The standard number of hours worked annually by full-time staff is 1623.6 hours per annum. This is equivalent to an average 37-hour week. Your weekly hours will be outlined within your contract. Your working pattern will be determined by the operational needs of your business area. Where local arrangements are in place to meet the needs of your business area or team these will be recorded in your team agreement.
We have a flexible working hours arrangement in place. This arrangement is highly valued by colleagues and is based on mutual trust and confidence. This means that we all have a shared responsibility for making sure it operates successfully. Full details on how this operates, including roles and responsibilities, are outlined within this policy.
Operational Security staff are not on flexi and have specific arrangements in place for recording working times.
You must be present on each day you are scheduled to work. Unless you are absent for reasons including sick leave, annual leave, other types of leave or approved absence reasons apply.
You should let your manager know, in advance, if you intend to start work later than your normal agreed start time or outwith your working pattern. Generally, this means that you should contact your manager if you intend to start later than 10am, unless your manager has agreed alternative arrangements with your team.
It is essential that you record your working time accurately and in good time. A record of this is also needed to ensure that your working time complies with Health and Safety and the Working Time Regulations. Time worked must be recorded daily on iTrent.
It is your responsibility to record your time daily, accurately and honestly. Log the time you start and finish work and how long you take for lunch or any applicable breaks.
Your manager will monitor your flexi balance to ensure your hours are manageable and accurate and that they are in line with the arrangements set out in this policy and the Working Time Regulations.
Staff are responsible for:
Managers are responsible for:
People Services and Pay and Pensions are responsible for:
Office Heads/Team Leaders are responsible for:
Head of People Services and Pay and Pensions is responsible for:
This policy operates on the basis of mutual trust and in line with our values and behaviours framework. Therefore, if your hours of work are not recorded daily and accurately then you will be supported to comply with the requirements of this policy. Your manager will support you by:
Ultimately, though, if you do not meet the requirements of the policy without good reason, you may be removed from using the flexible working hours arrangements and will be required to work fixed hours.
Only if these efforts are unsuccessful will your manager consider recommending that you be removed from the flexible working hours arrangement. Office Heads/Team Leaders will be responsible for deciding if you should be removed from this arrangement. This may be applied on a temporary or permanent basis. Any misuse of the flexible working hours arrangements may also lead to disciplinary action, as noted within our disciplinary policy and procedures.
You can record working time outwith your normal working pattern (for example, evenings and weekends) on an occasional basis without the need for manager approval. This forms part of this policy and these other hours worked will be shown within your real time flexi balance (see example below on how this works in practice). Staff are discouraged from working on a regular basis outwith the normal working pattern. Managers will monitor working hours and, where necessary, will discuss concerns about patterns of working, including excessive working outwith the normal working pattern, with you.
This differs from overtime which must be agreed in advance and claimed in accordance with the provisions of the Pay policy arrangements. To claim additional hours as overtime, please refer to the Pay policy arrangements.
Q: I decided to finish work earlier than normal on a Friday afternoon, so I worked for one hour on Sunday to prepare for a meeting on Monday. I didn’t make my manager aware in advance that I would be working on Sunday. How should I record this working time?
A: You should record the time you worked on Sunday on iTrent as normal. This will be treated as normal flexible working and will be shown on your flexi balance. As this time was worked as normal flexible working it will not be treated as overtime.
Under certain circumstances, hours worked in addition to your normal contractual hours can be either recorded as overtime and paid in accordance with the Pay policy arrangements or taken as a flexi credit.
If payment for additional hours, or flexi credit, is to be claimed for any overtime worked, you must have this authorised in advance by your manager. Hours claimed as an additional payment must not be recorded as time worked under the flexible working arrangements. For example, you may not claim payment for overtime and accrue flexible working hours. You can only claim overtime as a payment or a flexi/Time Off in Lieu (TOIL) credit, it can’t be a combination of both.
Q: I have been asked by my line manager to work on Saturday to help with the introduction of a new system in my office. This is my non-working day but I know this is a one-off arrangement and I’m happy to do this. How do I record this?
A: You’ve discussed and agreed this with your manager in advance. You can claim this as an overtime payment and it should be claimed in accordance with the Pay policy arrangements. Or you can claim a flexi credit for the time.
We do recognise that there will be some business areas where staff are required to work late and occasionally unsociable hours to support business needs. For example, if the Parliament sits late and staff have to work later than their normal finish time. It is at the discretion of your manager to approve these hours as an overtime payment and in line with our Pay policy arrangements.
When working outwith normal working patterns, managers should ensure staff have a healthy work life balance and are working within the Working Time Regulations. The Right to Disconnect guidance supports this approach.
A roster is a period of specific working hours that staff are required to work to cover a specific need of the Parliament. Some staff will be rostered on all working days. Some staff may be rostered on specific days to cover an extended service, while on most days they work under standard Flexible Working Hours arrangements.
You will be given advance notice of rostered hours if this is appropriate to your working pattern.
Any changes to rosters will be subject to a management/Trade Union review.
