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Defence Estates (DE) changes to flexible working hours (FWH) scheme

Defence estates members will by now have seen the new FWH scheme for Defence Estates announced on 21 December 2009 with an effective date of 4 January 2010. Our union welcomes the development of a codified, DE wide, FWH scheme, and is in favour of the removal of core hours in order to facilitate greater opportunities for work-life balance. However, we are deeply concerned that the scheme, as written, will not provide this enhanced flexibility.

Whilst our union has had sight of the initial draft of these proposals, and has submitted comments listing a number of concerns, PCS feels that we did not have full consultation before the scheme was implemented. After our comments were submitted, we were told the DE management board would likely wish to make further amendments, and we had no sight of a further draft until the announcement was made. As such, we have not agreed the final scheme proposed, and it appears our comments were not incorporated.

Our union believes that the proposed new scheme is not in fact a FWH scheme but an alternative working pattern scheme, as there is very little flexibility to an individual’s working hours in the document currently presented. The references to the working time directive are overly simplistic; as such their inclusion can only be a cause for confusion. We also have numerous concerns with the way in which the proposals will be implemented in practice, not least what might comprise a full- or half-day in terms of flexi-leave, and how consistency will be ensured across the business.

We are meeting with management on Monday 11 January to discuss the scheme, and will be seeking to have the scheme amended to address these concerns. We will also be seeking to have the scheme reviewed within a reasonable time of its implementation.

With this in mind, we are urging PCS members not to sign up to the scheme at this time. We hope that negotiation with management will result in a robust, transparent and workable scheme, which we are able to endorse in the near future.

Once such a scheme is agreed and in place, please, keep John Russell, the PCS lead in DE informed of the impact of the changes upon you, so that we can take your experiences into consideration during the review. You can email John at john.russell@hd.de.mod.uk or call him on 01904 754646

 

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