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Working Arrangements

Last updated: August 2025

Schedule 27: Adverse Weather and Travel Disruption Policy

About This Policy

This policy applies where it becomes impossible or dangerous for staff to travel in to work because of:

  • Extreme adverse weather such as heavy snow
  • Industrial action affecting transport networks
  • Major incidents affecting travel or public safety

On these occasions we recognise that a flexible approach to working arrangements may be necessary to accommodate the difficulties staff face and to protect health and safety, while still keeping the business running as effectively as possible.

This policy applies to all staff. It does not apply to agency workers, consultants or self-employed contractors. This policy does not form part of any employee's contract of employment and we may amend it at any time.

Travelling to Work

Employees should make a genuine effort to report for work at their normal time. This may include leaving extra time for the journey and/or taking an alternative route.

Employees who are unable to attend work on time or at all should telephone their Line Manager before their normal start time on each affected day. With your line manager's permission it may be appropriate for you to work from home.

Employees who are unable to attend work should check the situation throughout the day in case it improves. Information may be available from local radio stations, the police, transport providers or the internet. If conditions improve sufficiently, employees should report this to their Line Manager and attend work unless told otherwise.

Employees who do not make reasonable efforts to attend work or who fail to contact their Line Manager without good reason may be subject to disciplinary proceedings for misconduct. We will consider all the circumstances including the distance they have to travel, local conditions in their area, the status of roads and/or public transport, and the efforts made by other employees in similar circumstances.

Alternative Working Arrangements

Employees may be required to work from home, where possible, or from an alternative place of work, if available. The Line Manager will advise them of any such requirement. Such employees will receive their normal pay.

Employees who are able to work may sometimes be expected to carry out additional or varied duties during such periods. However, employees should not be required to do anything they cannot do competently or safely.

Late Starts and Early Finishes

Employees who arrive at work late or who ask to leave early will usually be expected to make up any lost time. Managers have the discretion to waive this requirement in minor cases, or (in the case of lateness) where they are satisfied the employee has made a genuine attempt to arrive on time.

Managers have the discretion to allow staff to leave early and should have regard to the needs of the business and the employee's personal circumstances. Where half the normal working day or more is lost this will be treated as absence and dealt with as set out below.

Absence and Pay

Employees who are absent from work due to extreme weather or other travel disruptions are not entitled to be paid for the time lost. Absence can be treated in a variety of ways. Employees should discuss their preference with their Line Manager, who retains overall discretion in the matter. A number of options are set out below:

  • Treating the absence as annual leave
  • Making up the lost hours within a reasonable time
  • Treating the absence as special unpaid leave

If, in exceptional circumstances, we decide to close the workplace, employees will be asked to work from home.

School Closures and Other Childcare Issues

Adverse weather sometimes leads to school or nursery closures or the unavailability of a nanny or childminder. Where childcare arrangements have been disrupted, employees may have a statutory right to reasonable time off without pay.

Schedule 28: Holiday Policy

This policy covers everything to do with your holiday entitlement and explains what you must do to arrange time off for holidays. This policy applies to all employees and workers but does not apply to self-employed contractors. If you are an employee, this policy does not form part of your employment contract and we may update it at any time.

What is My Holiday Entitlement?

You will find the number of days of paid holiday you are entitled to in your contract. This includes bank and other public holidays.

The first four weeks of your annual leave are classed as leave under Regulation 13 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 and the remainder under Regulation 13A and/or your contract as appropriate. Slightly different laws apply to the first four weeks of your holiday in any holiday year.

Part-Time Employees

If you work part-time, your holiday entitlement (including time off for public holidays) will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.

When Does the Holiday Year Start?

The Company's holiday year begins on 1 January and ends on 31 December. If you join or leave the Company part way through the holiday year, we will calculate your holiday entitlement for that holiday year on a pro-rata basis.

What if I Have Just Started Work?

During your first year, you can only take the number of days you have accrued up to the day your holiday starts, unless your manager has agreed otherwise and confirmed that in writing.

Can I Roll My Holiday Over?

You are strongly encouraged to take all the holiday due to you in the holiday year in which it has accrued.

  • Full-time employees are permitted to carry over a maximum of 3 days (part-time employees may carry over a pro-rata proportion of 3 days)
  • Carried-over holiday must be used within the first 3 months of the next year
  • Any additional holidays not taken by the end of the holiday year will be lost and you will not receive any payment in lieu, except in the circumstances outlined below

How Do I Request Time Off?

