#termtime

Parents and grandparents who work in Amazon warehouses will be able to choose to work in term-time only. Amazon said the new contract will mean people with children to look after can take six weeks of holiday in summer and two weeks at Easter and at Christmas. Amazon’s regional operations director, Neil Travis, said he hopes the flexible working will encourage more people back into the workplace. “We spent a lot of time listening to our employees and one of the things that we were learning is that they really wanted more flexible opportunities,” Mr Travis said. He added that the contract still entitles people to full-time benefits. Amazon is offering the new contract just as it is trying to fight a bid by the GMB to be the first trade union in Europe to be recognised by the company. The union commented that, while flexible working is welcome, most workers want better wages. “What they’re telling us is they can’t live on poverty pay,” a union spokesperson said. Claire McCartney at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development notes that only 4% of workers have term-time working, commenting: “With the cost and availability of childcare causing huge challenges for working parents, term-time working is likely to have a positive impact on attraction and retention at a time when organisations are struggling with skills shortages.”