Would you consider this a fair use of flexi time?

[wherevershewonders]

Employee contracted 29.6 hours a week over 4 days. Flexi time permitted if reasonable and fair to rest of team, I'm trying to work out if it is.

Monday - 7:50-17:30
Tuesday - 8:45-14:45
Wednesday - 8:45-15:15 / 16:00-16:30
Thursday - 8:45-15:15 / 16:00-16:30

Looks fine, what are your concerns?

What is the issue?

Whether such a short day on a Tuesday is fair, and whether anything will reasonably get done logging back on for half an hour two days a week

Weds/Thurs look like a break for school run, I'm not sure how often that 45 mins would actually get done, or done well.

It depends. Tuesday it a short day - is there enough cover for the rest of the working day? The broken up days look a lot like someone collecting kids from school. Where are those kids for the half hour the person is working? Can they productively get anything done in that half hour? What would happen if everyone in the team wanted that pattern?

I'd ask for that 1.5 to be made up elsewhere.

I sometimes log back on for half an hour once my children are home and watching TV with a snack. I use that time to do all the crappy admin jobs I don't want to do the rest of the week.

Depends very much on the role. If it’s a role where most activity happens 9-5, there’s little benefit to the team in someone starting and finishing so early. In other roles, this would be a non-issue.

I think it's totally fair - the point of flexi is to work when you want. But maybe the Wed and Thurs you could start earlier and just finish for the day at 3.15

Those 2x 30 minutes are a waste of time. Finish early one day and do 4pm-5pm the other.

The half an hour two days a week can be quite useful for planning the next day to hit it running, clearing inboxes etc.
School run is fine if the children are older and self sufficient but not great if they actually need looking after.

Is the role customer facing, answering calls etc? Which would the impact of the rest of the team ibe if they had to cover? My role isn't like that and we all work fully flexi able to nip off for appointments and school runs as and when needed as long as the hours are made up over the week and we block the time off in our calendar.

Seems totally reasonable. You can’t call it flexi time and then say oh a short day isn’t fair, defeats the point of flexi time.

The point of flexi is to work when you want, within the constraints of business need.

Looks to be a WTR issue after 6 hours have to have at least 20 minute break and Monday, Tuesday, Thursday don't seen to have this

Completely depends on the job but (I've not added the hours up) don't you need a 20 minute break after 6 hours? So the 8:45 to 15:15 looks badly planned.

Do you not legally have to a break if you work 6 hrs? Wed and Thurs are over that.
Wouldn't be allowed at my work because of this, NHS

It depends a lot on the job, everywhere I've worked that has had flexi time there has been some expectation of flexibility on both sides, so while you might be able to eg leave early most of the time, if there's an important meeting, or all day training etc you will be available for the full day that day (formal flexible working agreements excepted). Also will someone else need to pick up calls etc when you are not there? What do all the others do?

Agree that those half hour bursts can be great for firing through emails.

I'd allow it on a 6 month trial basis and then review at that point to see if you are happy to make the pattern permanent based on how it's gone.

I think the half hour could be really useful for checking emails and ticking off small admin jobs (if that's the kind of role it is).

30 min lunch break each day has been factored in to those timings

I wouldn't be massively keen on this as a manager as it seems like it would be very awkward to manage the business around. I could cope if I needed to but it's not really ideal. If you were the kind of employee that's known for taking the piss too, I'd be more against it because there's no way I'd trust you to actually work those hours. I don't think I'm a pisstaker but I know I'd always end up not doing the extra half an hour on Weds/Thurs or I'd just spend it in front my laptop not actually doing anything productive

I think it's fine. It's flexi after all.

Could the team function if everyone wanted to clock off early on a Tues?
Flexi time permitted if reasonable and fair to rest of team is that honestly meant? Would the part timer expecting these hours consistently stop the rest of the team taking flexi too?

It really all depends on the role. My employer is exceptionally flexible and on days when I have classes I'm in until they finish but other days it's up to me to prep/do other admin tasks/keep learning and skills up to date and I often do similar hours to what your colleague is proposing or sometimes work a bit later when the kids are in bed. 9 /10 I get interested in something and work beyond my hours and with notice I'm perfectly happy to work the 8-6 days when they arise. My boss employed me as a professional and trusts me to get the job done.

However if it's a client facing role can understand that could potentially be more difficult but not enough to say no unless there's other circumstances.