An
East Lancashire council is introducing a package of flexible benefits to help
retain staff and extend its hours of operation.
Over
the next four months, Pendle Council will implement a range of changes to the
way its 650 staff work, in an attempt to boost work-life balance.
Steve
Traynor, the council’s personnel manager, explained the changes will include an
extended flexi-time scheme, compressed weeks, term-time only hours and job
sharing.
“Our
staff voted overwhelmingly for more flexibility in a recent staff survey and
this will help us retain our employees. There are new challenges facing us in
local government and it is clear that the standard nine-to-five working pattern
is now less relevant,” he said.
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The
new measures will make the council more flexible by covering more hours and
responding to demand for services beyond usual office hours.
The changes also include new arrangements for working from
home, leave for paternity, adoption or fertility treatment and career breaks.
