form, which requires the following details:

a clear statement that it is an application for flexible working and the date on which the application is being made
the specific change applied for, its duration and the date they want to commence
if and when the employee has made any previous applications for flexible working
whether the request is being made in relation to the Equality Act 2010, e.g. as a reasonable adjustment for a disability.

Download the flexible working arrangements form (Word) (Birkbeck staff only).

4.3 CONSIDERATION OF THE APPLICATION

On receipt of the request the line manager will consider the details and arrange a meeting with the employee to discuss the application. Areas for consideration should include the following:

whether an informal or formal arrangement is appropriate
whether the application is being made for a permanent or temporary change (if it is the latter, the meeting should include a discussion about the timeframe)
the operational needs of particular Faculties/Schools/Professional Services departments
the reason for the application for flexible working
the preference of individuals and consideration of individual circumstances
the differing preferences of individuals within any particular Faculty/School/Professional Services; and
key periods, days or hours that might need to be worked.

The meeting will normally include an HR representative.

The employee is entitled to be accompanied at this meeting by a Birkbeck work colleague, or trade union representative. Should the employee’s chosen colleague, or trade union representative not be available on the date arranged then the meeting may be postponed for up to seven days to enable their attendance.

The College will follow ACAS guidance and deal with requests in a timely manner. The College will process requests, including any appeals, within a two-month period, beginning with the date that the application is made, unless an agreement has been reached with the employee to extend the timeframe.

If the line manager is absent due to annual leave or sickness at the time the request is made, then the two-month period will run from the date of their return to work.

There may be occasions where line managers receive more than one request to work flexibly over similar timeframes. Where it is not possible to grant more than one request within a similar timeframe, requests will usually be considered in the order in which they are received on a case-by-case basis. Agreeing to one request will not set a precedent or create the right for another employee to be granted a similar change to their working pattern.

However, where a request for flexible working has been made as a reasonable adjustment, the equality considerations will be assessed alongside the request, in line with the Equality Act 2010. The line manager should also consider having a discussion with the employees to identify whether changes to current arrangements can be made or a decision reached through a process of fair selection.

All applications for flexible working under these arrangements will be actively and positively considered. However, the operational requirements of the College will take precedence and Birkbeck may have to refuse an application should the proposal result in one or more of the following:

an unacceptable burden of additional costs to Birkbeck
a detrimental effect on Birkbeck’s capability to meet operational requirements
an inability to reorganise work among existing staff
an inability to recruit additional employees
a detrimental impact on quality
a detrimental impact on performance
insufficiency of work during the periods the employee proposes to work; or
planned organisational changes.

If the original request cannot be accepted in full, the manager and employee should discuss if it may be possible to secure some of the benefits that the original request sought. They should discuss, for example, any potential modifications to the original request, or any alternative flexible working options, that may be available and suitable for both sides. It may be helpful to discuss whether a trial period may be appropriate to assess the feasibility of an arrangement (see section 8 below).

The line manager will provide the employee with a written response to the application within 14 days of the meeting.

If the application is refused then full written reasons for the refusal will be given.

5. APPEAL

An employee has the right to appeal if their application for flexible working is refused on any of the following grounds:

new information comes to light that was not known by the College at the time when the decision was taken;
the employee is challenging the accuracy of the information used by the College during the decision-making process;
the employee felt the application was not handled reasonably.

The appeal must be made within 14 days of receipt of the written reasons for refusal of the request, and must be made to the relevant senior manager. The appeal request must be in writing, dated and set out the grounds of appeal. A meeting to hear the appeal will be arranged and heard within 14 days of the receipt of the written appeal. The nominated Appeal Chair will be a senior manager from a different school/department who has not been previously involved in the case. The employee has the right to be accompanied at the appeal meeting by a Birkbeck work colleague or trade union representative. Should the employee’s chosen companion not be available on the date arranged then the meeting may be postponed for up to seven days in order to identify an alternative date. The outcome of the appeal will be provided in writing to the employee within 14 days of the appeal meeting.

6. WITHDRAWAL OF APPLICATION

Should an employee wish to withdraw their request for flexible working then they should notify the line manager to whom the request was originally made. This should be confirmed in writing.

