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Annualised Hours
Annual Hours - a definition, what are annual hours-contracts?
Working Time Solutions provide advice, solutions and the tools to allow organisations to successfully implement annualised hours systems.
Very simply, annual hours or annualised hours is the term used to describe a contract which states the agreed number of guaranteed hours the employee is contracted to work through a twelve month period. This is different from a standard weekly contract e.g. 38, 40 or 48 hour week - each week, every week. An ‘Annualised Contract’ allows the organisation to increase or reduce, in advance, the required numbers of hours to be worked at a given time to match the needs of a business. For example, a cold drinks manufacturer may find their business peaks during the hot summer weather and dips during the winter. In this case the employee will be required to work more hours during the summer than during the winter.
Shifting from the traditional 'hours worked per week' contracts to annualised hours contracts can deliver tangible results.
Implementing annualised hours contracts:
- Can be successfully implemented in both existing and new operations
- Matches the actual workforce required to meet the seasonal demands of the business
- Leads to increases in workforce productivity and business profitability
- Eliminates or reduces the need and the cost of expensive overtime
- Allows the company and employee to implement plans better
- Leads to substantial reduction in absenteeism
- Ensures compliance with new and existing Working Time Regulations
- Leads to improved productivity and operational flexibility
The introduction of Annualised Hours within an organisation can lead to an increase to an employees’ skill-set and often leads to improved morale of both management and the workforce.
Some real benefits enjoyed by companies who have moved to an annualised contracts system include:
- Increased employee commitment
- Staff more willing to be flexible
- A cohesive team environment developed
- Payroll administration and over-time costs drastically reduced
- Manufacturing efficiency rose by 33%
- Production waste halved
Working Time Solutions provide both the expert advice and accompanying specialist software applications to help organisations introduce annual hours contracts and systems for their workforce. The introduction of these systems can help organisations move away from a high overtime, traditional working environment to one which demonstrates real employee commitment, flexibility and cohesive team working.
Utilising both our wealth of consultative experience and our specialist WORK Suite ™ software we have helped many organisations to successfully implement Annualised Hours systems, including ; Colman’s of Norwich, the Gleneagles Hotel, Prysmian Cables (formely Pirelli) and the East Midlands Ambulance NHS Trust. To learn more please visit our Case studies page.
Working Time Solutions also host events which discuss in detail issues relating to both annual hours systems and shift pattern optimisation. For more information please click here.
To find out more information regarding Annual Hours please contact us or submit an information request and we shall be happy to help.
'Further areas of expertise : Shift planning and Workforce Management.
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