Core hours for assistant staff have been changed as from the beginning of this year. They can now work their hours more flexibly as they are able to start their working day as early as 7:30 am, and leave work from as early as 4:00 pm.
The aim is to help those who have caring responsibilities. Parents, for example, may need to leave early to collect children from childcare.
Additionally, allowing staff to travel outside the peak of the rush hour can also help reduce their carbon footprint by cutting car exhaust emissions from sitting in queues of traffic.
The change has been made in response to staff needs that were discussed in the University Staff Survey, carried out last summer.
The overall working day for full time staff will now be from 07:30 am to 18:30 pm. The window within which they can take lunch has been extended to 12:00–14:30. All other elements remain the same.
You can see the guide to flexible working on the Department's Human Resources web pages.