Definition
1. Job Sharing is a form of part-time working, whereby two or more people are appointed to share the tasks and responsibilities of one full-time job. The job share can be divided on the basis of hours worked, days worked, the tasks covered, or any combination of these. This section sets out job-sharing arrangements, as defined and implemented by the SPCB.
2. As effective communication and co-operation are required between job share partners, a provision for overlap time may be included to facilitate and maintain continuity of the whole role.
Job-Sharing Arrangements
3. When it has been agreed in principle that a particular post is suitable for job sharing and a partner is needed, the remaining part of the post will normally be advertised, either internally or externally, unless a suitable partner has been identified in some other way, for example if someone has requested job-sharing or part-time working on return from Maternity or Adoption Leave or has otherwise registered their interest in job-sharing via the Job-Share Bank maintained by the Human Resources Office.
4. Once a suitable partner is identified, contracts will be offered on the basis that all job-share partners accept the terms of the contract. This means that if your partner(s) rejects our offer, the offer made to you will be withdrawn and you will be required to return to full-time working until such times as another partner can be identified.
5. If a suitable partner cannot be identified, your Head of Group/Office will explore with you other potential options to assist you in achieving an appropriate work-life balance. If there are no suitable alternative options, you will be required to continue working your contractual hours.
6. From the outset of a job-sharing arrangement, the working patterns of each partner will be clearly stipulated along with the division of duties and sharing of responsibilities. Your agreed working pattern may be subsequently changed only in consultation and with the agreement of your job-share partner and your line manager/Head of Group/Office.
7. You will be responsible for communicating effectively with your job-share partner. As well as overlap periods, other methods of maintaining strong communication links should be established in agreement with your partner and your line manager. It is also important that you and your line manager and/or Head of Group/Office agree individual targets and clearly define your areas of responsibility and objectives. This will ensure that you are accountable only for the delivery of your own objectives.
Suitability
8. All posts will be considered as open to job-sharing arrangements unless it can be positively demonstrated that this is inappropriate owing to the particular nature and accountabilities of the role.
Specific Conditions attached to Job-Sharing Arrangements
9. You will have an individual contract of employment based on part-time terms. The salary and other benefits of the post will be divided between the job share partners in proportion to the number of hours each works. Provisions which are dependent on length of service, such as pay progression, will be applied individually.
10. You may be offered the opportunity to cover your partner’s part of the job if they are absent for any reason. If you do not wish to, or are not able to, provide such cover, then other arrangements will be made.
11. The job-share arrangements will continue until your job-share partner resigns or returns to full-time work, or until your Head of Group/Office can demonstrate that the job-sharing arrangement is no longer viable for business reasons.
12. If your job-share partner resigns or returns to full-time work, your line manager and/or Head of Group/Office will assess whether there is an ongoing requirement for full-time cover. If there is such a requirement, you may be offered the post on a full-time basis. If you are unable to, or do not wish to work on a full-time basis, we will advertise the job-share post, either internally or externally. If this is unsuccessful, we will attempt to find you an alternative suitable job-share or part-time post.
13. In exceptional circumstances, where we have completely exhausted all of our options and it is still not possible to find you a replacement job-share partner or a suitable part-time or full-time post, we may have no alternative to terminating your employment. We will use this option only as a last resort.