UCLH recognises the benefits of flexible working for staff and has a dedicated policy which allows staff to apply for flexible working right from the beginning of employment.
Our staff are currently taking advantage of a large range of flexible working opportunities including:
- Part-time working
Ranges from very occasional work arrangements to a little less than full time working. - Job sharing
A full-time workload, if carefully organised, can be shared between two or more people. - Short-term, part-time working
Staff members can voluntarily reduce their working hours for a temporary period usually to enable them to manage caring or other personal commitments for a period up to 12 months. - Part-time hours prior to retirement
A reduction in hours or responsibilities to 'wind down'. - Compressed hours
Employees work their contracted hours over a shorter period than normal practice, eg working nine longer days a fortnight instead of 10 normal days. - Term-time (or part-year) working
Allows employees to work only during term times and have school holidays off. - Unpaid employment break (career breaks)
We are currently offering career breaks to existing staff members on a case-by-case basis. - Annualised hours
A standard number of working hours are set, but can be worked at any time during the year. For example, someone could agree to work 1,045 hours a year instead of 20 hours per week. - Remote working
A broad range of staff groups spend some of their time working at home. This has helped to demonstrate how effective remote working can be and UCLH have recently launched a policy dedicated to promoting flexible and remote working.
- Flexitime
Allows employees to choose (within an agreed limit) their start and finish time as long as the needs of the service can be met and the contractual obligations are being met. - Time off in lieu (TOIL)
Employees may take time off to compensate for any extra hours worked, in agreement with their line manager.
Husband-and-wife team Caroline and Peter Thould, who are both superintendent therapy radiographers at University College Hospital, are among those staff benefiting from a more formal arrangement to flexible working. With two pre-school children (and another baby on the way), splitting childcare and work responsibilities has worked wonders. Caroline works Mondays and Tuesdays planning treatments for patients. Peter delivers the treatments on the following three days. "It works brilliantly for both of us," said Caroline.
"We benefit in other ways too: we can keep in the loop at work with advances in technology, changing techniques and equipment and stay in close touch with all our colleagues."
Peter agreed it offered “the best of both worlds”.
