• Planning overview
• Assessing staff needs
• Recruitment essentials
  • Range
  • Contract types
  • Contract length
  • Terms and conditions
    • Cash-benefits
    • Non-cash benefits
    • Leave
    • Working conditions
    • Living conditions
    • Insurance
• Sourcing staff
• Financial resources
• Staff turnover
• Competition and collaboration
• Accountability

• Case studies
• Resources
• Further reading

• People In Aid Code

Working conditions

Working hours

Working hours in emergencies are far longer than normal.

There are risks involved for staff members, they may:

• fall ill through overwork
• become far less efficient and therefore have to work even longer hours to achieve the same results
• lose any sense of perspective and start to waste time on unimportant or even counterproductive work
• become convinced that unless they are constantly working and exhausted, then they are somehow failing

Setting an example will be important.

How many hours can you work in a day, for more than a day or two at a time?

Hours per day	Comment
7 to 9	The normal range for non-emergency work
10 to 15	May be sustainable for a limited period but efficiency will suffer
16	Assuming you need to eat and sleep, this leaves no time to relax and reflect – essential for many people.
16+	Burn out

 

Working week

Similar considerations to hours.

How many days continuous working are possible and useful?

Days off	Comment
2 days off per week	Unaccompanied international staff may find this unnecessarily luxurious, national staff with family may find it quite normal and necessary
1 day off per week	May be sustainable over a number of months
1 day off every two weeks	May be sustainable for a month
1 day per month or less	Danger zone

 

Working environment

Minimum

Every staff member who:

• has to work at a desk regularly, has their own desk with lockable draws for important papers
• has to use a computer regularly for their work, is allocated a computer solely for their use (and all computers are networked to any shared resources such as internet connections and printers)
• has need of transport, has access to a vehicle and driver on an equitable basis if vehicles have to be shared (you, as programme manager, will not see this problem personally – others will, and will become quickly frustrated)

Office, staff need:

• space – it is arguably less important whether this is in a tent or a building
• calm – areas where there is public access or frequent meetings need to be separated from areas where people are expected to concentrate
• the minimum of comfort – air-conditioning may not be a ‘luxury’ if it is very hot and humid – fans and shade may be an alternative