You can ask to take a maximum of two weeks' holiday at any one time. You should put in your request as soon as you have chosen the dates (but before booking your holiday), and you should give us notice of at least twice the length of the time you want to take off.

You must make all requests for holiday leave using BreatheHR; you will be provided with login details. Your manager must approve all holiday requests. These are usually considered on a first come, first served basis.

At popular times of the year — particularly Christmas, Easter, and school holidays — we may need to rotate holiday allocation regardless of who put in the first request. You may sometimes have to take your holiday on dates that we specify. This is most likely to be when the business is closed (over Christmas and New Year, for example) or to avoid busy periods, or because you still have not taken all the leave due to you in the current holiday year.

If you are leaving the Company, we may also ask you to take your remaining holiday entitlement during your notice period.

Provided you have sufficient holiday entitlement, we will — wherever possible — try to fulfil requests for time off for a religious occasion, subject to our business requirements. Your manager will always discuss alternative dates with you if we have to turn down a holiday request.

If your request is refused and you take time off anyway, we will view it as unauthorised absence and deal with the matter in accordance with our Disciplinary and Capability Procedure.

Please do not make any travel arrangements or financial commitments until you have received our written confirmation that you can take the time off work. The Company will not be responsible if you suffer losses because your holiday request is refused, regardless of the reason.

How Much Will I Be Paid?

We will pay you at your normal rate while you are on holiday. We will let you know whether any commission or overtime payments will be included in your holiday pay. If we do include these elements in your holiday pay on one occasion, it does not mean that we must include them in the future.

Statutory holiday pay under the Working Time Regulations 1998 based on average pay will normally be calculated using a 52-week reference period (or such shorter reference period that reflects the number of weeks you have been employed by us during that holiday year).

What Happens if I Am Sick During My Holiday?

If you are sick while on holiday, you can treat the time off as sick leave instead of holiday. To reclaim your holiday time and take it at a later date, you must tell your manager as soon as possible (normally meaning while you are on holiday) and provide medical evidence — translated into English if necessary — of your illness or injury. If you do not do this, we will treat your absence as holiday and not sick leave.

If you are on sick leave at the start of a holiday period, and you are not fit to work at any time during it, you may reschedule the affected days. You will need to provide medical evidence and follow the procedure outlined above.

We may pay you sick pay, rather than holiday pay, for any scheduled holiday days taken as sick leave provided you qualify under our sick pay policy and your contract of employment. We will treat dishonest claims or any other abuse of this policy under our Disciplinary and Capability Procedure.

What Happens to My Holiday Entitlement During Long-Term Absence?

Your holiday entitlement continues to accrue during the holiday year when you are off work long-term for any of the following reasons:

  • Sick leave
  • Maternity leave
  • Paternity leave
  • Adoption leave
  • Parental leave
  • Shared parental leave (known as 'family leave' in this policy)

You may carry over unused holiday to the following year if your sick leave spans two holiday years or you return to work too near the end of the holiday year to fit in the time off due to you. Any holiday carried over will be lost if you do not take it within 18 months of the end of the holiday year in which it accrued.

If you intend taking family leave and expect this to span two holiday years, you must give your manager as much notice as you can. You may carry over into the next holiday year any holiday entitlement that it is impractical for you to take before the start of your family leave — this covers your full annual leave entitlement. You should take any carried-over holiday leave within the holiday year in which you return to work, unless a different timescale is agreed with your manager.

What Happens if I Leave the Company?

You will normally be required to use up any outstanding annual leave days during your notice period. This applies whether you resign, or we give you notice that we are ending your employment.

We may alternatively pay you in lieu of any holiday that has accrued in the holiday year in which your employment will end, but which you have not taken. Payment will be made at the rate of 1/260th of your basic salary for each day of leave you have outstanding, pro-rated if you work part-time.

If you have taken more annual leave than you were entitled to up to the day you leave the Company, an amount calculated as above will be deducted from the final payment we make to you.

Schedule 31: Hybrid Working Policy

Introduction

This policy sets out EXG's approach to hybrid working, which allows you to split your time between attending the office and working remotely. Hybrid working is an important element in our commitment to supporting a positive work-life balance for our employees.

Who is Covered by Hybrid Working?

