A number of university policies around flexible working, carer’s leave, paternity leave and protection from redundancy have been updated.

The government introduced several new family friendly regulations which came into force on Saturday 6 April 2024.

In response, university policies and documents have been reviewed, updated, and approved in collaboration with key stakeholders to ensure compliance with the regulations.  

Flexible Working

The university believes flexible working can enhance staff motivation and accommodates the diverse needs and preferences of employees by promoting better work-life balance and increasing job satisfaction. 

The Flexible Working Arrangements Policy has been reviewed and is now called the Flexible Working Code of Practice. The procedure encompasses the new regulations such as providing employees with a day one right to apply for flexible working, increasing the number of flexible working requests which can be made in any 12-month period from one to two and providing an outcome to a request within two months.  

Guidance for employees and managers has also been developed to support colleagues through the flexible working procedure.

We’re looking to hear from colleagues about their flexible working arrangements. If you wish to share your experiences to inspire and inform the university community and help enhance our new employee and manager guidance, please complete this MS form.  

For further information and to access the new flexible working procedure, please visit our HR webpages. 

Statutory Carer’s Leave

The university recognises the challenges that carers face while trying to balance the demands of caring, work, and looking after their own health and wellbeing.  

The Long-term Carer’s Leave Policy has been reviewed following the introduction of the Carer’s Leave Act 2023.

The policy is now called Carer’s Leave Policy and includes the new statutory right to one-week unpaid carer’s leave, which can be taken in blocks of a day or half a day, aiming to support carers to remain in work alongside their caring responsibilities.  

The policy review was supported by the university’s Carers Staff Network who have welcomed the introduction of the Carer’s Leave Act. For more details around the Carers Staff Network, please visit our Staff Network webpage. 

For further information or to access the policy, please visit our HR webpages. 

Paternity Leave

The way in which Paternity Leave can be taken has changed, effective from Friday 8 March 2024, applying to children born on or after 6 April 2024.

The changes support employees to take paternity leave more flexibility by providing more options for parents on when and how they take their paternity leave.  

For further details, please visit the Paternity Leave webpages. 

Extension to Protection from Redundancy

The university has reviewed and updated existing policies and guidance following the extension to redundancy protection period for pregnant employees and those on and returning from maternity leave, adoption leave or shared parental leave.  

For further information, please visit our HR Redundancy and Redeployment webpages.