Staff more likely to get time off for broken boiler than to vote

Employers are twice as likely to give their staff paid time off to get their boiler fixed as they are to let them vote during working hours, according to research launched today by IRS Employment Review, published by LexisNexis Butterworths.

Although both figures are small ñ just 8% let staff stay at home on full pay with a burst boiler and 4% offer paid time at the polling station ñ the comparison shows the very different views employers have of employees who want to be active citizens.

In general, many employers are happy to help staff with time off and flexible working arrangements if they want to play a role in the community as a school governor, magistrate or local councilor, the IRS study shows.

But just one in three is prepared to go beyond the legal minimum and offer their employees paid leave in relation to posts for which there is a statutory right to time off. And less than one in five allow time off for charitable work.

The survey, conducted at the end of 2004, is based on responses from 77 organisations. It is available in the new edition (818) of IRS Employment Review.

Other key findings include:
- In the past two years, almost one-third of survey respondents had received at least one request from staff for time off to perform public duties.

- Nine in 10 employers reported that one or more employees have performed jury service (in the past two years).

- Just over a quarter (27%) of employers believe that their organisation actively encourages and supports employees with public duties such as school governors or local councillors.

- Only a minority of employers find that employees taking time off work either for public duties, jury service or personal reasons cause real problems.

- Over three-quarters of employers said that they would be willing to allow an employee more flexible working time patterns in order to balance their work with their public role.

- Almost two-thirds (61%) of respondents said that they would consider a request to move to part-time work, and 35% said that they would consider requests to work from home.

- A further 30% said that they would consider an employee request to perform compressed hours in order to balance work with public duties.

- Employers most frequently granted paid leave for lay magistrates, with 38% of organisations providing paid time off.

- School or college governors were entitled to paid time off by one-third (33%) of employers.

- Three in 10 employers gave staff paid leave to perform duties as local authority councillors.

- A total of 18% of the IRS sample said that they allow time off for charitable work; 77% of employers said that they did not.

- Twelve of the 14 organisations that did so had their own employee volunteering scheme, indicating that it is relatively rare for employers to allow time off for volunteering when this is not part of an employer-led scheme.

- A third (33%) of employers said that their organisation specified the maximum number of days that employees could take in order to fulfil their public duties.

IRS Employment Review managing editor, Mark Crail said:

ìEmployers are increasingly likely to support employees who want to play a positive role in their local community. And expectations about workñlife balance ñ not to mention the governmentís decision to make 2005 the year of the volunteer ñ are adding to the pressures on employers to make this part of their corporate social responsibility programmes.

But there are practical difficulties in supporting people with civic or community roles. Employers need to be clear about the reasons for which an employee can take time off work without being too prescriptive. It is good to leave line managers some space to exercise common sense; after all, fulfilled employees tend to be more effective in the workplace.î