Your lunch break may be up to two hours, unless a longer period has been agreed with your manager. You must take an uninterrupted break of at least 30 minutes if you work more than six hours per day. This does not necessarily have to be over the typical lunch period if you need to work then because you are:
Your manager has discretion to waive the necessity for you to deduct 30 minutes from the time you record on the system. It is important for your health and wellbeing that you take an uninterrupted break during the day. Therefore, this must only occur on an exceptional basis.
Office Heads/Team Leaders are responsible for monitoring working time in their Offices and teams. They are also responsible for supporting managers to address any workload issues which are preventing staff from taking an uninterrupted break during the working day.
You may take breaks throughout the working day as long as they comply with our Breaks Policy and are recorded in iTrent. This means they must not be recorded as working time. There is no limit to the number of breaks you can enter daily. Failure to comply with the Breaks Policy may result in disciplinary action.
Full time staff are all contracted to work hours equivalent to an average of 37 hours per week excluding breaks. You may carry a maximum of 14 hours and 48 minutes flexi credit or deficit (equivalent of two days at 7 hours and 24 minutes if you work 37 hours) into the new leave year (1 September each year). This is pro-rated for part time staff. Any balance beyond this (credit or debit) should be discussed with your manager. This is to ensure that the level carried over is manageable within your working pattern.
Other arrangements may be appropriate where staff have been prevented from taking time off because of business requirements or long-term absence. This is pro-rated for part-time staff.
If you work in a rostered environment, such as the Security Office, and accrue TOIL, you may carry a maximum equivalent to 2 of your working days in TOIL credit or deficit into the new leave year (1 September each year). Time beyond these boundaries should be discussed with your manager. This is to ensure that the level carried over is manageable within your working pattern. Other arrangements may be appropriate where staff have been prevented from taking time off because of management requirements or long-term absence.
If you work in a fully rostered environment, the hours you are required to work are those included in the appropriate roster. Adjustments have already been made for public and privilege holidays.
Flexible Working Hours credits and TOIL can be used at times agreed with your manager.
Your annual leave is reflected in hours and minutes. This allows greater flexibility as leave taken can be requested and taken in hours and minutes, instead of full and half days.
Staff who wish to book a period of annual leave should do this on iTrent and must enter annual leave requests in advance of the day(s) they plan to take. Retrospective or same day annual leave requests should only be submitted in exceptional circumstances and require approval from your manager.
If you are sick and subsequently absent from work for a whole day, you will be credited with your normal daily target hours for that day. If you are sent home during the day, your actual hours of attendance will be made up to your normal daily target hours and recorded as sick absence.
If you work on a roster, the credit will be that equivalent to the day length shown on the roster. If you work a flexible working pattern, for example, part-time, compressed hours, etc, then the credit will be for the number of hours you were due to work that day.
You are expected to make every effort to make these appointments in your own time. Hybrid working offers some staff additional flexibility to arrange appointments around your working day and the requirements of your office/team. For hybrid staff, this additional flexibility should mean that routine appointments (for example, GP and dentist appointments) can be arranged during breaks when working from home.
For location dependent staff, for example, Security, it is expected that you will try to make an appointment at a time that will cause the least amount of disruption to your office.
Where it is not possible to arrange an appointment in your own time, you should seek the advance permission of your manager before confirming the appointment. A working time credit equal to the duration of the absence may be claimed if the appointment occurs during your normal working pattern. The credit will exclude normal commuting time. On days where credit has been given for appointments, the total amount of hours recorded (including time worked and credit) will not exceed the normal daily target hours.
The restrictions listed above do not apply in relation to the following circumstances:
Staff who wish to claim back time for hospital, medical or dental appointments should request this in iTrent.
A credit equal to the duration of the absence will be given to staff who are union members for a reasonable amount of time during working hours. This includes those working on a part-time basis if they attend longer than their contracted hours.
This is in relation to when you:
A credit equal to the duration of the absence will be given to members of staff who are appointed as safety representatives. This includes those working on a part-time basis if they attend longer than their contracted hours. This is to allow you to:
If you are a Health & Safety representative, you should clear any such absences in advance with your manager.
Information on travel disruption and attendance is available under the Special Leave section in our employee handbook.
Office Heads/Team Leaders also have discretion to authorise absences for other purposes. A credit for the duration of any other authorised absence should be given, including to those working on a part-time basis if they attend longer than their contracted hours.
If you leave the Parliament, you will be paid for any excess hours you have worked. For term-time staff, this payment will be calculated as a proportion of the hours you have worked over the full year. For example, if you leave employment at the start of a recess period, you may have worked more than the number of hours you are required to work over a full year. If this is the case, your final pay will be adjusted to reflect this.
If you have a deficit in your hours at the time of departure, you will have that debit offset either against any balance of annual leave due or through a reduction in final pay. Staff will be notified in advance.
If you have used more annual leave than your pro-rata entitlement at your leaving date a deduction from your pay will be calculated to offset this deficit.