Civil Service - Post Lockdown - Blended Working?

Re: the first part of your post, this was covered in Question 5 (b) in the consultation document.

"Is it acceptable that an employer offers an alternative hybrid working pattern with a combination of remote work and onsite work, in response to any request for remote working?(For example, if an employee is requesting 50% remote working and an employer wishes to offer 20% or a lower percentage than the amount requested"

https://www.ictu.ie/download/pdf/ictu_submission_on_right_to_request_remote_work_may_2021.pdf

Obviously the legislation is not in place yet but offering 1 or a half day WFH per week (to someone who could clearly WFH more than that) will be very obvious for being a token, dismissive gesture and should be open to scrutiny. A token gesture in response to a request is certainly not fulfilling that request. It also would not comply with government policy to "make remote work" and to have 20% of public service work done from home (given that large numbers of public servants clearly can't WFH, those who clearly can should be allowed more than a token amount to reach this 20% target)

I must say I don't recognise the CS on this thread. My manager doesn't care when I'm in the office and leaves it up to me to gauge when I need to be in. I take the exact same view with the staff who report to me.

We're all adults.

In fairness, a lot depends on the nature of the work. If you're manning a public desk or a public phone line, then lunch scheduling is important. If you're doing back office policy work, then no-one cares about lunchtimes.

Indeed. Even if your not totally public facing, it is still the public SERVICE you're in. Phone etc cover needs to be provided during agreed hours. The Minister's office aren't going to be amused if they call and no one is there. Etc.

There are a few obscure areas where teamwork isn't needed. But they are pretty far between.

Lots of departments got thru the last 15 months by vastly reducing service levels. That needs to be reversed.

But this has always been managed between teams (at least where I have worked) in a way that it could continue with remote working. In the 'old' days, my team were frequently in and out of the office at meetings etc. It'd be rare that everyone was gone at the same time, so phones were monitored and messages were taken. Lunchtimes were staggerred but on an informal basis ("I fancy an early lunch, so I can cover 1.30 onwards, is anyone able to cover the first part"), during holiday period on the rare chance that the main floor was totally empty (e.g. those three days between Christmas and New year), the phone would be forwarded to my phone or one of the other offices - and we would have arranged for there to be cover for those days. And not just at CO/EO level. Depending on the department, work load etc, it was often the PO or APs who covered.

And we are doing the exact same thing with certain tweaks while working remotely - phones forwarded to mobiles, detailed out of office messages, aligning leave, my team letting me know if they are starting or finishing earlier or later than normal, or taking an unusual lunch time. We've managed some fairly significant policy work and operational programmes from our kitchen tables, sofas and bedrooms. And I can tell you, the Ministers office can ALWAYS get hold of someone when they need to...

But you coordinated with colleagues or manager to make sure the public desk was staffed over lunch, right?

This is why we pay our money to Forsa! But aside from that, the surveys show overwhelming support for WFH so who exactly are the ‘’them‘’ in this them and us argument?

Interesting I have a friend who works in his department and they are all still WFH but possibly blended approach in the autumn but no full return to the office planned. Im public sector myself and we are still full time WFH and no immediate change planned. Some colleagues would like to be back in the office but there hasnt been any loss of productivity - most things are easier done WFH actually.

who's going to pay for the hub/local department hot desk. If you aren't based in that department or under that department's line management, it's not going to happen. A Revenue office won't be welcoming DSP staff into it,nor will the DSP/Revenue local management be welcoming anyone bar their own local staff(under their management) into regional locations on a large scale

They make it work in the UK. I remember being at an event in London once talking to someone based in Newcastle or somewhere similar, they had travelled down the day before, worked at another government department office (so not even their own one) in London that day, come to the event in the evening and were going to work at the same office the following day before heading home. The other UK civil servant there said it was very common practice - but then the group I was talking to were all hybrid working in some way (this is long before covid)

There are plenty of reasons parents childminding will have changed. One example would be older children let’s say aged 7 and up. May be in school from 9.20 to 3. A commute of an hour might necessitate them being minded from 7am to allow parent to arrive to work at 8am leave at 4pm and arrive to pick them up for 5pm. That’s 2 hours cost per morning, school drop and pick up and 1.5 hours (usually rounded to 2) after school. That parent could have all lunches and kids ready prior to 8 let kids sleep in until then, and have a nice relaxing morning (compared to the usual). Let’s say they clock in at 9.45 after dropping their kids to school. Work until 3.10 take lunch to do the school collection. They’ve had 5 hours 25 mins work without having had morning rush and stress. Kids come home and parent has two hours work to do. They haven’t taken any break in the morning as people would in the office preferring to work straight through. The kids have homework and snacks and playing round the house. The two untaken 15 min coffee breaks easily allow for interruptions during the two hours work left. Much easier day no stress, massive costs, happier work life balance, same amount of work done often more as they don’t arrive stressed and tired.

Compared to some who clock in at 8 then toilet make coffee, chat. Long coffee break mid morning, maybe vape/smoke breaks, lunch, evening coffee breaks, more vape/smoke breaks.

People who work hard do so regardless. People who don’t the same in or out of the office. Speaking with family who range from HEO to PO a big issue for those employees that do work hard seems to be the inability to switch off when at home. Checking emails or finishing cases at night when the kids are in bed on weekends or when on AL. Work that would usually be left until the next working day when they were in the office.

This was also my experience in the CS. I started with 2 others and the SO and HEO hovered over us worse than teachers in baby infants. We did have to ask permission for the 'big lunch', they would listen in on our phone calls and then whisper to each other about what we said rather than give constructive feedback and even though we had flexi-time if we came in before them in the morning they would get the hump as they didn't trust us even though I would get so much done without someone over the shoulder. It ended up being rather comical tbh, that was the only way to get through it. The SO was eating an apple once and when one of the girls picked up the phone she stopped chewing so she could hear every word! Another day she rolled her chair over beside me and put her face against mine to listen to my phone call. She had a red cheek from my beard when she wheeled off she came that close! I did eventually leave the CS but was transferred to another area of that department and the supervisors there were actually grand with lunch and arrival times but still very poor with offering feedback and communicating adult to adult - still a lot of whispering while looking in your direction rather than letting you know the issue. So, it's luck of the draw but those who don't trust workers and want that very student/child dynamic will hate the idea of work from home because it comes down to them thinking if they're not watching you'll go on the doss like a bold child.

I work in a fully remote position now and tbh it did take me ages to adjust to being fully trusted. I had also had my confidence knocked and when working remotely at the start I was always thinking every email alert was someone coming along to chastise me.

Those examples of micro management are petty. The managers must have feck all work to do themselves.

Mad stuff, the teachers of baby infants comment may not be wide of the mark. Were those individuals "lifers" who joined at age 18, straight out of school with a school mentality. They could have been similar to children who skipped some important developmental and socialisation stages.

School

Get a job in the civil service

Stay there long term

Become institutionalised and start obsessing about the pension decades before retirement

Start winding down (not that they ever really wound up) with 10 of the 40 years still to go.