Creating well managed, flexible working environments that support staff, promote their welfare and development and respect their need to manage a healthy and productive balance between their work and their life outside work

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1. INTRODUCTION

This guide is applicable to all staff employed by Good Hope Hospital . It is designed to help staff to understand what the Trust can offer to staff to support them during their time at work and what the Trust is doing to bring forward improvements within the workplace.

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The guide aims to:

�� outline what Improving Working Lives (IWL) is about

�� provide information about initiatives in place to improve working lives

�� explain how staff can access these initiatives

�� explain how staff can put forward ideas improvement

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All policies referred to in this guide can be accessed via your manager, the Trust's info-net site or the Human Resources Department.

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2. WHAT IS IMPROVING WORKING LIVES ABOUT

It is recognised that a modern NHS must offer staff a better deal in their working lives in order to aid the recruitment and retention of staff. It is also recognised that a well motivated, fairly rewarded workforce will lead to improved patient care.

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IWL sets a model of good employment practice against which staff can measure their organisations commitment to creating a working environment conducive to balancing life inside and outside of work. It incorporates 7 key areas at Practice Plus Level, these are:

�� Human Resources Strategy and Management

�� Equality & Diversity

�� Training & Development

�� Healthy Working

�� Flexible Working

�� Communications and Staff Involvement

�� Flexible Retirement, Childcare and Support for Carers

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Good Hope Hospital has achieved Practice Standard and is now working towards achievement of Practice Plus, in September 2005.

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3. TRUST VALUES, STRATEGIC DIRECTION AND

HUMAN RESOURCES STRATEGY

The Trust has developed its values and strategic direction, one of these is to become the employer of choice and the IWL initiative supports this by helping to create a working environment that staff wish to work within. The HR Strategy supports the local vision as well as the national targets for Human Resources Management. Copies of these documents are available from the HR Department.

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4. WORK LIFE BALANCE

Good Hope has a strong commitment to assisting employees to achieve a better work life balance and there are a number of policies and initiatives in place designed to support this.

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Leave Policies

Annual Leave, Parental Leave, Special Leave and Emergency Leave

Outlines the provision of all types of leave and how to request it. emergency leave allows staff time off to deal with urgent and unforeseen circumstances, eg. the breakdown of regular care arrangements or the death of a relative. The amount of time is dependant upon individual circumstances.

Parental leave allows parents blocks of unpaid leave to spend time with their family.

Refer to the leave guide for further details

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Flexible Working Policy

The Trust recognises that in order to attract and retain a high quality workforce flexible working patterns will need to exist to suit the changing circumstances of people's lives, such as to care for elderly relatives or following the birth of a child.

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Flexible working can take many forms such as part-time, job sharing, flexi-time, term-time working, annualised hours, self-rostering or bank working.

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Whilst every effort will be made to accommodate staff's needs, the needs of the service always have to be considered. Should you wish to make changes to your working pattern, you should discuss this with your manager and formally put requests in writing.

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Retainer Scheme and Career Breaks

Staff may, at some point in their career, wish to take an unpaid break to deal with other life issues, with the opportunity to return to work afterwards. Refer to policy for further information.

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Maternity/Adoption/Paternity Leave Policy

This policy sets out the rights of staff when becoming parents and explains statutory and occupational benefits, dependant upon length of service within this Trust and the NHS.

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Flexible Retirement

Staff who are reaching retirement age may wish to continue working but with less responsibility or on reduced hours. Flexible retirement options exist to assist staff to do this whilst minimising the affect on their pension benefits.

This may include:

�� voluntary early retirement

�� wind down (part-time)

�� step down (less demanding role)

�� retire and come back

�� continue beyond normal retirement age

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Queries relating to pensions should be directed to the Trust's Pensions Advisor, Joanne Bowler on 024 765 36745, or information can be sought from the HR Department. Details can be found in the Retirement Policy available on the info-net.

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Staff nearing retirement can also access our Retirement Course which gives advice on how to prepare for retirement, including some financial planning.

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Childcare Co-ordinator

The Trust employs the services of a Childcare Co-ordinator. Her name is Yvette Oruye and she can be contacted on extension 1464 or via internal e-mail. Yvette's role is to identify the childcare needs within the Trust and identify providers for staff. A childcare strategy is being developed. Yvette can also advise staff about benefits and takes a lead on organising pension events for staff. We have also introduced a childcare voucher scheme, contact Yvette for further information.

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5. SUPPORTING HEALTH AND DIGNITY AT WORK

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Diversity

The Trust recognises the value of employing a diverse workforce and is committed to the promotion of equality. The Equality and Diversity Policy supports this commitment.

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Through this policy, the Trust communicates its commitment to ensuring that all members of staff, and job applicants, are treated fairly and are not disadvantaged on the grounds of gender, gender reassignment, marital status, age, sexual orientation, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion, disability or trade union membership. We ensure that recruiting managers receive training to understand discrimination.

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The Trust is currently working on developing a Race Equality Scheme.

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Disability

The Trust is a registered user of the Disability Symbol which means we are positive about disabled people. As part of this we commit to interviewing any disabled applicant that meets the minimum criteria for a job vacancy.

