Flexible Service becomes law on 1 April 2019 allowing regular personnel of the UK Armed Forces to ask to work part time and restrict their separation from home base.
UK MoD Guidance, 20 November 2018: The British Army and the Royal Air Force can apply for a Flexible Service arrangement from 1 February 2019 and the Royal Navy can apply from 1 April 2019.
The need for flexibility ~ Society’s expectations are changing and the MoD must modernise the flexibility of its offer if it is to recruit and retain people in an increasingly competitive employment market. Flexible Working policy introduced in 2015, and the Flexible Duties Trial, have shown there is a real appetite for this type of change. Flexible Service is the next step in the journey.
How it will work ~ Flexible Service introduces new opportunities for regular members of the Armed Forces to seek:
¤ Part time working, reducing work routines by 20% or 40% equating to 1 or 2 days in a 5 day working week.
¤ Restricting separation from home to no more than 35 days a year.
This can be combined with part time work.
Applications can be made for any reason but are limited in length to no more than 3 years continuously and no more than 4 years total in a 12 year rolling period. The arrangement can be varied, suspended or ended if needed.
Operational capability will come first ~ Flexible Service is not guaranteed for those who ask and operational capability will come first. While most benefits are unaffected, it is only right that pay, pension and, in the case of part time working, leave are reduced proportionately.
