Request for information regarding flexible working requests for compressed hours
Request ID: FOI-1535-2223 Date published: 20 October 2022
You asked
Please could you provide the total number of employees working compressed hours across TfL broken down by type – i.e. 5 days in 4, 10 days in 9 and other?
Please could you provide the total number of employees working compressed hours across TfL broken down by sex/gender?
Please could you provide the total number of employees with a formal flexible working arrangement across TfL broken down by sex/gender?
Your response to FOI-1348-2223 confirmed that since March 2021, 86 employees compressed the number of working days from five to four whilst still carrying out the same number of hours worked. Please could you provide a breakdown confirming which months these requests were completed?
Please could you also provide a breakdown confirming the number of all requests for compressed hours (not just 5 days in 4) that resulted in contract changes in each month since October 2021?
Your response to FOI-2705-2122 noted that in “very rare instances” requests which have been approved by an employee’s line manager can be rejected by Employee Services. Please can you advise how many requests for compressed hours have been approved by a line manager but rejected by Employee Services?
Please confirm how many flexible working requests for compressed hours have been placed ‘on hold’ and how many of these are now past the 3 month legislative deadline for a decision?
We answered
Our ref: FOI-1535-2223/GH
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 23 September 2022 asking for information about flexible working requests for compressed hours.
Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy.
I can confirm that we do hold the information you require. However, to provide the information you have requested would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with requests if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit. In this instance, we estimate that the time required to answer your request would exceed 18 hours which, at £25 per hour (the rate stipulated by the Regulations), exceeds the ‘appropriate limit’.
To provide the detailed information you have requested would require a significant amount of reporting and subsequent manual analysis, including cross referencing of data, to locate and collate all of the information you have requested. Such a process would exceed the cost limit detailed above. To help bring the cost of responding to your request within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider refining your request to concentrate on the points which are important to you.
Alternatively, if you are a TfL employee, you may wish to raise any queries or concerns regarding compressed hours / flexible working arrangements, with your manager or HRS contacts who should be able to assist directly, outside of the FOI process.
If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Graham Hurt FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
