Good practice guidance on managing working patterns
Annex G
- An important aspect of managing the provision of emergency cover outside normal hours is ensuring good management practice and, where necessary, ensuring appropriate protocols are put in place. This should reduce the difficulties arising from the unpredictability within the system.
- Similarly, in line with good working practices, employers should ensure that staff are given adequate time to be made aware of their working patterns, as a guide at least four weeks before they become operational.
- Flexible working arrangements are a key element of the Improving Working Lives Standard and ensuring the effective management of the rostering process can have an impact on unexpected difficulties.
- The Improving Working Lives (IWL) website at: NHS Employers http://www.nhsemployers.org/ includes a good practice database, which details a raft of information and provides examples of how flexible working is used to cover both normal hours and the provision of care outside normal hours. There are comparable initiatives providing similar information in each of the other countries (for example, the PIN Guidelines in NHS Scotland).
- A series of Improving Working Lives toolkits has been produced to provide guidance to both managers and staff covering the whole range of issues within Improving Working Lives, including flexible working. Specific toolkits have also been produced aimed at particular staff groups, for example, Allied Health Professionals and Healthcare Scientists. These documents can be downloaded from the IWL website.