Hybrid working is available for all EXG staff.

Split Between Attending Work and Working Remotely

We expect most employees to spend 60% of their working time at the office. Your contract of employment sets out the days on which you are expected to attend the office and the days on which you are expected to work remotely.

The number of days per week each employee spends at the office compared with working remotely will vary, depending on:

  • Their individual circumstances
  • The nature of their role
  • What is happening within their role and team at any particular time
  • The needs of our organisation, including the space we have available at our work locations

Taking Individual Circumstances Into Account

We recognise the benefits of being flexible and that this schedule could be difficult for some employees to follow. For example, you could have challenges with your working environment at home that mean remote working is difficult and you would like to attend the office more often. Please speak to your line manager or HR if you think that you would benefit from departing from the 60% office expectation.

Depending on the nature of the additional flexibility you are seeking, we may ask you to make a formal flexible working request — please speak to HR to discuss your options.

Our Workforce's Need to Be Flexible

Given the degree of flexibility that our hybrid working arrangements provide, we expect our workforce to be flexible. You may be required to attend work on particular days at the request of your line manager, for example for in-person training and for meetings that your line manager has determined are best conducted in person.

Similarly, there may be circumstances in which we ask you to work remotely, or from such other place as we may reasonably require, when you would otherwise expect to attend the office, for instance for operational needs (for example if we have too many employees attending the office on specific days). In such cases, you will be given as much notice as possible.

Arrangements While Attending the Office

Working Hours

For days on which you are attending the office, your normal hours of work are set out in your contract of employment.

Workspaces

Our employees are provided with their own permanent workstation. At the end of each day on which you are attending work:

  • Please ensure that your laptop is either taken with you
  • Please ensure that you leave your desk clean and tidy

Work areas are cleaned nightly.

Arrangements While Working Remotely

Working Hours

While working remotely, you must be available and working during your normal hours of work, as set out in your contract of employment. We ask you to be mindful that you are not overworking — "downtime" from work is essential.

To help maintain your wellbeing, please make sure that you take adequate rest breaks:

  • Take one hour off for lunch each day
  • Even if you are busy, it is essential that you find time for a break of at least 20 minutes during each working day that lasts more than six hours
  • Ensure the time period between stopping work one day and beginning the next is not less than 11 hours

Please be as clear as possible with your line manager about your hours of work for days on which you are working remotely. Making use of tools such as shared calendars and out-of-office messaging can help colleagues to be aware of your availability.

Sickness

When working remotely, you should not work if you are unwell. If you are sick and unable to work, our short-term sickness absence policy applies. You should notify your line manager by telephone as soon as reasonably practicable, preferably before you are due to start work and in any event no later than one hour after you are due to begin work.

Technology and Equipment

You must take care of any equipment we provide you with, and notify your line manager of any faults with the equipment. If you need any equipment, you should notify your line manager.

Health and Safety

You should liaise with your line manager to ensure that your remote working set-up is appropriate and that you are working in a safe manner. However, you must also take responsibility for your own health and safety and that of anyone else who is affected by your work (for example, others in your household when you are working from home).

You must notify your line manager if:

  • You feel any discomfort due to working remotely (such as back pain)
  • You believe that there are any work-related health and safety hazards
  • Any work-related accidents occur in your home

Your line manager will escalate the matter to HR to look into what action can be taken.

Data Protection

Employees who are working remotely are responsible for keeping information associated with our organisation secure at all times. Specifically, remote workers are under a duty to:

  • Practise good computer security, including using a unique password for your work laptop and any other devices you use for work
  • Keep all hard copies of work-related documentation secure, including keeping documents locked away at all times except when in use
  • Ensure that work-related information is safeguarded when working in public spaces, for example by:
    • Positioning your laptop so that others cannot see the screen
    • Not leaving your laptop unattended
    • Not having confidential or business-sensitive conversations in public spaces

In addition, the laptop provided by us must be used for work-related purposes only and must not be used by any other member of your household or third party at any time or for any purpose.

Requesting Flexible Working

This policy focuses on how we operate hybrid working, but there are many other forms of flexible working. Examples of other types of flexible working that can be requested include:

  • Reducing the number of hours that you are working
  • Changing your start and finish times
  • Compressing your working hours into fewer days
  • Working flexitime

If you would like to request another form of flexible working, please speak to HR who can guide you through the process.