Mrs J McBride had worked for Capita Customer Management Services since 1999 and was a well-respected and long-standing employee. In September 2018 she submitted a statutory flexible working request to her line manager as she needed to spend more time caring for her two children. Her manager, Mr Lovell, had refused the request but instead offered the possibility of a job share arrangement and on 2nd November confirmed that Mrs McBride was to be employed on a permanent part-time basis.
By December 2018, it was made evident that the job share arrangement was breaking down and that Mr Lovell had been providing both her and her partner employee individual responsibilities that were not related to a common project or work stream. Unbeknown to Mrs McBride, the organisation was experiencing a complete restructure and Mr Lovell needed to address the operations and makeup of his team in order to fulfil new requirements and initiatives.
On 30 April 2018, Mrs McBride was informed of the restructure and that all new roles would be full time only. Her view was that the arrangement of a job share had not been fully tested before it had been deemed inadequate and did not feel the reasons provided by management for not considering part-time roles had been unfair and unjust.
A formal notice of redundancy was issued on 15 June 2019 which Mrs McBride appealed against, but the decision to go forward with her redundancy was upheld on 16 July. She served her notice period and her employment was terminated on 6 September. She brought claims of unfair dismissal and indirect sex discrimination to the Employment Tribunal on 28 November and won her claim.
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Job sharing is becoming an increasingly popular option for employees who need to opt for flexible working hours. This could be due to several different reasons such as childcare, health, and additional family commitments to name but a few. Although this arrangement was deemed unsuccessful by the management of Capita, many businesses find this method of flexible working highly beneficial. To avoid further cases as shown above, think and plan meticulously if this is an option you wish to explore.
Making it Work:
Choose the right sharing
partner
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could
pick who we shared our workload with? If you do have a say in the matter, make
sure that you opt for someone with whom you can collaborate and communicate
with. Perhaps most importantly, you must also bear in mind that you should be
able to oppose this person without causing offence, so that you can effectively
problem solve and find solutions successfully and without upset. Do not seek to share with your office bestie
if they do not have complementary skills and experience. This will do you and
the business no good in the long run.
Plan how you will share the workload
This may seem like a tedious task, but ensuring you are strict with how work is shared between both parties will ultimately deem this arrangement as a success or failure. It is important to do this to ensure work is not duplicated or missed altogether! Some people split workload by project and take responsibility for certain tasks. Others may share the same workload and simply divide up the days. Usually, the decision made will depend on the nature of your job role and the skills you and your partner have in order to complete each task to the best standard.
Communication is KEY!
For a job-sharing arrangement to work effectively, both partners must communicate regularly, seeking information from each other, either face to face, via Facetime or Telephone. Make sure you use this time to decide on task priorities, share issues, key information and to hand over any work if necessary. The nature of these conversations must be very explicit. Do not leave any stone unturned!
Make sure management and colleagues are ‘onboard’
It is vital to keep management and your boss well-informed for such an arrangement to work effectively. Ask your Line Manager for regular feedback and ensure your partner is doing the same so that you gain a good overview of your progress as a collective. Make sure that you keep your Line Manager and colleagues informed about how work is being co-ordinated to prevent confusion and frustration. This gives all parties involved a sense of confidence about such arrangements. Indeed, it’s not only your Line Manager and colleagues who need to be informed, but clients and vendors too, so that they know who to contact and when they can expect a response. The key is to make sure it’s a seamless experience for everyone around you.
Give it time
Good things take time and once you have an
arrangement that works for you, your partner and your Line Manager, give it a
go! Set a trial period and experiment with how you will split the work and
communicate. Amend as necessary and give the process a bit of time. No matter
how long you’ve been sharing a job, it’s a good idea to continually reassess
and adjust based on what’s working for each of you, your Line Manager, and the
organisation.
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If you need help to put a plan in place for a job share agreement, or to look at different flexible working options within your team, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01625 428926 or enquiries@sitrusconsulting.com
