Applying for Flexible Working - Term Time only and holiday entitlement in the private sector

[Pyracantha]

Good morning - I wonder if anyone can help me figure out what I should request. I work as an office manager in a factory. I would like to be able to work term time only and have a reasonably good case that I think will be taken up.

I know that being part time, I would still be entitled to statutory holiday and want to present a fully thought out case. (I wouldn't want to take any holiday outside school holidays) We are a small company with no HR team - in fact, to all intents and purposes, I AM the HR person, so really I have to figure this out for myself and run it by the MD as fully as I can. Does anyone know how this works? Would I become hourly paid rather than salaried? If I am away for 13 weeks a year, what counts as holiday? Is this even feasible?

Many thanks in advance for any help

Be wary of saying you won't ever take annual leave in term time. You might need to take the odd one off for teacher training days or to attend school events etc.

I have a contract of 15 hours per week, but have flexibility to work more or less. This allows me to work up to 25 hours in term time and 'bank' the extra to take as TOIL in school holidays. My a/l entitlement is worked out in hours (3 hours=1 day).

My employers like this as it as the flexibility is beneficial for them too.

Thank you Clive - that's really interesting. I need to put whatever I write very concisely or he'll get bored too quickly and knee jerk 'no'. You make some good points, thank you.

You'll also need to consider who will cove for you in your absence if you are the only HR person. They will need to know that the responsibilities are covered for the weeks that you aren't there.

Are you full time at the moment? Who is going to do the work when you aren't there? And yes to it being very restrictive to never take holidays in termtime, child sickness and INSET days are not something that paid childcare is likely to cover. Plus sports day etc.

You can annualise the hours. For example I do 20 hours per week over 39 weeks which with the prorata annual leave amounts to 0.5 position.

Hi nulgirl. We're a really small factory (10 staff altogether), no staff turnover, so 'HR' is almost non existent - entering holidays/sickness is about it. On the rare occasion anything needs to be done formally it is my responsibility to make sure a qualified HR professional comes in (it's happened once in 11 years). I do have a CIPP, but have little cause to call on it. I deal with HR on an 'as and when' basis based on the ACAS website! The reason I feel that term time only may well work for my business is that the product the factory manufacture is expensive but also utilitarian - ie very seasonal - people cannot/won't pay it at Christmas and during the summer and sales hit the floor. During this time a lot of finger twiddling goes on in the office! Cover would not be a problem, and to have to leave my children in daycare while I'm clock watching seems madness. The rest of the year its bedlam - I never get a second to think.

I think for holiday purposes, what you are effectively suggesting is that you do a 0.75 role (i.e. you are working 75% of the year - 39/52 weeks). I think that actually works quite "nicely" for working everything out and should perhaps simplify matters when discussing it with your MD. Your working arrangement is that you will be full-time in the 39 weeks of term time, and off for the 13 weeks of school holiday but will be paid (and accrue holiday as a 0.75 role).

Depending on how your annual leave works now (e.g. you have holidays plus bank holidays), I'd say you simply work out 0.75 of each. So, if you get 20 days annual leave, plus the (8) bank holidays, you'd get 15 days holiday, plus 6 bank holidays. If a bank holiday falls on one of your work days, then you have to use one of your leave days.