All Service Personnel are able to include personal circumstances on their posting preference proforma and can use the Employee Domestic and Welfare Considerations tab on JPA (found under the ‘Extra Information Types’ tab) to highlight any personal circumstances which may need to be considered during the assignment process.
Queens Regulations state that ‘a soldier must be available for world-wide assignment at any time’ and this applies equally to single and dual serving parents. The Army will endeavour not to deploy both parents at the same time, where this does not affect operational capability.
To assist the chain of command and Service Personnel, a guide to the Employment and Deployment of Serving Parents and Carers has been produced. It provides advice on a number of measures designed to ensure that dual serving parents are able to fulfil their full range military duties, while meeting their obligation to children or dependent adults. It includes guidance on;
- Policies that allow flexible working arrangements to be maintained; Leave, Flexible Working and Flexible Service. (Link to respective pages)
- Measures that allow Army personnel to balance the needs of their family against their unlimited liability where possible.
- Pre-empting potential challenges by ensuring that appropriate plans are put in place.
- Existing support networks which can provide impartial advice to both the chain of command and Service Person.