Chapter 10 - Part-time working and job sharing
Appendices
- Model minute detailing terms and conditions of employment for part-time working |
- Terms and conditions of employment for part-year working |
- Model minute for part-year working |
- Application for payment of salary averaged over a calendar year |
- This chapter outlines the Crown Prosecution Service policy on part-time working and sets out the following:
- principles of part-time working arrangements;
- scope and criteria for dealing with requests to work part-time and job-share;
- procedures to be followed for dealing with requests to begin, alter or terminate part-time working arrangements.
- It is departmental policy to try and accommodate requests for part-time working, taking into account at all times the operational needs of the Department. It is recognised that flexible working patterns can be of considerable benefit to those who wish to combine work and family commitments and can also be of benefit to the Department for the following reasons:
- trained staff with experience and expertise who want or need to work part-time might leave if they are unable to change their hours. The Department would then lose the investment that had been made in their recruitment and training;
- peaks of work may be more easily met by employing part-time staff who only work the days/hours/time of year when the pressure of work is heaviest;
- arrangements such as those where two part-time staff share one full-time job provide a wider range of skills than might be available from one full-time member;
- in some cases part-time working may only be a temporary measure, and, if readily available, can help a return to full-time working without the need for re-training.
- Part-time working should be considered at all levels and both staff and management should adopt a flexible approach to changes in work arrangements where at all possible.
- For recruitment purposes, in order to comply with the requirements of selection on merit on the basis of open and fair competition, part-time vacancies should be advertised as such.
- Part-time working is defined as follows:
- part-time staff are those who normally work less than the full net conditioned hours (36 hours London, 37 hours elsewhere). Details of the terms and conditions of service affecting part-time appointments are given in paragraph 12;
- job-sharing is a particular form of part-time working in which the responsibilities of one full-time job are shared between two or more people. The duties of the post may be shared or split;
- part-year appointments are where staff are engaged to work less than 52 weeks a year. The most common type of part-year appointment is term time working in which staff with parental responsibilities adjust their working pattern to fit in with those responsibilities. Details of the terms and conditions of service applicable to part-year appointments are given in Appendix 2.
- Any members of staff wishing to work on a part-time basis should apply, giving full details, to line management who, in turn, will consult the Area Business Manager (ABM)/Corporate HR Services for HQ staff.
- When considering an application, or in deciding between competing cases consideration will be given to the needs of both the individual and the work of the Department; applications will not be refused unless there is appropriate objective justification. Alterations to existing working patterns in the office, or in other offices within reasonable daily travelling distance, should also be considered as appropriate. However, whilst maximum flexibility by management and staff will help make part-time working possible, it cannot be guaranteed that every request will be met. Whilst the first priority will be to consider requests for part-time working from existing staff, ABMs/Corporate HR Services may also recruit externally on part-time terms, providing the terms being offered are clearly specified in the advertisement (see paragraph 4).
- Any number of hours or working pattern which meets both the needs of the Department and the officer may be agreed.
- In the Personnel Management Information System (PIMMS), part-time staff count in proportion to the hours worked as compared to a full-timer in the same way as they do in calculating salary budget. When considering part-time work/job sharing arrangements it is important, therefore, that consideration is given to the availability of funding should these arrangements lead to an increase in the number of hours worked. Additional funding to cover any salary shortfall will not be forthcoming.
- If an application to work part-time is not approved, staff will be notified of the reasons and advised to discuss the possibility of opportunities in other Government Departments with the Area Service Centre/Corporate HR Services for HQ staff.
- A permanent member of staff may, on returning to work after extended or frequent sickness absence, work part-time on a recuperative basis for a specified period, normally up to 3 months. The aim would be a return to full-time working, by gradually increasing the hours worked, by the end of the specified period. Authority to work part-time on medical grounds may only be given by the ABM/Corporate HR Services for HQ staff, who may consult the Department's occupational health adviser (currently BMI Health Services Ltd.). For further details see Chapter 4 of this Volume.
- Staff changing from full-time to part-time employment, or altering their part-time arrangements, will be issued with a minute based on the model at Appendix 1, (Appendix 3 for part-year appointments/Appendix 4 for salary averaged over a year), by the Service Centre/Corporate HR Services for HQ staff, setting out:
- details of the change in working arrangements; and
- any revised terms and conditions of service.
- All staff who work part-time are regarded as non-mobile. Part-time staff qualify for statutory employment protection rights on exactly the same basis as full-time staff.
- Staff employed on a regular basis on duties corresponding to those of full-time salaried staff will receive a proportion of their appropriate full-time rate of pay equal to the proportion of time which they devote to their duties. Allowances will normally be calculated in proportion to the full-time rate (but some, for example subsistence, may be payable at their full rate).
