Request for information regarding flexible working requests for compressed hours
Request ID: FOI-1829-2223 Date published: 22 November 2022
You asked
This is a refined version of request FOI-1535-2223 which was not fulfilled as too much information was requested.
Please could you provide the total number of employees working compressed hours across TfL? Please could you also provide this number broken down by sex/gender?
Your response to FOI-1348-2223 confirmed that between March 2021 and September 2022, 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 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? If it is too onerous to break this down by month, please provide the total number.
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 in the last 12 months (October 2021 - October 2022)?
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-1829-2223
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 27th October 2022 asking for information about flexible working requests for compressed hours.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
Specifically you asked:
“Please could you provide the total number of employees working compressed hours across TfL? Please could you also provide this number broken down by sex/gender?
Your response to FOI-1348-2223 confirmed that between March 2021 and September 2022, 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 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? If it is too onerous to break this down by month, please provide the total number.
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 in the last 12 months (October 2021 - October 2022)?”
I can confirm that we hold the information you require. However, note that not all of the informaton requested is held centrally by our HR team, and to source it from individual managers at the local level across the organsition would exceed the costs limit for responding to FOI cases as set out under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act. Under section 12, TfL is not obliged to proivde information if it would cost more than £450 to determine if that information is held, and to then locate, retrieve or extract it from elsewhere. This is calculated at a rate of £25 per hour, equivalent to 18 hours work. However, that said, our HR team have been able to provide some of the information from central records, as set out below:
Question 1: Please could you provide the total number of employees working compressed hours across TfL? Please could you also provide this number broken down by sex/gender?
Answer: There are 241 employees working with a formal compressed hours arrangement. This is split by 180 males and 61 females.
Question 2: Your response to FOI-1348-2223 confirmed that between March 2021 and September 2022, 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 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? If it is too onerous to break this down by month, please provide the total number.
Answer: The numbers below show when formal compressed hours arrangements commenced by month since October 2021 (note that this is not the same as ‘requests’ or when these requests were approved).
October 2021 - 10 November 2021 - 2 December 2021 – 1 January 2022 – 4 February 2022 – 1 March 2022 – 0 April 2022 – 1 May 2022 – 7 June 2022 – 9 July 2022 – 3 August 2022 – 1 September 2022 – 0
Question 3: 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 in the last 12 months (October 2021 - October 2022)?
Answer: It is not possible to source this information within the costs limit for responding to FOI cases. We do not hold information centrally on the number of requests made for compressed hours which are approved by a line manager but are rejected by Employee Services. Compressed Hour working arrangements are only centrally recorded when approved.
If this is not the information you are looking for please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
