Flexible working policy

More and more we are looking for increased flexibility in our working lives. The world of work is changing, and we want to lead the way. Being an inclusive employer that promotes flexible working is important as we continue to build our unbeatable platform of the best people, processes and systems.

Our aim is to create a positive culture towards flexible working and the benefits it brings to colleagues and the organisation. We already offer flexible working arrangements, but we know there’s more we can do. That’s why we’ve signed the ABI’s Making Flexible Work charter to increase flexible working and support more women into senior roles. We ’re committed to working towards the three charter commitments:

  • Making it clear: Publishing details of our flexible working policy so it’s publicly available for colleagues and prospective candidates.
  • Making it possible: Advertising the majority of roles as being open to flexible working, including part-time working (if appropriate) and/or as a job-share.
  • Making it happen: Putting in place processes and guidance to support and promote different forms of flexible working, including job sharing.

Flexible working is a way of working that suits your individual needs, and this includes how, when or where you work. We don’t believe in having restrictions around who can work flexibly or when you can make a request, so everyone who works here can request a change to their working arrangements. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve worked here or how many hours you work. If things change and you need to make another request, talk to your manager to see what can be arranged.

Informal and formal arrangements

If you make a flexible working request, we will strive to find an arrangement that works around your life and meets the needs of the business. To make a request complete the Flexible Working Request form in full and send it to your line manager.

For small changes to your working pattern, such as starting and finishing a bit earlier, or where you just want the change for a short period, we might be able to agree something informally. For permanent or more significant changes, such as reducing or compressing your hours we’ll need to do things more formally.

Flexible working meetings

Sometimes we might need to meet to discuss how the change could work, but not always. If we can agree the change without a meeting, we’ll quickly make that decision and send you a letter to confirm. If we think a meeting is needed, we’ll arrange this and then let you know our decision as soon as possible afterwards. You can bring a work companion to the meeting if you wish.

Dealing with a request

We need to deal with any formal flexible working requests within three months, but we’ll try to do it quicker than this wherever we can. We’ll always aim to find a solution that works for everyone and we’ll only turn down a request for these genuine business reasons:

  • The quality of your or your team’s work would be likely to suffer
  • We wouldn’t be able to recruit an additional team member
  • It would have a negative impact on your or your team’s performance
  • It wouldn’t be possible to reorganise the work amongst the rest of the team
  • It would have a negative impact on the service we provide to our customers
  • There wouldn’t be enough work to do at the times you want to work
  • There’s an organisational change planned which will impact your role or your team
  • There would be additional costs to the business

If we need to turn down a request, we will make sure we clearly explain why in a letter. If you really disagree with us then there will always be the opportunity to appeal the decision. Appeals should be made within 14 days of receiving the decision, and details of how to do this are in the outcome letter.

Trial period

If we agree a flexible working arrangement, it might be useful to have a trial period at first to see how things work out. How long we’ll trial it for will depend on the type of change and we’ll be sure to review it at the end of the trial to agree whether or not it’s meeting everyone’s needs.

Temporary arrangements

We know that sometimes flexible working is only needed for a short time, so temporary arrangements can be agreed if this would work for everyone. We can agree to extend the time if things change.

Working from home

If your flexible working request includes working from home, then we will expect your home environment to be suitable to ensure you meet the expectations of your role and meet our health and safety requirements, information security and technology requirements set out in the hybrid working policy.

Hybrid working

Hybrid working is a mix of office and homeworking, depending on business and team needs. If you need more flexibility around what your team has agreed then you may consider making a request for flexible working.

Impact on pay and benefits

Some flexible working arrangements may have an impact on your pay and benefits, such as salary, pension and holiday entitlement. Any such contractual changes will be outlined in the letter confirming your flexible working arrangement.

Creating a positive flexible working culture

In line with the commitments of the ABI’s Making Flexible Work charter in this policy we’ve made it clear how you can request a flexible working arrangement. We are working on making it possible by developing the range of flexible working options for all roles when advertised. We will make it happen by raising awareness of the benefits of flexible working and empowering conversations around what is possible to meet everyone’s needs.

…together we can Make Flexible Work!