- Extra hours worked Monday to Friday will be paid at the appropriate plain time rate for hours worked up to the net conditioned hours (i.e. 36 or 37). Thereafter, overtime is payable at the rate applicable to full-time staff. Extra hours worked on a Saturday will be paid at one and a half plain time rate plus half plain time (i.e. double time), or time off in lieu for actual hours worked on the Saturday. Extra hours worked on a Sunday or public holiday, will be paid at double plain time, or time off in lieu plus plain time, for the actual hours worked on the Sunday or public holiday.
- Staff who work every day, and who work the same number of hours each day, will receive the normal annual leave allowances appropriate to their level/pay band and service. (One day's leave will equate to the part-timer's normal conditioned working day). Staff not working every day, or working irregular hours, will receive an annual leave allowance appropriate to their level/pay band and service in proportion to the number of days/hours worked. Where the working pattern involves days of different length it may be preferable to express the annual leave allowance in hours.
- For further details of the calculations for determining annual leave allowances see Chapter 1 of this Volume.
- Part-time staff are eligible for a proportion of the public holidays and privilege days allowed to full-time staff, based on the number of hours they work. Public holidays and privilege day allowances for part-timers should always be calculated for the calendar year (January-December) irrespective of the employee's annual leave year. For further details of the calculations for determining public holidays and privilege day allowances see Chapter 1 of this Volume.
- Part-timers, who, because of the days when public holidays and privilege days fall, take less than their entitlement, must be allowed to take the balance at a time agreed with their line manager. Conversely, if a part-timer is not entitled to all or part of a holiday, arrangements must be made with the member of staff for the time to be made up.
- Part-time staff are able to work flexitime. The maximum excess/defeat carried forward to the next accounting period is 40% of the weekly conditioned hours. The same amount can be taken as flexi leave in an accounting period.
- Part-time staff are entitled to paid sick absence on part-time rates of pay on the same terms as full-time staff. They may be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay. For further details see Chapter 3 of this Volume.
- Part-time staff are considered for special leave with or without pay in the same way as full-time staff. For staff not working every day, special leave will only be considered for days on which they were due to work. Where there is a fixed allowance (e.g. Reserve Forces) special leave will be limited in proportion to the hours worked.
- Part-timers are entitled to:
- 26 weeks' paid maternity or adoption leave at the part-time rate of pay;
- further unpaid leave up to a total of 52 weeks (paid and unpaid leave).
- Further details of maternity and adoption leave qualifying provisions can be found in Chapter 5 of this Volume.
- Part-time staff are entitled to take one or two whole weeks leave, up to 8 weeks after the date of birth/adoption placement. (A 'whole week' will be the number of days/hours usually worked in a week. e.g for a part-timer working 3 days a week - a whole week will be the 3 days that they work.)
- Part-time staff are eligible for membership of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS), irrespective of the number of hours worked. The basic rules for calculating superannuation benefits are similar for both full-time and part-time staff, the only difference being the way reckonable service is calculated. Reckonable service will accrue on a proportionate basis to the normal full-time conditioned hours for the level. Further information may be obtained from Payroll and Allowances Unit.
- Part-time staff should be considered for, and have access to, appropriate training courses in the same way as full-time staff. Where it is not possible for a part-time worker to attend a full-time course, line managers should contact Training Branch to discuss alternative methods of training.
- Staff are entitled to pay for additional hours above their normal part-time hours, up to the full conditioned hours, when these are required by their attendance at training courses. Managers may allow time off in lieu to be taken as an alternative to payment, subject to the needs of the work.
- Performance appraisal and other reports must be completed for part-time staff on the same terms as for full-time staff. Part-time staff must not be disadvantaged because of the hours they work.
- Part-time staff are eligible for promotion/progression on exactly the same terms as full-time staff.
- Staff working on a part-time or job-share basis are eligible to be considered for deputising or temporary promotion/progression in the same way as full-time staff. Further details can be found in Volume 3 Chapter 5.
- As part-time staff are regarded as non-mobile they will not be transferred beyond reasonable travelling distance from home except at their own request. The opportunities for transfer, like those for posting on promotion, will depend upon the availability of suitable posts.
Introduction
Principles
Procedures
Applications for part-time working
Part-time attendance on medical grounds
Conditions of service for part-time staff
General
Pay, allowances and overtime
Annual leave
Public holidays and privilege days
Flexitime
Sickness absence
Special leave
Maternity or adoption leave
Paternity leave
Superannuation
Training
Appraisal
Promotion/progression
Deputising or temporary promotion/progression
Transfers
Back to Staff absence and welfare, including annual, special and sickness leave index