Flexitime policy template

Overview

[Company] recognises the commitment and hard work of all staff and understands that individuals may, at some time in their working lives, find it difficult to maintain a balance between their professional and personal commitments.

[Company] also understands that the promotion of flexible working patterns can reduce unauthorised absences from work and employee stress, and in turn promote a good work-life balance and improve performance and productivity.

One way for [Company] to do this is to offer flexitime, whereby employees work their total number of contractual hours, but are permitted flexibility as to when they begin and end a day or shift.

Scope

This policy is applicable to all empoyees of [Company].

General Principles

When flexitime can operate

[All employees are entitled to benefit from [Company]'s flexitime scheme. This means that employees can generally work flexitime, as long as they abide by the restrictions set out below.

However, flexitime should not interfere with [Company]'s needs or the employee's job duties and line managers can override flexitime arrangements to meet the needs of the business.]

[OR

[Company] will consider requests to work flexitime from [all employees/employees in [details, for example particular departments or types of job]]. [Employees should refer to [Company]'s policy on non-statutory requests for flexible working, which sets out how requests can be made.]]

Requests from part-time employees to work flexitime will be considered on the same basis as requests from full-time employees.

How flexitime works

Each employee who is covered by a flexitime arrangement can vary his/her hours around the core working periods. The hours banked can be used at a later date to take time off, such as a day's holiday or simply a late start or early finish to the day.

The employee can work extra hours and use these later to take time off work. The employee can, if he/she wishes, accrue a surplus of hours to take later, up to a maximum of [14] hours within the [monthly/quarterly] flexitime period.

[Employees are not allowed to take time off that has not been accrued. In other words, an employee is not allowed to use flexitime to work less than [seven] hours in a day when he/she has not worked the time in advance to accrue this time off.]

[OR

Employees are allowed to build up a maximum "deficit" of [seven] hours' time off that they have not accrued. In other words, an employee is not allowed to take more than [seven] hours off that he/she has not worked in advance to accrue this time off.]

The flexible period is one [month/quarter]. Employees cannot carry over surplus hours from one flexitime period to the next. Any surplus hours worked in any one flexitime period will be lost if they are not taken as time off within that [monthly/quarterly] flexitime period.

Employees who are taking time off using accrued hours that result in their not working the core hours of [9.30am] to [11.30am] and [2pm to 3.30pm] in any one day are required to get their line manager's consent. For example, if an employee is taking a full day off after accruing [seven] surplus hours, he/she must ask the line manager before taking the time off.

Hours of work

The core working periods, during which employees must normally be at work, are [9.30am] to [11.30am] and [2pm to 3.30pm]. [The flexitime arrangements apply only [from Monday to Friday]. Employees cannot work hours under the flexitime scheme on [Saturdays and Sundays].]

The earliest that an employee can start work is [7.30am] and the latest that he/she can start work is [9.30am]. The earliest that an employee can finish work is [3.30pm] and the latest that he/she can finish work is [8pm].

Employees must take a minimum of [30 minutes] for lunch. You may take your lunch break between the hours of [11.30am and 2pm].

Record of flexitime hours worked

Employees doing flexitime are required to record their start and finish times, lunch breaks and total hours of work [on a [weekly/monthly] flexitime record/in the computerised system].

The employee's line manager will review and approve the employee's hours at the end of each [week/month], confirming how much time off an employee has accrued.

Working time limits

An employee working extra hours on a particular day as part of the flexitime scheme must not work more than [10] hours during the day and must take at least a [30-minute] lunch break over and above this.

The employer has to comply with working time limits and ensure that workers who do flexitime do not exceed reasonable working hours. [Company] is committed to ensuring that workers' working patterns do not compromise their health.

[For more details on working time limits, employees should refer to [Company]'s policy on working hours.]

Monitoring of flexitime

The employee's line manager will monitor the employee's flexitime to ensure that:

• it does not result in overtiredness or underperformance;
• it continues to fit into [Company]'s business needs;
• it does not place too much extra burden on his/her colleagues; and
• the employee is not abusing the flexitime arrangement.

[Company] reserves the right to review and, if necessary, require the employee to change his/her working patterns.

Disciplinary action

Any abuse of this policy will be a disciplinary offence that can result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.