New report from Belina GRoW CIC – Developing a case for the promotion of term-time working

Report authors: Laura Dewar and Elizabeth Clery

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that work can be organised and carried out very differently. There has been a rapid rise in the number of employees working from home, representing a move away from the normal working environment and an increase in workers’ autonomy as to how they manage and deliver their work. This is evidenced in analysis by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD), showing a dramatic increase in homeworking (rising from 5% to 19% between 2019 and the first quarter of 2022 (CIPD, 2022). However, such pluralisation in the location of work has not been accompanied by an expansion in other forms of flexibility. Indeed, the CIPD’s analysis of the Labour Force Survey has shown that, apart from home working, other forms of flexibility declined or remained stagnant over the period of the pandemic, leading them to
conclude that “Now is the time for organisations to increase their flexible working offerings and not pull back (Ibid.).”

The inspiration for this project is from Liz Sewell who is Director of the Belina GRoW Community Interest Company (CIC) dedicated to developing projects that engage and empower women who are currently outside the labour market and to conduct research and provide support that will help them transition into work, education, and training. As an employer, over half of Liz’s staff work term-time and the majority of the mothers that they work with want to work term-time.

“Through our employability work we know that many mothers want to work during the term-time; they want to work but they also want to care for their children. Termtime working is a positive solution to the high cost and the lack of suitable childcare and is most acute for families who have more than two children or whose children have additional needs. Hybrid working and home working is allowing a more balanced life for many families but there are still a high number of mothers who are shut out from flexible work. Term-time working could be a game changer for many mothers in reducing childcare costs but also potentially opening up a better work life balance including to more disadvantaged families. Term-time working could also encourage more mothers who are away from the workforce back into work which could be positive in addressing the current high level of unfilled job vacancies and to address the skill shortages in the economy. It is interesting to see that in the last month that Amazon has introduced term-time working for its workers and those applying to work for them. Term-time working could be a win for employers and for families.”

(Liz Sewell – Director of Belina GRoW CIC)

The purpose of this paper is to draw together current evidence relating to term-time working, to begin to establish a case for its scaling-up in the UK. It seeks to establish a working definition of term-time working and to explore the current prevalence of, and demand for, this form of flexibility. It considers the potential benefits and challenges for the individual worker and the employer. This paper is the first step to providing the evidence and thinking needed to promote an increase in term-time working in the UK. The next stage would be a longer-term research project and proof of concept, working with term-time workers, employers and an expert panel with the potential to pilot term-time working in a mayoral authority or with DWP. A longer project would explore how employers can be supported to introduce term-time working.

This paper is based on a review of the policy and literature on term-time working, an analysis of Labour Force Survey data up to the middle of 2022 and five interviews with individuals currently working on a term-time basis.

Read the full report here