Find out all about job-sharing. Could it help you achieve a better work-life balance?

Job-sharing is a way for two people to both fill one job. Each person has a permanent part-time post. They split the hours, pay, holidays and benefits between them according to how many hours they each work.

There are three main types of job-share:

1. Shared responsibility - there is no division of duties. The job-share partners are interchangeable. This works well for jobs where the work flows continuously. It demands a high level of communication and co-ordination - and that the partners are well matched
   
   
2. Divided responsibility - works well when work can be split into different client groups or different projects. Each partner has their own case-load or project, which they focus on during working hours. If the partners don't know each other well, this can be a suitable way to arrange the job-share
   
   
3. Unrelated responsibility - the partners perform completely separate tasks, while working in the same department. It's rather like two part-time jobs running in tandem and fits situations where the partners have different skills

Job-sharing is becoming a way to introduce 'part-time' hours into areas where people have usually only worked full time. It's a system of working that seems to particularly suit women. In 1997, of 1,777,000 employees in job-shares, 89 per cent were women. Boots the Chemists introduced a formal job-share scheme in 1988. At that time, only seven per cent of women staff came back to work after maternity leave. By 1997 this had risen to 77 per cent.

Job-sharing has obvious benefits if you have to arrange a family life as well as a career. It can also help you to enjoy your work more by letting you share problems as well as giving and receiving encouragement. On the other hand, some people feel less satisfied if they have to share their achievements with someone else. The main drawback to job-sharing is that you will probably have to reduce your income and you may also lose out on promotion in the future.

Job-sharing is growing in popularity and many organisations such as Boots, BP, PowerGen, most of the major banks, and most London local authorities are increasingly offering formal schemes.

Further information

• New Ways to Work, 309 Upper Street, London N1 2TY (020 79 30 33 55) offers information on a range of flexible working patterns to individuals, unions and employers
• Parents at Work, 45 Beech Street, London EC2Y 8AD (020 76 28 35 65; fax: 76 28 35 91) offers advice, leaflets and guides, including: The Employees' Guide to Flexible Working (practical advice on preparing a flexible working proposal and how to approach your manager) #3.99 - #3.50 to members - inc p&p
• Flexibility - the Home Office Partnership
• The TUC