| 1.1 |
It is accepted that, in the course of carrying out their duties, staff will on occasion be required to work more than the contractual hours of 7.4 hours per day or 37 hours per week. When these occasions arise, it is clearly in the interests of both staff and the organisation for time off in lieu (TOIL) to be granted as a means of avoiding overwork and tiredness. |
| 1.2 |
Whilst some fieldwork staff do have a flexitime contract (post 1 April 1998), typically it has been the case that administrative staff work flexitime and fieldwork and residential staff accrue TOIL. As it is more usual for social work employees to work outside core hours, for example, visiting children and families during late afternoon/early evening, and for residential staff to work the occasional additional shift, the TOIL policy has been written with fieldwork and residential staff in mind. It is expected that administrative staff will continue to manage additional hours worked within the existing flexitime scheme. |
| 1.3 |
In order to ensure all staff are treated in an equitable manner, it is desirable that there be a common approach to agreeing requests for TOIL. |
| 1.4 |
The council is committed to being an employer of choice. It will strive through its HR policies to be a consistently fair and caring employer. The council does not encourage a culture of long hours and believes that ultimately this could result in either short or long term absence. |
| 1.5 |
It is generally accepted that chronic overworking reduces efficiency, increases the likelihood of error and leads to workers being less able to deal with stressful situations. It is therefore in everyone's interests to work towards a healthy work/life balance. |
| 1.6 |
This proposed guidance is intended to provide a framework for staff and aims to ensure employees working more than their contracted hours are alerted by managers to the possible negative consequences to their health and/or emotional wellbeing. It is acknowledged that working additional hours is often unavoidable. This pilot will ensure that employees are fully supported when extra hours are being worked by the opportunity to take time off in lieu. |
| 1.7 |
Enabling staff to work realistic hours must be linked to supervision and effective workload management, which should ensure staff are not persistently required to complete tasks/meet deadlines that cannot be reasonably expected within the contractual hours. |
| 1.8 |
Where the working hours lay outside the normal hours in which the office is open, consideration should always be given to ensuring the worker's safety and availability to managerial support/advice/decisions. |
| 1.9 |
This guidance is consistent with the Recruitment and Retention Summary produced by Working on Workforce Issues (WOWi). |
| 1.10 |
It is proposed that, if adopted, the operation of the arrangements be reviewed 6 months after implementation. |
| 1.11 |
The needs of the service shall at all times take precedence over the policy and it will be the responsibility of the Team Manager to ensure that the operational requirements of the service continue to be met |
| 2.1 |
Except in exceptional circumstances, staff should not accumulate more than 15 hours TOIL at any given time. This equates to approximately 2 working days. This will apply pro-rata for those working part time. The 15 hour maximum applies within a 5 week period. |
| 2.2 |
Such circumstances could be when a worker has to manage an unexpectedly high casework demand, for example due to very time consuming care proceedings.
Agreement to a worker exceeding the maximum 15 hours of TOIL must be provided:
- by the manager two tiers above the employee requesting extended TOIL i.e. a Service Manager would authorise additional TOIL for a Social Worker;
- following an e-mail to the manager outlining the reasons;
- as long as there is a plan in place for when the TOIL will be taken.
|
| 2.3 |
TOIL up to 15 hours is accrued and taken at plain time with periods of less than half an hour not being counted. It can be taken with the permission of the line manager, who will take into account the operational needs of the service when considering requests. |
| 2.4 |
All time owed must be recorded on the Flexitime Recording Sheet (this form enables you to record TOIL on the right-hand side and can be found in Public Folders). Time off should be booked using the space provided on the back page of the leave card. Not only does this help prevent subsequent misunderstandings about time owed/taken, but allows managerial oversight of the extent of extra work being undertaken by individuals, teams/services. The issue of TOIL owed/taken should be discussed and recorded at each supervision session. |
| 2.5 |
As at present, TOIL does not have the same status as annual leave. Managers would almost never cancel an employee's annual leave. However, planned TOIL can be cancelled in order to ensure the service is delivered to an acceptable leave. Employees who require time off for special occasions would therefore be wise to book this as annual leave. |
| 2.6 |
It is recognised that some workers will have built up substantial TOIL. In order to implement the above system, it is important to clear all accumulated TOIL. |