Meetings will be arranged on a date and time that is convenient to all involved. Should an employee not be able to attend a meeting to discuss their request, then the meeting will be rearranged to another date. If, however, the employee does not attend this rearranged meeting and does not have a reasonable cause for missing this meeting, then Birkbeck will take this as an indication that the employee has withdrawn their application. Similarly, if the employee has failed to provide Birkbeck with information, which it requires to assess the request for flexible working, then the employee will be deemed to have withdrawn the request.

Where the line manager determines that the employee has withdrawn their request due to non-attendance at meetings or failure to provide information that has been requested, they will write to the employee confirming the withdrawal of the application.

7. CHANGES TO TERMS

All variations, which are agreed, whether in terms of location, working hours or working pattern, must be clearly documented and authorised by the Executive Dean/Director of Operations/Director of Professional Services. Where an employee has reduced their hours of work, benefits will be pro-rated accordingly. Line managers have the responsibility to ensure that the details are confirmed with HR for the appropriate contractual changes to be confirmed in writing to the employee and so that changes to payroll can be made.

8. TRIAL PERIODS

Any agreed new arrangements for individual employees may be subject to a trial period (e.g. three months) where appropriate. The length and terms of the trial period will be discussed with the employee prior to any changes being implemented and will be determined on a case-by-case basis, dependent on the nature of the change and the role being performed by the employee. Line managers should hold regular meetings with the employee during and at the end of the trial period, to discuss the suitability of the revised working arrangements and to agree any necessary adjustments. If, on completion of the trial period, the line manager and/or the employee determine that the new arrangements are inappropriate and no suitable adjustments can be made to the arrangements, then the employee will be required to revert to previous working arrangements. Such amendments to arrangements will be confirmed in writing to the employees by the line manager. An employee will have the right to appeal against any such decision.

GUIDANCE

FLEXIBLE WORKING OPTIONS

Varying working hours

Taking into account the factors described above, revised start and finish times may be agreed between the employee and the line manager, which routinely allow an employee to begin work earlier/later than normal and to leave work at an earlier/later time than normal, or to work a compressed working pattern (e.g. 35 hours worked over four days or 70 hours over nine days) where appropriate.

Part-time working

Line managers will consider requests from employees who wish to work a reduced number of hours per week, either by reducing the number of working days in a week or the number of working hours per day.

Such requests will be considered taking into account:

the operational needs of the Professional Services department/school/faculty
the suitability of the employee’s role with regard to part-time working
the ability of Birkbeck to redistribute the tasks that would otherwise be performed if the role was continued on a full-time basis
the need to maintain an appropriate balance between the numbers of full and part-time employees within a department/section for the purposes of continuity.

Employees engaged on Tier 2 visas should be aware of the requirement to maintain their agreed working hours and they are advised to contact HR before submitting an application for flexible working.

Homeworkers

Subject to the suitability of the role being undertaken, requests will be considered from employees who wish to become homeworkers. These employees will normally work from home and have their regular work base at home, although they may need to spend time at a College location on occasion, e.g. to attend meetings. They will have equipment provided by Birkbeck to enable them to work from home and must be regularly contactable. The conditions in Birkbeck’s Homeworking policy also apply. Note that this differs from hybrid working where, notwithstanding the pattern of home and office work, the employee's work base is the Birkbeck campus.

Job sharing

Job sharing is the term used when two or more people are employed to undertake the duties normally encompassed within a full-time position. Each employee fully assumes the responsibilities associated with the job whilst they are at work but shares the employment benefits on a pro-rata basis proportionate to the number of hours each is contracted to work.

Birkbeck will consider written applications from employees who wish to embark upon a job-sharing arrangement or who wish to apply for a vacancy on this basis. Employees should seek further advice from the line manager who will be managing the job share and/or HR when submitting the request.

The factors that will be considered by line managers when considering such a request may include any or all of the following:

the operational needs of particular departments and whether these may be impacted by such an arrangement;
the suitability of the role to be efficiently and effectively fulfilled by employees with such an arrangement;
the suitability of the job share applicants to perform the role in question;
the practical arrangements including the compatibility of employees and communication arrangements that will be applied so that there is no disadvantage to Birkbeck in agreeing to the job share;
the need to maintain an appropriate consistency of approach and continuity of work in progress and the extent to which this can be achieved within the job share arrangement.

