LCR21508

The matter before the Court relates to the proposal of the Council to restrict the maximum amount of ‘flexi-leave’ in a year to 2 days. The current scheme allows staff covered by the scheme to accumulate a maximum of 13 days per annum.

The Council acknowledged to the Court that the scheme had been badly managed by the Council in the years since its inception in 2000. Nevertheless the Council maintained that the Chief Executive carries onerous responsibilities to ensure effective use of resources in the context of appropriate public service delivery.

The Council is concerned that staff are attending at the workplace at times when no work is available and accumulating additional hours beyond that which is driven by business needs. That accumulation of hours produces a pattern of ‘flexi-leave’ taking which is not sustainable.

The Trade Union asserted to the Court that it was unaware of the concerns of the Council as regards inefficiency and resource use deriving from the operation of the current flexible working hours scheme.

The Court notes it is common case that, albeit the current scheme allows a maximum of 13 ‘flexi-days’ to be taken in a calendar year, there is no guarantee to any staff member that he or she will be in a position to accumulate hours in that or any amount in order to generate ‘flexi-leave’. Both parties accepted before the Court that the accumulation of hours through the working of hours beyond contract in a ‘scheme accounting period’ is at the discretion of the line manager and subject to business need. It is the working of hours beyond contract in a ‘scheme accounting period’ that generates the opportunity to take ‘flexi-leave’ within the period or to carry over hours which can subsequently be taken as ‘flexi-leave’.

The Court notes that the Chief Executive of the Council has taken the view that the requirement for additional hours working in the Council is such that the quantum of ‘flexi-leave’ which could be generated by an individual would amount to two days per annum. The Court is not in a position to assess the accuracy of the reported view of the Chief Executive from an operational point of view. The Court considers however it is reasonable to conclude, assuming that the Chief Executive’s assessment of the operational needs of the Council is correct, that a line manager would face some difficulty in establishing that a business area required additional working in certain ‘scheme accounting periods’ such that up to 13 days ‘flexi leave’ could be accumulated in a year by individual staff.

The Court notes that the current scheme provides controls as follows:

• ‘It is the line manager’s responsibility to ensure that the scheme is operated in such a way that adequate staffing levels are available during public opening hours to ensure that offices and phones are adequately provided for.

  It is the line manager’s responsibility to ensure that, outside of public opening hours, the operation of the Flexible Working Hours Scheme shall be dependent on necessary work being available’

The Court takes the view that the controls built into the current scheme offer line managers adequate and appropriate control over the working hours and deployment of staff. It is clear that staff can only accumulate working hours such that they can avail of ‘flexi-leave’ in circumstances where their line manager has decided that additional hours working is aligned with the business needs of the Council. The Court notes also that staff attendance outside normal working hours can only take place where approval is given by the line manager.

In those circumstances the Court cannot accept that new universal controls are required in the operation of this scheme. The Court believes that the controls in the current scheme are adequate if operated effectively. Managers are mandated by the current scheme to facilitate additional hours working in a ‘scheme accounting period’ only to the degree required by business needs. The Court is satisfied that, if effectively operated by line managers, the current scheme can be managed to ensure that staff working hours and attendance are aligned closely with the business and operational needs of the Council.

The Court additionally notes that the ‘Haddington Road Agreement’, whose clauses as regards flexible working arrangements in Local Authorities continue to apply, provides as follows:

Flexible Working Arrangements (Flexitime)

• The Parties agree that management has the responsibility and the right to actively manage flexible working arrangements. This will help to build on the work done to date in reviewing and revising work practices to ensure that, in a context of reduced resources and numbers, as well as additional working hours, the Public Service will continue to provide the required level of service to the public and to contribute to economic recovery.

  While the rationale for this flexibility is acknowledged, it is now necessary to update the arrangements to better reflect the current needs of organisations, in the context of falling numbers in the Public Service, changing demands in terms of services to the public and the additional working hours under this Agreement. In this context, it may be necessary to amend the core time bands to reflect the extended hours of working and to meet business needs following local consultations. Flexible Working Arrangements (FWA) are only possible so long as they support and enhance efficient operation. In particular, all areas must always be appropriately staffed during the working-day, including lunch breaks; all arrangements must ensure that this is consistently the case.

• �FWA will continue to be available for staff up to Grade 7 and equivalent.

  �FWA will not apply to staff at SEO and equivalent except for those who already have these arrangements.

  �With effect from 1st July 2014, the maximum amount of flexi leave allowed in any flexi period is one day.

  �No change is proposed to the existing terms with regard to the amount or the use of hours to be carried over.

In any event the Court has been unable to reconcile the terms of the Haddington Road Agreement quoted in the final bullet point above with the proposal of the Council to reduce the number of hours which can be carried over such that flexi leave is restricted to two days per annum from the current 13.

In all of the circumstances therefore the Court recommends that no change take place to the maximum amount of ‘flexi-leave’ which can be availed of in one year by a participating staff member. However, the Court recommends that line management of such staff in the Council receive appropriate training and guidance so as to ensure that the scheme is operated in a manner which reflects the business and operational needs of the Council.

In making this recommendation the Court notes the Trade Union side concern as regards the role of Unit Head in the operation of the scheme. The Court notes that the current scheme controls specify the role of line managers. It is not for the Court, having recommended the retention of current controls, to address the functioning of the normal relationship between line manager and Unit Head in terms of the authorisations given by the Unit Head to a line manager in terms of the exercise of discretion in the operation of the flexible working hours scheme.

The Court so recommends.

Signed on behalf of the Labour Court



Kevin Foley
JD______________________
19 July 2017Chairman



NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to John Deegan, Court Secretary.