A Dunstable parent is among hundreds of Amazon employees in the UK planning their first Christmas after joining one of the company’s innovative flexible contracts.

Launched last year, the Term-Time contract, which remains a unique UK working option, guarantees time off for the Christmas school holidays, as well as Easter and the longer Summer break, without affecting a comprehensive range of benefits, including private medical insurance and life assurance.

Alongside the launch of Term-Time contracts in 2023, a flexible part-time contract – with a minimum of 80 hours per month – was also made available to thousands of additional employees. Amazon Anytime lets employees pick and mix the shifts that suit their needs; part-day or full-day, day or night, weekday or weekend. The contract is also aimed at supporting people who are unable to find work due to family (or other commitments that require flexibility) return to the workplace.

placeholder image — Shahid Iqbal and his family

One of the dads working at Amazon who has signed up for the term-time contract is Shahid Iqbal who works at the Amazon fulfilment centre in Dunstable.

Shahid started work as a seasonal employee at Amazon in Dunstable in 2019. He was soon made permanent and has since progressed through departments at the fulfilment centre to become a team lead.

Shahid has four children, aged fifteen, twelve, nine and five, and says term-time working has made a huge difference to the family:

“This working pattern is like a pre-booked holiday. I don’t have to worry about booking time off because I’ve got so much flexibility, making life much easier to plan. It helps me be an active participant in my kids’ social lives when they’re off school – and with their homework too. We like to cultivate a love of learning at home, and this helps us do that.

“My wife is on a different work schedule and this contract allows me to take over in the holidays and give her time to relax! Because we can plan everything way in advance, there’s less of a headache around scheduling, and it means we can save a bit of money on holidays too. As a result, I get proper quality time with my kids, and I think they look forward to it as well. School holidays mean they can spend lots of time with their dad.

“In the summer we used the time to go back home to Pakistan and see my dad, who’s 80. It was 5 ½ weeks and whenever we go there, I like to give as much time as possible to him. We used to struggle to find the time for such a stint away, and my dad, who loves to see us, can’t travel longer journeys. He often complains we’re not there for long – but this year was the most amount of time we’ve spent in Pakistan as a family, so he couldn’t complain, and everyone was happy!”

How does Shahid plan to use his time off during his children’s December holidays?

“This December is all about GCSEs for my eldest daughter, who’ll be sitting mock exams soon,” he said. “It’s more pressure for her this year so we want to spend lots of time smashing her revision, especially maths and science, which is her favourite subject. We’ll have lots of fun with our other three children too but that’s the focus this school holiday.

“Overall, switching my contract to term-time has given such great flexibility. Having every school holiday off is the best and I’m constantly promoting it to colleagues in my team.”

Based on employee feedback and initially launched in Amazon’s larger fulfilment centres, Term-Time contracts – which are aimed at better supporting family needs – have now been expanded to include thousands of employees in the company’s network of delivery stations as well.