Property News · December 3, 2016

Judges, soldiers, MPs, vicars – can job-sharing work in any field?


It’s 13 years since it was made a legal requirement that employees could request flexible working, and now even the supreme court is open to job-sharing. But a few professions remain resistant, and some employees are still shy of askingThe Rev Mike and the Rev Nicky-Sue Terry have the classic married couple’s habit of finishing each other’s sentences. But perhaps it’s unsurprising that they know each other’s minds so well. They are not just man and wife, but also two halves of a pioneering job-share within the Church of England, splitting the role of vicar for St Mary’s in the Hampshire village of Warsash between them.They take turns conducting services, he chairs parish council meetings, she runs the pastoral team, and vicarage life is divided according to individual strengths, although both try to take Fridays off. Mike, who previously served in the Royal Navy, likes long-term planning; Nicky-Sue says she prefers “to get into the detail of things, which … ” – she pauses, and Mike interjects – “drives me completely barmy”. Some parishioners in distress are drawn to her, some to him, but they try to make the relationship seamless. “We have a phrase we use,” says Mike, “which is: ‘We are the vicar, we are.’” Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
Read more…Judges, soldiers, MPs, vicars – can job-sharing work in any field?

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