David Angulo was a Management Accountant at Westland and remembers negotiating the introduction of flexi-time working

Talking purely the staff now because obviously the production staff shop floor were slightly different hours, but our hours were 8.30 until 5 more or less. It was 8.30 to 5.15 on a Monday and Tuesday and 8.30 until 5 on Wednesday and Thursday and Friday was that little bit shorter, it was 8.30 till 4. And after that everything else was overtime if it was required which, as I’ve said, it was sometimes, plenty of it on the busy, busy times.

It enabled people to come in later and stay later

The flexitime agreement was something on the lines of making a core set of hours so you had to be there for a certain session in the morning and then likewise in the afternoon you had to be there for a certain session. Obviously you’d still do your 37 hours in a week. It enabled people to come in later and stay later or come in earlier but as long as you were there in the core hours and, as I say, I can’t be quite precise so I may get some of this wrong, but I think the core hours for the morning session you had to be there between 9 and 12. So you couldn’t go to lunch earlier than 12 and the afternoon session was 2 o’clock to 4 o’clock that in the end you could stretch around that.

There was always somebody had a downside as to why you shouldn’t have it

I found it very useful because I used to take advantage of having an hour and a half for lunch sometimes and stay late or whichever way around. The management weren’t against it and the negotiating team for the management that was the other side of the table, there was my team on our side, their team on their side, they weren’t against it but, of course, there was always somebody had a downside as to why you shouldn’t have it. You weren’t getting any more money for it you see. There was no cost to the company so eventually after quite a longish negotiation it came to pass, I can’t be precise what date but flexitime is still in operation in Westlands. The difference is that on the shop floor the hours in the main are 7.30 until 4.

I like to think it was an achievement that I was a party to

They still do shifts now. They do a night shift. They still do 6 to 2 and 2 till 10 as earlies and lates and they still do a night shift as 10pm until 6 am. But the flexitime in the staff hours, I’d like to think that was an achievement that I was a party to, I mean, it wasn’t all down to me but there was a part I played in that.

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