Flexible Working In The MPS

Report: 8
Date: 16 September 2004
By: Commissioner

Summary

As requested by this Committee, this report is intended to summarise the history of flexible working in the MPS, the types of flexible working and strategy for implementing a flexible work culture across the organisation. It also covers the relationship with Police Negotiating Board arrangements, monitoring arrangements and the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ of flexible working as well as the future milestones in implementing the strategy.

A. Recommendation

Members note the report and agree that a further report on progress with this project comes back to the Committee in January 2005.

B. Supporting information

The history and variety of flexible working in the MPS

1. This MPS Flexible Working Policy offers the widest range of flexible working patterns ever available to MPS police officers and police staff. It starts from the default that all roles are appropriate for some form of flexible working unless there is a compelling business case to the contrary. It provides the right to request flexible working and requires such requests to be formally considered and responded to by line managers. There is also an appeal provision. The HR Directorate and DOIT have embarked on a project to further embed flexible working into the MPS.

2. Flexible working opportunities have been in place for police staff since 1990 and police officers since the mid 1990s. On 21 April 2004, the latest version of the MPS Flexible Working Policy was published. The policy states that any form of flexible working will be considered. It offers the following patterns as a guide to aid both the officer and manager in identifying the most suitable kind of flexible working.

• Annualised hours
• Compressed hours
• Flexi-time (for police staff only)
• Job-share
• Part time working
• Term time working
• Working from home

3. Most of the flexible working arrangements are managed locally and corporate data is not currently available on the precise numbers involved apart from officers and staff working part-time. At the end of July, 912 police officers and 1631 police staff (including PCSOs and traffic wardens) were working part-time. In addition, many police staff utilise the flexi-time facility and adjustments to shift patterns are made locally to accommodate the needs of individuals. The MetHR system has been expanded to provide for the recording of all types of flexible working, which will provide data in the future. A dip sample carried out in May this year revealed that, in addition to the officers and staff working part-time, around 310 officers and staff were working other forms of flexible working.

4. Police officer recruits are required to attend the initial training course full time. Whilst completing the course officers can request flexible working with the BOCU that they will be posted to. Under Police Regulations, probationary constables have to work an average of twenty-four hours per week (1248 hours per year). For police staff any requests for flexible working will be considered at any stage of the recruitment process. Standard requirement literature does refer to the opportunity to work part-time .

The rationale for the current strategy

5. A number of factors both internal and external to the MPS influenced the current policy.

a. Internal influences

6. HR best practice suggests that the widest range of flexible working patterns should be offered to all workers within an organisation. For example, this was supported by research conducted by the Home Office and Working Families (formerly called Parents at Work), a specialist charity that campaigns on behalf of working parents.

7. In line with other police forces, the MPS was concerned about recruiting and retaining women particularly police officers with the Service. PNB circulars had facilitated part time working and job-sharing but it was felt that more could be done to reflect best practice. Some of this best practice was already being adopted by the MPS on an informal and “ad hoc” basis. It was considered timely for this to be incorporated into the flexible working policy. This approach was endorsed by the fact that exit surveys show both disruption to family life and childcare commitments to be contributory factors to staff attrition.

8. The MPS recognises that flexible working practices form part of a progressive employment package especially for women and can contribute to the management of potential disproportionality. The challenge is to manage the implementation of flexible working across the MPS and to align as closely as possible the needs of the business with the aspirations of staff. This may not always be possible but should be achievable in many instances.

b. External factors

9. The process for applying for flexible working and for that request to be seriously considered is based on the Employment Act 2002. The reasons for rejection are also those contained within the Act. It was recognised by Working Families amongst other influential bodies that this reflected best practice. In addition, the Police Negotiating Board Advisory Circulars 98/12, 98/13 and 02/4 provided for police officers to work part time and to job-share. These have been implemented by the MPS.

10. The Employment Act 2002 (which came into force April 2003) gave some police staff the right to request flexible working and for that request to be seriously considered. In summary these groups are: -

• A parent, adoptive parent, guardian or foster carer of a child under six years or a disabled child under the age of eighteen.
• Those that have worked for the MPS for at least twenty-six weeks.
• Staff that request it for the purpose of caring for a child.

The Act outlined a process for applying for flexible working. It also identified business reasons for rejecting a request.

Management of the policy

11. The flexible working policy is devolved to local management. The line manager, HR manager, OCU commander/head of branch and the applicant all have responsibilities. The writing, revision and monitoring of the policy are the responsibility of the HR Directorate.

12. The OCU commander or head of branch deals with appeals against management decisions. The HR Directorate have been involved on an ad hoc basis with specific cases where appeals have been unsuccessful or there has been an alleged breach of process. It is currently being considered whether the HR Directorate should be the final appeal on all cases where flexible working is rejected.