Employment terms for job sharers

Those employees who work on a job share arrangement will receive the salary and benefits applicable to the role, pro-rated according to the proportion of the normal working week for that role that they undertake. Arrangements will be in accordance with those provided for other part-time employees within Birkbeck.

There may be a requirement for job share employees to cover any pre-booked and/or pre-notified absence of the person with whom they share the job. This requirement will be explained and detailed in writing in their revised contracts of employment. However, absence cover for urgent or immediate situations where no advance notification has been given may be refused by an employee. Operational requirements within certain positions may necessitate specific working practices such as completion of duties or handover periods. Where these apply, they will be fully explained and documented for the employees concerned.

Arrangements should a job sharer leave Birkbeck

Should one employee who is part of a job share arrangement leave Birkbeck’s employment, Birkbeck may:

invite the remaining job-sharing partner to take on the role on a full-time basis; or
consider whether the position could become part-time; or
attempt to recruit a suitable job-sharing partner to fill the vacated element of the job share; or
if a suitable job-sharing partner cannot be found, request the remaining partner to consider any alternative employment that may be available within Birkbeck.

Once all the above options have been considered and if alternative employment is not available or not accepted by the remaining job share partner, then the College may consider the option to make the position redundant in accordance with the Redundancy policy.

Birkbeck reserves the right to review, revise, amend or replace the content of this policy and/or introduce new policies from time to time, subject to good practice principles of consultation where applicable, to reflect the changing needs of the College and to comply with legislation.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Individual line managers are responsible for ensuring that this policy is applied within their own area. Any queries on the application or interpretation of this policy should be discussed with the Human Resources Business Partnering team prior to any action being taken.

The following have direct responsibilities under this policy:

EMPLOYEES

Submit written request for flexible working to line manager.
Attend meeting with line manager to discuss request and potential flexible work options (and make arrangements for a work colleague, or trade union representative to attend meeting, where required).
Where a request for flexible working has been approved, attend meetings to discuss new working arrangements, where appropriate.
Confirm any request to withdraw application for flexible working in writing to line manager.
Submit an appeal in writing where a request for flexible working is refused (should they wish to make an appeal).
Where required, arrange for a work colleague, companion or trade union representative to attend appeal meeting.

LINE MANAGERS

Consider requests for flexible working, ensuring the entire process is complete within two months, unless a longer period is agreed with the employee.
Arrange meeting with employee to discuss flexible working request.
Provide written response to requests for flexible working.
If request for flexible working is agreed, ensure that the employee has a revised statement of their terms and conditions of employment.
Initiate trial period for new flexible working arrangements, where appropriate.
Monitor the impact of new arrangements on employee’s job performance.
Confirm in writing to employee any amendments to new arrangements following completion of trial period.
Ensure HR receives notification of any variations in terms and conditions of employment for employees, where appropriate.
If flexible working request is refused, ensure the employee receives a full written reason for refusal.
Provide written confirmation of withdrawal of flexible working request to employee.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Provide advice/guidance on flexible working arrangements.
Attend flexible working discussion meetings, where appropriate.
Where requests for flexible working have been granted, provide a revised statement of terms and conditions of employment for employees.
Notify payroll of variations in employee terms and conditions of employment following approval for flexible working.
Arrange appeal hearings.
Liaise with Appeal Chair where appropriate.

EXECUTIVE DEAN/director of operations/DIRECTOR of professional services

Authorise variations in contract terms, where appropriate.

APPEAL CHAIR

Ensure fair and equitable process is followed.
Review the evidence based on the grounds of the appeal.
Where an appeal has been lodged, ensure employee is notified of the outcome.
Liaise with HR to facilitate appeals process.

Version no: 2.1

Policy owner: Human Resources

Approved by:

HR Strategy and Policy Committee (version 1.0)
HR Strategy and Policy Committee (version 2.0, statutory compliance)
Human Resources (version 2.1, minor amendment to reflect introduction of Hybrid Working policy)

Date approved:

Version 1.0: Summer 2014
Version 2.0: February 2024
Version 2.1: November 2024