Flexible Working Policy
S75 Equality And Good Relations Screening Form
| General Information |
| Service/ Function ☐ |
Policy/ Procedure ☒ |
Project ☐ |
Strategy ☐ |
Plan ☐ |
Guidance ☐ |
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Is this an existing, revised or a new function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance? Existing ☐ Revised ☐ New ☒ |
| Operational Area | Organisation Wide |
| Title | Flexible Working Policy |
| Brief Summary
Under provisions set out in the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 and regulations made under it, all employees have a statutory right to ask their employer for a change to their contractual terms and conditions of employment to work flexibly. The statutory right is a ‘right to request’ and not a right to be granted flexible working. The employee must have worked for their employer for 26 weeks continuously at the date the application is made and they can only make one statutory request in any 12 month period. |
| What is it trying to achieve? (intended aims and outcomes) The general principle of the policy is enable eligible employees to make an application for flexible and agile working. The right to apply for flexible working is designed to meet the needs of both employees and employers. The Policy aims to facilitate discussion and encourage both the employee and the employer to consider flexible working patterns and to find a solution that suits them both. The employee has a responsibility to think carefully about their desired working pattern when making an application, and the Council is required to follow a specific procedure to ensure requests are carefully considered. |
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Who owns and who implements each element of the function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance? The Director is responsible for:
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Other policies etc. which have a bearing on this function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance? |
| Available Evidence Evidence to help inform the screening process may take many forms. Public authorities should ensure that their screening decision is informed by relevant data. What evidence/information (both qualitative and quantitative have you gathered to inform this function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance? Specify details for relevant Section 75 categories. |
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| Section 75 Category | Details of Evidence/Information |
| Religious Beliefs |
n/a |
| Political Opinion |
n/a |
| Racial Group |
n/a |
| Age |
This policy will apply to all staff. 97% of CCGBC’s staff are aged 30 and over, with 49% of staff aged 30 – 50 years old, and 48% of staff are over the age of 50. |
| Marital Status |
n/a |
| Sexual Orientation |
n/a |
| Men and Women Generally |
This policy will apply to all staff, 42% of staff are female, and 58% of staff of male. Evidence would suggest that women are more likely to be the primary carer, and are therefore more likely to request changes to working arrangements. |
| Dependants |
n/a |
| Disability |
Reasonable adjustments will be considered where appropriate and in line with advise from Occupational Health. 2% of Council staff have confirmed they have a disability, upon entry to the organisation. |
| Screening Questions 1. What is the likely impact on equality of opportunity for those affected by this function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance? |
| Section 75 Category | Positive impact |
Neutral | Negative impact |
Reason | |
| Gender | Women | ☐ | ☒ | Major ☐ Minor ☐ |
Agreed Policy which will be applied consistently across the organisation |
| Men | ☐ | ☒ | Major ☐ Minor ☐ |
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| Transgender men/women | ☐ | ☒ | Major ☐ Minor ☐ |
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| Other please specify | ☐ | ☐ | Major ☐ Minor ☐ |
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| Race (As used in the 2011 census) |
Asian | ☐ | ☒ | Major ☐ Minor ☐ |
Agreed Policy which will be applied consistently across the organisation |
| Black | ☐ | ☒ | Major ☐ Minor ☐ |
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| Chinese | ☐ | ☒ | Major ☐ Minor ☐ |
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| Mixed race White |
☐ | ☒ | Major ☐ Minor ☐ |
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| Other please specify | ☐ | ☐ | Major ☐ Minor ☐ |
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| Disability | Long term health impairment could include mental health problems, asthma, heart conditions, chronic fatigue etc. | ☐ | ☒ | Major ☐ Minor ☐ |
Agreed Policy which will be applied consistently across the organisation |
| Sexual orientation | Heterosexual, lesbian, gay men, bisexual, others | ☐ | ☒ | Major ☐ Minor ☐ |
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| Age | Older People | ☐ | ☒ | Major ☐ Minor ☐ |
Agreed Policy which will be applied consistently across the organisation |
| Younger people and children | ☐ | ☒ | Major ☐ Minor ☐ |
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| Political Opinion | ☐ | ☒ | Major ☐ Minor ☐ |
Agreed Policy which will be applied consistently across the organisation | |
| Religious Belief | ☐ | ☒ | Major ☐ Minor ☐ |
Agreed Policy which will be applied consistently across the organisation | |
| Marital Status | ☐ | ☒ | Major ☐ Minor ☐ |
Agreed Policy which will be applied consistently across the organisation | |
| Dependants | ☐ | ☒ | Major ☐ Minor ☐ |
Agreed Policy which will be applied consistently across the organisation |
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| Screening Questions 2. Are there opportunities to better promote equality of opportunity for people within any of the Section 75 categories? |
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| Section 75 Category | If Yes, provide details | If No, provide details | ||
| Gender | Women | No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified. | ||
| Men | ||||
| Transgender men/women | ||||
| Other please specify | ||||
