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Review of the Indirect Work Allowance

8 September 2010

The Indirect Work Allowance (IWA) is used by Jobcentre Plus as part of its process for allocating resources. Indirect Work is legitimate work activity a member has to do but which is not directly related to their job role - for example completing flexi-checks, undertaking appraisals, attending team meetings or logging on at the start of the day.

A review of the IWA is now being undertaken by the Jobcentre Plus Work Study Costing Team (WSCT). The exercise is taking place in three offices in each region/nation and four Contact Centres. Full details of the offices included and the methodology to be used have been sent to your regional representatives.

Members in the offices involved will be asked, for a period of four weeks, to self-record the following:

1. Direct Work – for example interviewing a customer, processing a claim or answering a call

2. Indirect Work – see above

3. Personal Activities – for example time taken on formal breaks, going to the toilet or short pauses to talk socially to colleagues. The WSCT fully accepts that all workers legitimately do these things.

4. Other Activities – for example any type of leave, lunch breaks, TU facility time.

All the above types of activities need to be recorded to try to accurately reflect in the allocation of resources the amount of time taken on each category of activity in the working day.

PCS Advice

This exercise will unfortunately place a burden on the members involved while it takes place. However the information collected, through self-recording, will be helpful in assessing the real staffing needs of Jobcentre Plus in the future. PCS has been assured that the information collected will not be used by managers locally to monitor their staff in any way – it is purely for the use of the WSCT. Any breach of this undertaking should be reported to Group Office immediately.

Members should be encouraged to complete the records accurately. Under recording of indirect work and personal activities in particular could lead to our already inadequate staffing needs being underestimated further, to the detriment of PCS members and the public we serve.

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