Flexible working and PNB agreements

13. The MPS flexible working policy fully embraces the PNB agreements. Indeed, it offers a wider range of flexible working patterns than those stated in the agreements.

14. In terms of workforce deployment the MPS allows OCUs to identify the roster that best meets its’ needs. This is done in consultation with the Police Federation and the recognised Unions. Both management and staff develop rosters. They consider the operational needs and balance this against what is acceptable to work, taking into account Police Regulations, and in the case of police staff, terms and conditions and employment law.

15. A number of the rosters have increased the hours at work on a particular day in order to maximise the number of days off work (compressed shifts). Unlike the Fire Service where secondary employment is common, there is not a general perception that this has led to an increase in business interests. It is worth noting that many police officers particularly live some considerable distance from where they work and the opportunity to reduce commuting time is often seen as a key benefit to compressed working. There are potential limits on working in second jobs in respect of Health and Safety and the Working Time Regulations. Officers and staff are aware informed that they must inform the MPS of secondary employment. This point will be re-iterated in October/November when the new Home Office guidance on business interests is published.

Marketing of the policy

16. The manager’s guidance was published on the AskHR intranet site, which is available to a majority of police officers and police staff. Before publication, HR managers and other key stakeholders were sent an advanced copy of the policy. A number of events have also taken place to promote flexible working. This has included HR Policy staff leading workshops at Gender Agenda events and Career Break open days. Members of the HR Policy Unit also give advice regularly to HR Managers, line managers, officers and staff.

17. It is recognised that marketing and implementing the flexible working policy effectively and fairly is a challenge for the MPS and this was highlighted during the Morris Inquiry. A joint HR and DOIT project has been established and work is underway in conjunction with the MPS media advisors, TMP Worldwide to produce high quality materials for managers and staff covering flexible working issues. This will include a toolkit to assess the suitability of posts for different types of flexible working. It is intended that this will be marketed service wide and work is currently being carried out to develop a communication programme.

Implementation

18. Monitoring measures have been put in place on MetHR (the corporate HR data system) to include the following: -

• Date of the request for flexible working.
• Request is accepted or rejected.
• Type of flexible working pattern.
• Review date.

19. Reports from the system can include the above date and combined with the following: -

• Personal details held on MetHR to identify any disproportionality.
• Location and post.

20. Work is being carried out to capture data on flexible working through MetHR as part of a wider data capture project. However, an example of a limited report from MetHR on flexible working is attached at Appendix 1.

21. Additionally, the HR Evaluation Unit will assess effectiveness of the policy and implementation in due course. However, this will not be done until the new marketing campaign has had an opportunity to impact on the organisation.

The ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ of increased flexible working

22. Potentially, the following benefits are achievable through flexible working:

• Improved recruitment and retention.
• The ability to recruit from a wider geographical area and demographic groups.
• Enhanced strategic planning and potential to align staffing to demand.
• Increased productivity.
• Reduced absence rates.
• Greater commitment and motivation.
• Recognition as an employer of choice.
• Improved employee relations.

23. Managers cite the following issues as 'overheads' of flexible working:

• Problems in aligning flexible work patterns with business demand (In particular for police officers where the need to re-roster/cancel rest days to suit operational requirements may arise.
• Dealing with applications and appeals – many managers expect significant challenges to any refusal to allow flexible working to arise.
• Potential fairness issues.
• A feeling that there is an extra burden on other staff.
• Supervising and managing staff with different work patterns.

Organisational issues arising from flexible working

a. Culture

24. The recent report commissioned by Development and Organisation Improvement Team (DOIT) recognised that the MPS is doing a lot for part-time officers and staff.

25 The DOIT report recognised that the MPS is changing its organisational culture. It is attempting to move towards a flexible working culture. However, this is a substantial change and requires different behaviour to be displayed by some managers, officers and staff. The report went on to note that many men would like to take up flexible working but felt the current culture restrained them.

26. The DOIT report, supported by the recent childcare survey found that the implementation of flexible working varied. If the line manager had a positive attitude, this made all the difference. However, managers often saw flexible working as a problem rather than an opportunity. It is this issue the current marketing and change project seeks to address.

b. The retention of women.

27. The MPA Policy and Performance Review 03/04 set a target for women of 25% of new recruits. In 2004, this target was achieved and it is now imperative that flexible working plays a part in retaining these women within the Service.

c. Meeting the challenges

28. The HR and DOIT are working in partnership on an initiative to help embed the flexible working policy and that there is uniformity of application. They have commissioned TMP Worldwide to assist with the process. A draft toolkit has been designed to help identify roles that are not suitable for flexible working. This is expected to be a minority of posts the overwhelming statement to the Service will be positive. The draft version has already been used. Early indications are that a high percentage of posts are available for some kind of flexible working. It is worth noting that in the opportunity for flexible working is reduced or very exceptionally may not exist at some locations. However, the default is that all posts are available for some form of flexible working under justified criteria.