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The Trust also ensures that it supports staff who become disabled by making, where possible, reasonable adjustments to their work to retain them in employment or to find them suitable alternative employment where they can utilise their skills.

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Bullying & Harassment

The Trust �s aim is to outlaw all forms of harassment and bullying in the workplace and the Harassment & Bullying Policy aims to raise awareness of the Trust's stance on these issues. The Trust has trained a number of harassment advisors who are there to offer support to staff who feel they are being harassed or bullied. The Trust is committed to dealing with cases of harassment seriously but sensitively.

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Occupational Health Services

The Trust's Occupational Health Service provides confidential advice to staff relating to their health at work. Staff can self-refer or may be referred by their manager for support or advice.

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The service also allows access to counselling services, free of charge, and can provide discounts for holistic therapies such as Reiki.

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The key services provided by Occupational Health are:

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�� Pre-employment screening

�� Immunisation

�� Workplace assessments

�� Health education/promotion

�� Counselling

�� VDU Screening

�� Muscoskeletal assessments

�� Support to manager and employees regarding ill health at work

�� General health advice

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They can be contacted on 0121 378 2211 extension 4850.

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Security/Risk/Violence & Aggression

The Trust strives to ensure that staff are safe whilst at work and has a zero tolerance stance to violence against its staff. We have a Security Advisor (Phil Chambers) who ensures that our policies and processes are robust, our Risk Manager (Ruth Gibson) works closely with managers and staff to ensure that incidents of security breaches, violence or aggression are properly investigated and that appropriate action is taken. The Trust also has a Violence & Aggression forum which meets regularly to discuss these issues and how best to address them. We have doubled the number of security officers in the last 12 months and will soon be installing CCTV across the site.

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6. STAFF INVOLVEMENT AND COMMUNICATION

The Trust recognises the importance of effective two-way communication with its staff and for staff to be involved in decisions affecting their working lives. The Trust has recently employed a Head of Communications, Andy Comber, who will be working closely with staff to develop a Communications Strategy.

The Trust, in partnership with Staff Side, have developed a Partnership Agreement which was sent out to all employees on their August payslip. This aims to build stronger partnership working between staff and managers, encourage staff involvement, and outlines expected behaviours and attitudes from both sides. If you haven't had a copy, please contact the HR Department who will be happy to send one to you.

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There are various ways in which we communicate currently:

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�� CE Direct

A weekly bulletin from the Chief Executive which highlights things that have happened during the week.

�� Good Hope News

The Trust's magazine which is issued monthly.

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�� Job-line

The Trust's vacancy bulletin which is issued weekly.

�� Local Team Meetings/Briefings

Staff should receive regular briefings from their departmental manager.

�� Staff Side

The Staff Side meet regularly with Management Side colleagues to discuss and debate issues within the Trust on behalf of their members.

�� IWL Steering Group and Forums

In order to ensure that the Trust is working towards achievement of its IWL targets it has established a steering group and key forums to target the key areas within IWL.

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Should you wish to become involved in these forums or have ideas, please contact Sara Brown, HR Manager (IWL Lead) on extension 0121 378 2211 extension 1456.

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7. TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

The Trust is committed to ensuring that its staff remain skilled and competent and are able to access training and development suited to their individual needs as well as helping to achieve the Trust's vision and strategic direction.

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Training and Development Opportunities

The function is headed by Bev Edgar. The Trust produces an in-house prospectus and courses can be booked via Celia Grigg, the Training Administrator, on extension 1453. Development opportunities can take many forms and include shadowing, secondment, mentoring, courses and e-learning.

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There are many vocational qualifications available for staff without qualifications and administrative staff. Details can be obtained by contacting Bev or Celia on the extension above.

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Learning Accounts

Staff who do not hold a relevant professional work related qualification may access a Learning Account. This provides up to �150 towards the cost of work related training and can be accessed every year. They can also be used for exam fees, books or registration fees. Contact Celia Grigg on extension 1453 for further information.

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Knowledge & Skills Framework (KSF)

This is the developmental part of Agenda for Change and provides a robust and objective competency framework for all NHS employees. It ensures that there is ongoing review material for appraisal purposes and that staff have personal development plans that link to their KSF outlines and development needs.

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Annual Appraisal Review

Every member of staff should have an Annual Appraisal Review with their manager to review their performance, objectives and development needs.

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8. HOW ARE WE DOING?

We would value any comments that staff may have about anything contained in this guide or anything else they feel affects their working life. We would also value your input on any focus groups that we organise to discuss various topics, please look out for dates of these events. If you would like to put forward any comments, please do so via the contacts below. If you have any examples of where we have improved your working life, eg. through allowing more flexible working, we would like to hear from you.

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8. CONTACTS

The IWL Leads for the Trust are Sara Brown, HR Manager and Bev Edgar, Training Manager. For further information, advice or to put forward ideas or suggestions, please contact Bev or Sara in the HR Department, Trust Headquarters, via 0121 378 2211 extension 1453 or via internal e-mail.