Free Job Sharing Policy

We are pleased to include a sample Job Sharing Policy that you can use in your business.

Remember to review and/or adapt this policy in accordance with company-specific requirements and all relevant legal considerations.

Job Sharing Policy

Purpose

To facilitate employees who wish to reduce their working hours voluntarily, and to meet their personal requirements better. 

Definition of Job Sharing: 

Job sharing is an arrangement in which two people, on an equal basis, voluntarily share the duties and responsibilities of a single full-time job, each working half the regular hours associated with the full-time position. 

With job-sharing, the individuals involved are jointly responsible for the job. As a result, this requires more than normal co-operation, coordination, contact, and communication between job sharers. 

Job Sharing also differs from part-time work. Part-time work represents regular work carried out during hours distinctly shorter than the normal working hours. With part-time work, the job represents a separate, self-contained unit. 

Prerequisites 

An employee must have completed either 3 years of continuous service as a permanent employee or 1.5 years as a permanent employee and 1.5 years as a temporary employee. 

An employee will not be eligible for Job sharing if they are at any stage of the disciplinary process. 

Job sharers are bound by the existing general conditions of employment, unless otherwise provided for in the job-sharing policy. 

Job sharing requires that two people wish to share a job. If one of the pair of Job sharers stops Job sharing, the remaining job sharer will be necessary to return to full-time work if another suitable job-sharing partner is not available. 

Job Sharing also requires that a suitable position or business environment exists, so that job-sharing applicants may be facilitated. If an appropriate business opportunity does not exist, it will not be possible to accommodate a job share application. The onus for finding a suitable job-sharing partner rests with the job-sharing applicant. 

Employees who avail of Job sharing are required to use the internal swipe card system. 

Duration

The company reserves the right to terminate the practice of Job sharing and have employees working return to full-time work, on foot of 6 weeks’ notice. 

A job sharer may return to full-time work in their original post, provided the company can accommodate this request. An employee wishing to return to full-time work must notify their supervisor in writing at least 6 weeks in advance. There is no guarantee that the job sharer will be able to return to full-time work. This will depend on the business environment at the time. If one of the job-sharing pair returns to full-time work, this will directly impact the second job-sharing partner. The second job-sharing partner may also need to return to full-time work if another job-sharing partner is unavailable. Please note that it is not the company’s responsibility to find a suitable replacement for a job-sharing partner. 

Alternatively, a Job sharer, who wishes to return to full-time work in a different post, can do so by applying for the opening in line with our standard internal recruitment practices. 

A job-share partner who wishes to return to full-time work can do so by notifying their supervisor in writing, at least 6 weeks in advance. This can be accommodated when temporary operators are on site. If there are no temporary operators on site, it will not be possible to return to full-time work until the headcount requirements in the production area are met. 

Procedure for Applying for Job Sharing: 

The onus for finding a suitable job-sharing partner rests with the job-sharing applicant. The job-sharing application form requires the names of both job-sharing partners. Interested individuals who do not have a job-sharing partner can inform the Human Resource Department of their interest so that if another single suitable partner becomes available, a joint application can be made. 

Complete the Job Sharing Application Form (Available From The Human Resource Department). 

Submit the form and seek written approval from your Supervisor, Manager, and HR liaison, in that sequence. 

Your supervisor will communicate the decision to you. 

Note: Applications are considered on a first-come, first-served basis, based on the date of application. 

The company retains sole discretion regarding the number of employees who will be allowed to participate in the scheme. The company reserves the sole discretion to accept or reject job-sharing applications. The establishment of a job-sharing arrangement will depend on the availability of a suitable position and suitable job-sharing partners. 

Pay/Salary: 

The job sharer will be paid half their basic full-time salary. 

Overtime: 

Job sharers who are generally eligible for overtime payments must work the regular full-time weekly hours before they are eligible to earn the overtime rate. They will be entitled to the flat hourly rate for extra approved hours worked. i.e, a job sharer will not receive overtime rates until they have worked a whole work week. Any hours worked up to this point will be paid at the flat rate. 

Employees who are generally not eligible for overtime payments will not be paid for any extra work hours. If Job sharers wish to work some additional hours, approval for this will be decided by the supervisor. While there will be times when Job sharers are required to work some extra hours (e.g., training for new products / new product ramps, periods of high production numbers), it is not our intent to focus particularly on overtime opportunities for Job sharers. Job-sharing employees will be expected to support all reasonable overtime required. 

Annual Leave Entitlement: 

Job sharers receive half the standard annual leave entitlements of full-time employees. 

Sick Leave: 

Job sharers are entitled to half the sick leave payment of full-time employees. All other criteria are determined by the [INSERT COMPANY NAME] ill pay scheme. 

Absence cover: 

Job sharer has the option to cover for the absence of their job-sharing partner, if required by the area supervisor. 

Pension: 

A job sharer will be entitled to participate in the company pension scheme. 

Education Assistance: 

Self-development courses will be supported in line with the current policy; however, Job sharers will receive half the normal benefit that they would get as a full-time employee. 

Length of Service: 

A job sharer will accrue service in the usual way, but at a rate of half that of a full-time employee. 

Communications: 

It is vital that employees who Job share are not omitted from critical communications that may occur during their absence. The onus is on both the employee and the individual’s supervisor to maintain good communication practices. 

Training: 

Job Sharers have the same access to training as full-time employees. Job sharers may be required to revert to full-time working for the duration of the training period. 

Social Welfare: 

Generally, anyone who voluntarily job-shares is not entitled to social welfare payments for the time they are not working. 

RESPONSIBILITIES

DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES

The Department of Human Resources is responsible for the following:

Maintaining and overseeing the Job-Sharing at [INSERT COMPANY NAME].

Initiating or recommending immediate action in response to circumstances where warranted.

Analysing and reporting all Job-Sharing information regularly, with recommendations for addressing problems/issues identified.

Ensuring the confidentiality of all Job-Sharing information once they are received in the Department of Human Resources.

EMPLOYING DEPARTMENT

Employing Departments are responsible for the following:  

Ensuring that the Human Resources Department is informed immediately of all employees interested in job-sharing.

Managing all documentation associated with the Job-Sharing process.

Initiating follow-up action where appropriate.

EMPLOYEES

Employees are responsible for informing their managers and Human Resources of their intention to Job-Share and to follow all aspects of this policy at [INSERT COMPANY NAME].

REPORTING

The Department of Human Resources will submit a Job Sharing Policy report to the Chief Executive Officer regularly.  

Any actions the Human Resources Department deems necessary to address any concerns.

REVIEW OF PROCEDURE

This Procedure will be reviewed within twelve months of its initial implementation.