29. The benefits of flexible working and the process surrounding it are also going to be addressed to line managers, officers and staff. This is likely to include printed booklets one for managers the other for officers and staff. Other marketing material may also be commissioned. It is also proposed that there will be a sustained targeting of key stakeholders such as OCU commanders, Head of Units and HR Managers using their existing meetings.

30. To further assist with the cultural change it is proposed that part of line management training includes managing flexible working. This has already been included in the re-design of the Detective Inspector training course.

31. The Workforce Deployment Unit (WDU), part of the HR Directorate coordinate posts that are suitable for part-time working. When an officer particularly cannot be accommodated on their existing OCU the WDU assists in locating a new post. The WDU have been particularly beneficial in identifying job share partners. The WDU are likely to increase this part of their role as early use of the toolkit has identified that a majority of posts can accommodate this type of working.

Recommendations

32 That the MPA HR Committee note the contents of this report and agree to review the progress with flexible working issues in three months time. By this time, the marketing strategy will have been developed and launched. Additionally, a study commissioned by the Home Office and carried out by Accenture on rostering and flexible working (which includes the MPS) will be completed.

C. Race and equality impact

1. The policy is likely to have a positive impact on part time workers as it provides for more flexible working patterns, many of which are part time. At present a majority of part time workers in the MPS are women it will potentially impact more on women than men.

2. The MPS in response to the Race Relations Amendment Act and the forthcoming Freedom of Information Act has established a process for reviewing all policies to ensure that they were compliant. This process is coordinated and regulated by the Policy Clearing House (PCH). This instigated a complete review and rationalisation of HR Policies including the flexible working policy which has passed this audit.

3. A race equality review and full diversity audit of flexible working polices were carried out by the MPS Diversity Directorate. Their assessment is that there is no evidence to suggest that any aspect directly or indirectly discriminated against any racial group, or on the grounds of gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion or belief, or part time workers.

D. Financial implications

a. Retention

1. Each officer retained by flexible working arrangements with more than five years service saves a minimum of £23,000 . This sum does not take into account the impact of loss of experience on the quality of service. It provides according to the author of the report a modest estimate of the recruitment, probationer and on-going training for an operational officer.

b. Indicative headcount

2. It has been stated by a number of managers that an increase in flexible working could result in a requirement to increase the indicative headcount. This is based on a number of assumptions firstly that flexible working patterns are unlikely to exactly match demand. Secondly that units are currently working above capacity and require overtime. It is felt that flexible workers are less likely to be able or willing to do additional hours.

3. At this stage, it is difficult to quantify these costs, as further data is needed on flexible working patterns.

c. Overtime

4. With better planning of resources against work demands it is theoretically possible to reduce overtime payments. However, this relies on there being peaks and troughs in work demand. The troughs need to be sufficiently marked to create a surplus of labour over work demand. This does not tend to be the case in the MPS.

5. If the number of officers and uniform staff working any kind of reduced hours pattern significantly increased this would have cost implications in the provision of uniform and other personal issue items as well as payroll costs.

d. Job sharing

6. It is common to have a handover day as part of a job share. This results in a six-day week rather than five. At present, these additional working hours are absorbed as part of the budgeted workforce target (BWT) for the OCU or Unit. If job sharing was to substantially increase this could have budget implications. Payroll costs, uniform and other personal issues items and mandatory training are doubled. It is too early to project these costs.

 Cost of recruiting a police officer.

7. The cost of recruiting a police officer is approximately £6.500 per candidate, from recruitment up to the point they enter training school and the recruitment process ends. This takes account the present, marketing and advertising campaigns. Clearly if there was a substantial increase in the number of individuals employed this would impact on the recruitment budget.

E. Background papers

MPS Flexible Working Policy

F. Contact details

Report author: Paul Madge Acting Director HR Services, Simon Hockley Acting Head of HR Policy.

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

Appendix 1

Early Feedback From Met HR On Flexible Working

A report was run on Met HR that provided the following data. It should be noted that not all HR Units have completed entries and therefore this enquiry is illustrative only. This data should be treated like survey data indicating trends rather than precise figures.

91 units are recorded as having some kind of flexible working. There are 582 entries. These are 300 police officers, 273 police staff and 9 PCSOs. Senior police officers and staff are shown in the table below.

Breakdown By Flexible Working Pattern

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback