Department of Health

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Improving working lives

The Improving Working Lives Standard (IWL) is a blueprint by which NHS employers and staff can measure the management of human resources. Organisations are kite-marked against their ability to demonstrate a commitment to improving the working lives of their employees.

IWL update

For more information on the implementation of IWL, good practice and guidance, please refer to the NHS Employers website at:

Background to Improving Working Lives

The Improving Working Lives Standard sets a model of good HR practice against which NHS Employers and their staff can measure the organisation's HR management and against which NHS employers will be kite-marked. NHS organisations will be required to achieve accreditation against the Standard by April 2003, demonstrating they are improving the working lives of staff.

IWL accreditation

The NHS Plan introduced the Standard which makes it clear that every member of staff in the NHS is entitled to work in an organisation which can demonstrate its commitment to more flexible working conditions which gives staff more control over their own time. The Standard also requires NHS employers to prove that they are investing in improving diversity and tackling discrimination and harassment. Improving Working Lives aims to support organisational cultural change to embed good HR practices at the heart of service delivery, and is an integral part of Pillar 1 of the HR in the NHS Plan.

IWL Practice Plus

What is Improving Working Lives Practice Plus, and how will NHS organisations demonstrate that they are Practice Plus employers - Staff Involvement (Gateway ref: 3930).

IWL leads: contact details for your area

Details of an IWL Lead in your area can be found on the NHS Employers website at:

Good practice database

The good pracitce database allows the NHS to share examples of best practice. Organisations may search across a range of Recruitment and Retention policies including IWL.

IWL publications

Information about IWL publications, and others related to the subjects they cover.

Links

Organisations and policy related to Improving Working Lives. The Department of Health is not responsible for the contents or reliability of the linked websites and does not necessarily endorse the views expressed within them. Listing shall not be taken as endorsement of any kind. We have no control over the availability of linked pages.

Childcare co-ordinators

The Improving Working Lives Standard means that the NHS is committed to delivering a range of flexible working practices. As part of that, the NHS childcare strategy centres around providing good quality, affordable and accessible childcare to support parents working in the NHS. For information on all childcare co-ordinators working in the National Health Service in England.

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