| Race As used in the 2011 census. |
Asian | No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified. | ||
| Black | ||||
| Chinese | ||||
| Mixed race White | ||||
| Other please specify | ||||
| Disability | Long term health impairment could include mental health problems, asthma, heart conditions, chronic fatigue etc. | No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified. | ||
| Sexual orientation | Heterosexual, lesbian, gay men, bisexual, others |
No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified. |
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| Age | Older People, Younger people and children |
No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified. | ||
| Political Opinion | No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified. | |||
| Religious Belief | No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified. | |||
| Marital Status | No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified. | |||
| Dependants | No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified. | |||
| Screening Questions 3. To what extent is the policy likely to impact on good relations between people of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group? |
| Section 75 Category | Details of policy impact | Level of impact major/minor/none |
| Religious Belief | n/a | The policy does not impact on people of different religious belief. |
| Political Opinion | n/a | The policy does not impact on people of different political opinion. |
| Racial Group | n/a | The policy does not on people of different racial groupings |
| Screening Questions 4. Are there opportunities to better promote good relations between people of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group? |
| Section 75 Category | If Yes, provide details | If No, provide details |
| Religious Belief | No specific opportunity to better promote good relations for people of different religious belief. | |
| Political Opinion |
No specific opportunity to better promote good relations for people of different political opinion. |
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| Racial Group | No specific opportunity to better promote good relations for people of different racial groups. |
| Additional Considerations | |
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Generally speaking people can fall into more than one Section 75 category. Taking this into consideration, are there any potential impacts of the function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance on people with multiple identities? (For example: disabled minority ethnic people, disabled women, young Protestant men, young lesbians, gay and bisexual people.) No |
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| Provide details of data on the impact of the function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance on people with multiple identities. Specify the relevant Section 75 categories concerned. | |
| N/A | |
| Disability Considerations Is there an opportunity to better promote positive attitudes towards disabled people by altering this function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance? ☐ Yes ☒ No |
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| If yes, please give further information and examples: |
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| Is there an opportunity to encourage participation by disabled people in public life by altering this function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance? ☐ Yes ☒ No |
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| Please give further information and examples: |
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Screening Decision
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If the decision is not to conduct an equality impact assessment (i.e. likely impact = None), please provide details of the reasons for this: The policy is aimed at ensuring all employees receive consistent and fair treatment when they make a flexible working request to help them meet their caring responsibilities. Through the process of developing the policy and the screening process we have not identified any significant issues that require further consideration. |
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| Mitigation | |
| When the Council concludes that the likely impact is ‘Minor’ and an equality impact assessment is not to be conducted, the Council may consider mitigation to lessen the severity of any equality impact, or the introduction of an alternative policy to better promote equality of opportunity or good relations. Can the policy/decision be amended or changed or an alternative policy introduced to better promote equality of opportunity and/or good relations? ☐ Yes ☐ No |
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If YES, give the reasons to support your decision, together with the proposed changes/amendments or alternative policy:
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| Timetabling And Prioritising | |
| If the policy/decision has been ‘screened in’ for equality impact assessment, then please answer the following questions to determine its priority for timetabling the equality impact assessment. On a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 being the lowest priority and 3 the highest, assess the policy in terms of its priority for equality impact assessment. |
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| Priority Criterion | Rating (1 to 3) |
| Effect on equality of opportunity and good relations | N/A |
| Social Need | N/A |
| Effect on people’s daily lives | N/A |
| Relevance to the Council’s functions | N/A |
| Monitoring | |
| Please outline proposals for future monitoring of the policy/decision: The Council will keep this Policy under review as required and may make any changes in line with legislation, and in consultation with trade unions. |
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| Approval And Authorisation | |
| Screened By Position/Job Title Date | Date |
| HR Business Partner Org Development | 9 September 2020 |
| Approved By Position/Job Title Date | |
| Director of Corporate Services | 29 October 2020 |