Flexible Working at the council.

[user0786]

Hi All,

I've just got a new job at the council and they offer flexible working. What does flexible working mean? Is it the same as hybrid/WFH?

Posted on AIBU for traffic.

i work for our local council and take flexible working to mean that as long as you complete your contracted hours each week you can work whenever how ever it is dependent on the post and core business hours for example my hours are 9-5 but i need to do a school run that takes an hour so i use my 30 min lunch and work till 5:30

As above flexible is about yours hours not hybrid (wfh). Cover the core hours and start earlier than 9am or end later than 5pm to meet your daily requirements

Thanks. Are the core hours the hours you're expected to defo work? My core hours will be 8:30am - 5pm. So does that mean I'll have to work those hours? Not sure how that's flexible as that's usually most office hours - that's why I'm confused x

That doesn’t sound like core hours. Usually average day is 9-5 with core hours being 10-4 so you can start/finish different as long as core is covered. In reality people do duck out for school runs and make up the time without any issues

I work for a local council. Under our flex scheme, core hours are 10 - 4pm but you can start work anytime from 7:45am and finish anytime up until 6:30pm.
You need to work a minimum of 140 hours over a 4 week period but can carry up to 7 additional hours over to the next month and take them as day of flex leave if you want.

I work for the local council and we have flexible working. For us, as long as you clear it with your manager, it really is very flexible.

So, I work 30 hours a week, same as a colleague who does the same role as me. However, she works basically 9-5, Mon to Thurs, and has Fridays off completely and I work 9-3pm Monday and Tuesday, 9-5pm Wednesday and Friday and 9-1pm on Thursday as that fits round childcare.

As long as it’s reasonable (I.e. I don’t think it would be deemed reasonable to say you want to work all night, and are never available during normal office hours), our place allow it. We are also expected to be flexible in return which is fair enough - so if a meeting has to be booked during a time I’m normally not working, then I will always do my best to accommodate by tweaking my hours if i can.

We can also take up to two flex days a month (so, if we work over our hours, we log it on a spreadsheet and can then take those hours back, either as individual hours, as a half day or as a whole day).

Your council will definitely have a written policy for this which should be in your welcome pack or even available on the internet- if not, email HR and ask for it.

@user0786 no one can tell you what is permitted by your employer.

Usually there is a policy in the internal Intranet so try searching for that.

Alternatively ask your manager, they will be happy to explain.

It's in the social care department so I doubt it'll be as flexible. I've literally just got the job. My references have only just been cleared so I was just curious. Didn't want to seem annoying and start bombarding my manager with questions beforehand.

I'm looking forward to some flexibility as my current job has none