13 April 2007
Senior Revenue & Customs officials and civil service trade unionists are locked in talks that could lead to the controversial abolition of some flexible working practices.
Managers from the Revenue's customer contact directorate met Public and Commercial Services union officials on April 11 to discuss a planned experimentation with contracts that, the union claimed, could 'remove the right to flexible working hours in telephone contact centres'.
Proposed pilot schemes at the centres in East Kilbride and Peterlee represented 'a serious threat to terms and conditions' and undermined government plans to improve civil servants' work-life balance, the union warned.
A PCS briefing note, circulated to MPs, said the proposals could lead to the replacement of existing flexible arrangements – used by up to 10,000 staff and including practices such as term-time working for parents – 'with a limited flexibility scheme based entirely on the needs of the business'.
The note also claims that the Revenue plans to bring a new scheme into all contact centres from July 2 – and expresses fears that 'this could spread to the whole of HMRC'.
However a Revenue spokeswoman told Public Finance that the discussions were embryonic and that there was 'no firm plan to roll out an as-yet unpiloted initiative'. She added: 'We are merely discussing possible ways to improve our customer service by balancing the need for flexible staff practices with the changing needs of the business.'
The PCS is currently in dispute with the government over the wider civil service reform plans.
PFapr2007
