Departmental Staff (Hansard, 29 March 2000)

§ Mr. Wills

The following provisions are made available to departmental staff and employees of executive agencies (the Employment Service) under the control of the Secretary of State for Education and Employment:

(a) Maternity Leave

All employees are entitled to Statutory Maternity Leave of 18 weeks (for women with an expected week of childbirth on or after 30 April 2000. Before this date the entitlement is 14 weeks). Permanent employees are entitled to 52 weeks maternity leave provided they intend to return to work after the birth, are in paid service when the maternity period begins, and agree to refund any Departmental Maternity Pay (see below) if they do not return.

(b) Maternity Pay

All employees are entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) for 18 weeks provided they fulfil the statutory requirements. Permanent employees who fulfil these requirements plus have one year's paid service are entitled to Departmental Maternity Pay (16 weeks at full pay) plus two weeks at SMP.

Men are entitled to five days paid paternity leave which can be taken at or around the birth of the child.

(d) Parental Leave

Entitlement to Parental Leave follows the recently introduced regulations and parents of children born or adopted on or after 15 December 1999 are entitled to 13 weeks unpaid leave in blocks of weeks (limited to four in any year) for up to five years following birth or adoption. Parents of disabled children are entitled to the leave in days rather than weeks and up to the child's 18th birthday.

(e) Flexible Working Hours

Most people work flexi-time but have the option to work a set pattern of hours. Whatever pattern is worked, full-time employees are paid a salary that includes a paid lunch break. The full-time conditioned hours of work are 42 (London pay area 41) hours over a five day week, Monday to Friday (this includes a paid lunch break of one hour a day). The hours of work for people who work part-time will vary and will be agreed with their manager. The hours do not include a paid lunch break but the hourly rate is higher to compensate. Individuals have the right to use the Flexible Working Hours (FWH) scheme if one is operated within their office.

(f) (g) Part-time Work or Job Sharing

Part-time working or job sharing is generally open to anyone (subject to operational needs). All vacant posts are regarded as being open to people who work part-time or job share unless it is specifically stated otherwise in the vacancy notice. However, this is currently under review in the DfEE.

(h) Leave to care for sick children

The Employment Relations Act provides for individuals to apply for emergency leave to deal with events such as dependants being ill. DfEE and ES complies fully with the new and revised regulations.

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(i) Homeworking

In DfEE homeworking is open to all staff. Managers must consider the needs of the individual applying to work from home, including the individual's welfare, the operational needs of the team and environmental issues such as health and safety. As ES is largely a front line organisation, homeworking will be relevant only to a small range of jobs within ES and operational requirements will need to be considered. For the majority of ES employees this flexibility may be considered only for small periods of ad hoc at-home working.

(j) Term Time Contracts

Part year appointments (of which term time is just one option) are open to all employees. Managers should try wherever possible to accommodate individuals' requirements. If however, having assessed all possible options, to do so would leave the office operationally deficient, managers have the right to refuse an application.

(k) Annual Hours Contracts

Annual Hours Contracts are not operated within the DfEE or Employment Service.

(l) Child Care Allowances

Child care subsidies are payable in certain circumstances (although child care allowances as such do not operate within DfEE or Employment Service). Where a business case supports the provision of nursery/playscheme places in a specific location a subsidy may be payable. Additional child care costs are reimbursed where staff have to work longer than their normal hours. DfEE is currently developing its child care policy and looking at ways of extending child care provision. In particular it is working towards improving equity on all four Head Office sites. User-friendly child care information is being developed to assist parents in finding the information they need on child care provision, both within and outside the Department.

(m) Careers Leave

This is not a term the DfEE or ES recognises, how ever, if my hon. Friend means leave to work in other organisations, the DfEE and ES operates loan/secondment/attachment schemes to outside organisations where there will be a possible business benefit to either organisation. If my hon. Friend means leave to pursue further education to enhance career prospects, individuals can apply for special leave to study for qualifications linked to their field of work.

(n) Career Break

A career break allows individuals to take an extended period of leave to cope with domestic responsibilities. This may be to care for young children, elderly or sick relatives. This allows individuals to preserve their career in the DfEE and ES and allows the organisation to retain skills and experience. Career breaks are taken as special unpaid leave and are classed as continuous employment. A career break may be allowed for a minimum of six months up to a maximum of five years. Individuals may take more than one career break or extend a career break, provided the period of absence does not exceed a total of 157W five years. Applicants must have a good attendance record and a "satisfactory" marking on their most recent annual report.