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Introduction to this document

Flexitime clause

Permitting employees to work flexitime boosts morale and commitment and can result in increased productivity and better performance. However, it won’t be suitable for all businesses and, even if you do want to introduce such a system, you need to carefully set out rules on how it will operate in practice. It’s not an excuse for employees to come and go as they please.

A flexible working option

Flexitime essentially enables employees to start and leave work at flexible times. For example, it might be agreed that they can start and finish one hour later than your normal hours of work, or that they can take a shorter lunch break in return for starting half an hour later. It can also enable employees to work longer hours on some days in return for then working shorter hours on other days. If this all sounds a bit too much like a “free for all”, it needn’t be, provided you closely regulate it. Our Flexitime Clause provides that the employee’s proposed hours of work always need your prior approval. It also sets a number of specified restrictions on the flexible hours that can be worked, including that the employee must work certain core or minimum hours and that they must attend work on all working days and work a minimum number of hours per week/month. You are free to set as many or as few restrictions as you need in order to make your system workable. We’ve also made provision for a day of authorised absence (e.g. sickness or holiday) to be deemed to amount to an average working day when calculating hours and we’ve provided for the employee to keep proper records of their hours worked and to co-operate with their colleagues to ensure adequate staffing levels. Finally, you need to ensure that any agreed flexitime system complies with the Working Time Regulations 1998 regarding rest breaks, rest periods between working days, maximum weekly working hours and weekly rest periods.