PCS has had reports from many of the sites in the Pensions Directorate that the new breaks policy was not properly implemented from 1st November.  In fact one site only issued guidance to staff that the policy would be introduced from 12th December which is 6 weeks late.
PCS did raise the issue with Directorate management straightaway and have finally been assured by the director that he has not identified any deviation from national policies and procedures and that he agrees that all centres/areas in Pensions Directorate should be adhering to national agreements.
We are issuing the guidance specifically for the Pensions Directorate because there has been at best a slow response to implement DWP policy and we want to ensure that all sites are properly implementing the parts of the new Flexible Working Hours Agreement that apply from 1st November 2016 and are ready to implement the rest of the policy on 6th February 2017.

Breaks

Where there is a difference with how a computer tool is used like GWFM and how Departmental policy should be applied then DWP policy will prevail.  Full time members can chose to their take 30 minute total daily break time as two 15 minute breaks or three 10 minute breaks or six 5 minute breaks.  As it is not possible to record 5 or10 minute breaks on GWFM then DWP policy prevails. Breaks must be taken within working time, not immediately at the start, or immediately before the end of the employee’s working day and not added to the start or end of a lunch break. Breaks of 15 minutes or less for full-time employees must be taken outside of a period defined as a lunch period for that employee’s working pattern.  Normal consideration should apply on teams with members working together so that the break times are staggered and not everyone goes for a break at the same time.
Any member threatened with disciplinary action for following DWP policy should report this to their local union reps immediately.  Any team leader members who are under pressure to not comply with DWP policy should also report this to their local union reps.
Any members who feel they have missed out on being allowed to take breaks they are entitled to should raise this with their local reps who can discuss with management about the solutions to resolve this on sites. Some sites have now awarded flexi credits to members for the lost time.

Part-timers and breaks

All part-timers have the right to paid breaks regardless of the fact that this is not entered on GWFM – the amount they are entitled to depends on their working hours and accrues at the rate of 5 minutes for each hour of the member’s daily working hours up to a total of 30 minutes daily.  So for example if a part-timer works 4 hours a day they are entitled to total daily paid breaks of 20 minutes.  If a part-timer works 6 hours or more a day they are entitled to total daily breaks of 30 minutes.
Part-timers can also take a 15 minute break during a lunch time period if they so wish which allows them to space their breaks within their working day.

Adherence

Previous discussions with PD management have confirmed that it would be poor customer service to rush to end a call simply to comply with the break start time on GWFM.  The nature of telephony work means that it is impossible to predict exactly how long a call will last so the priority should be to provide a good service to the public and complete calls properly.  There should also be no pressure on our members who finish a call before their break time to go into after call work simply to kill time so that they go on their breaks exactly on time.  
Clearly no part-timer who takes the break time, they are entitled to, can be adherent as no break time is recorded on GWFM nor any member who chooses to take their breaks in 5 or10 minute slots.

Anyone with adherence targets in their KWOs should raise this with their local union reps to discuss with site management as no members should be penalised for something that is impossible to achieve.   

In addition from 6th February the rest of the DWP Flexible Working Hours Agreement comes into effect where members are only fixing one end of their day – so no-one will be “adherent” which additionally means that KWOs on adherence are becoming irrelevant. At the non fixed end of the day then consent will be assumed for our members to decide their own start or end time. The objective of the flexi policy is to provide everyone with reasonable personal freedom to decide their non-fixed arrival or departure times. Members will not need to seek permission for this they can assume they have line management consent and standing permission to decide their non-fixed start or end time.

As long as there is work available – which is not a problem in this directorate then members should have no problem starting before their fixed start time or finishing after their fixed end time. The tentpole is just a time that you have committed to be in the office not you actual start time.  So this should also mean the end of members being hauled up for “positive adherence” as well.

Religious observance

All members are now covered by the procedures on religious observance in the Flexible working hours procedures.

11. Religious observance – Time away from the workstation for religious observance may also be required by some employees. This should be agreed with their manager, taking both the employee’s and business needs into account. It remains at the discretion of managers to plan the additional time for prayers/religious observance but managers should try to be flexible about when these breaks are taken. Individuals should be reasonable with their requests and take into consideration both their manager’s and business requirements and also their colleagues when requesting flexibility around rest breaks

Personal Business

There is a now consistent approach to allowing flexi credits for members who are only able to arrange a medical appointment within their working hours.
8.Personal business – Employees should always try to make medical appointments, including dental appointments, outside of working hours but this is not always possible. If an appointment has to be in working hours, managers should allow a flexi credit.

Training Credits

There is now a consistent approach to flexi credits for members doing training courses.
12. Training –The intention is to support employees who need to focus on their classroom training event without the distraction of normal day to day business. Such training events cover most of the working day but do not normally last for the full working day. On such occasions a full day’s flexi credit shall be awarded for the employee’s normal contracted hours. Where a training event lasts longer than the employee’s normal contracted hours, for example for an employee who normally works a 5-hour day, a flexi credit covering the actual number of hours of the training event should be given but when the agreed hours of part-time working are increased for training, the employee may opt for their pay to be adjusted accordingly in line with the Travelling Time policy. An employee working compressed hours will be awarded a credit equivalent to their compressed hours for that day.

Interruptions

Not everything is counted as part of members’ paid break time. There are a number of essential activities that are classified as interruptions that are clearly defined in the advice section. Any attempts to monitor or micro-manage individual member’s times for these essential activities should be reported immediately to your local union reps.  

Q25 Does any time not spent working count as a break?

No. Short, ad-hoc paid interruptions to work, for example, for the toilet, medication, to quickly get a drink, will additionally take place in normal working time but do not constitute paid breaks in this context.
Smoking
Smokers should use their break time to smoke.

Q26 Do smokers get extra break time?

No. Employees who wish to smoke should do so during breaks that are available to all. Any additional smoking breaks must be taken in the employee’s own time.

Flexi Credit and Deficit from 6th Feb 2017

The remainder of the DWP FWHA comes into effect from the 6th February 2017.  From this date the maximum flexi credit that you can carry over from one accounting period to the next is four days. The maximum flexi deficit that you can carry over is three days. All these limits are pro rata for part-time employees. Until 6 February 2017, the limits in any local flexi agreement will continue to apply.