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Hours, pay and benefits

Hours of work

A flexible working-hours system operates within the Office. The contracted hours of employment for full time staff are 148 during a four week accounting period, which translates into 37 hours per week Monday to Friday. Part time hours are amended accordingly.

The working day is divided into two parts:

  • Core-time within which everyone must be at work unless absence has been authorised in advance
  • Flexible periods at the beginning of the morning, at lunch time and at the end of the afternoon when employees may select their own times for arrival and departure from:

7am - 10:30am - Flexible starting band

10:30am - 11:30am - Core-time

11:30am - 2pm - Flexible lunch period – minimum of 30 minutes to be taken.

2pm - 3pm - Core-time

3pm –7pm - Flexible finishing band

Human Resources will explain the Flexible Working Time procedures in more detail on your first morning. However, please note the following points from our Flexitime Policy.

  • The flexi time system allows employees of the ICO to work more flexible hours by coming into work later, going home earlier or having a longer lunch break than a set pattern of working hours would dictate.
  • This arrangement gives people the potential to strike a better work-life balance, increase personal choice and convenience and, by doing so, improve service delivery.
  • There is, however, a guiding and over-riding principle that this flexibility should be achieved without adverse effect on the overall efficiency of teams, departments or the office as a whole.
  • The ICO’s services must be fully available during our opening hours and so there are some limitations on the degree of flexibility that can be expected. Some posts in the ICO require staff to be available during certain times and it is a pre-requisite of this policy that the operational demands of the organisation must always be met.
  • The success of the flexible working hours scheme requires close co-operation within and between work teams to ensure that arrangements are in place to make sure that the activity of our departments is adequately covered between 9am and 5pm.

Leave

a) Annual Leave

Entitlement to annual leave is 25 days for full time staff and pro-rata to this for part time staff. Your personal holiday year runs from the 1st day of the month in which your birthday falls. Human Resources will calculate your leave entitlement in the first instance and discuss this with you on your first morning.

b) Flexi Leave

Under the flexible working hours arrangements full time staff may accrue flexi leave at a rate of 1.5 days per four week accounting period.  Over 13 flexi periods you may therefore accrue 19.5 days flexi leave (pro rata for part-time staff) and may take up to two days’ flexi leave in any four week flexi period (subject to the 19.5 days maximum over the full 13 accounting periods).

Pay

Salary is payable on or around 25th of the month in which you are paid till the end of the month. Salary is paid into a bank or building society of your choice. On your first morning Human Resources will collect your bank/building society details, P45 and NI number.

Pensions

A pensions options pack will be sent to you at your home address within 6 weeks of your start date.  Having received your pack you should complete the option form and return this to the Human Resources Department, who will forward this to our pension administrators.  If you have any general queries regarding your pension please contact the Human Resources Department, who will be happy to assist you.