Flexible working commitment

NCAS wishes to enable staff to contribute to NCAS in ways that meet both the needs of the organisation and those of the individual. This commitment aims to encompass the NCAS values of: integrity, fairness, agility, innovation and excellence.

The pandemic heightened the need for NCAS to advocate a sensible and sustainable work-life balance, including quality contact with colleagues. Lessons learned during the pandemic have informed this updated guidance document.

This commitment covers all NCAS staff named in the NCAS collaboration agreements between the University of Leeds and other employers, and all NCAS staff employed by the University of Leeds with open or fixed NCAS funding commitments. The principles described below are not intended to override any policies from host institutions.

Flexible working is key to achieving balance and may look very different from role to role. For the purposes of this document, flexible working is defined as any type of working arrangement that gives some degree of flexibility on how long, where and when a member of staff works. This flexible approach will vary from the ’traditional’ 9-5, office only arrangement.

These definitions are adapted from the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) example of flexible working policies, taking account of the structure of NCAS with multiple employers and a very wide range of staff roles. 

Flexible working is any type of working arrangement that gives some degree of flexibility on how long, where and when an employee works. 

The following flexible working options are considered to be the typical arrangements that staff may request but NCAS recognises that there may be alternatives or a combination of options which are suitable to both NCAS and staff: 

Please note that there is not an automatic entitlement to overtime or time off in lieu of additional hours worked.

At NCAS we have a wide range of research, academic, support, technical, professional, and managerial roles and our approach to flexible working needs to take account of those different contexts, including the need to travel  both domestically & internationally, work in remote locations, work longer hours at times and avoid lone working where it would be unsafe. 

The health and safety of staff should be a key consideration in agreeing flexible working arrangements for individuals and teams. It is important for managers and their staff to plan appropriate rest days, breaks or overtime payments commensurate to their role/grade, and to meet any reasonable adjustments. 
Guidance is available from the People Team and your local HR teams to support these conversations.

All staff have an automatic legal right to request flexible working, from day one of employment. This request must be considered but there is no entitlement to approval. 

Flexible working arrangements can be informal or formal, short or longer term. Some arrangements may require employer approval and/or an amendment to an employment contract. 

Other arrangements may be informal and simply require an agreement between the member of staff and their NCAS Manager and institutional line manager (if this is different to their NCAS Manager). 

For all informal requests, it is recommended that arrangements are confirmed in writing by the NCAS line Manager and are reviewed at regular intervals.

For all formal requests, staff are asked to discuss options and agree a way forward with their NCAS Manager prior to making an application to their employer.

NCAS will look to facilitate flexible working and will work closely with staff to explore options and solutions. The approach will differ from role to role and with individual needs, in order to ensure equity. 

However, requests may be declined if the arrangement is likely to have an unmanageable impact on our ability to deliver the NCAS strategy, National Capability commissioned or other contracted work. For example, a request from someone holding a technical lab based role to work full time from home is unlikely to be supported. Under these circumstances we would work to achieve an alternative solution where possible.

There will be times when approved requests need to be suspended, for example during sickness in the wider team. 

In cases where a formal application to the host university/employer is required, NCAS will actively support the application process as long as business needs and individual needs can be met. Examples of support may include: 

Flexible working requests challenge us to think creatively about the way we work and the support we offer to our workforce. It is a key part of our drive to continually improve the work environment and attract the best staff.