Got an email with the title Transition, Adapt and Look Forward. My Dept is going to begin the process of bringing staff back to the office by the end of September. All teams will be working in the office together for one day a week. This may increase incrementally to two days in time, but public health compliance and our well-being is their priority.
It goes on to say that in common with other CS Depts, over the next few months, they will begin planning & preparing for the introduction of blended working in the first quarter of 2022. For roles that are identified suitable, blended working will involve a combination of working from the Department’s premises and working remotely.
Sounds promising, but the devil will be in the detail.
I heard one dept is looking for volunteers to go back and trial back to the office. Same dept is looking into blended working
That's a great approach - to allow those who actually need or prefer to be back in the office to get back there.
We are going one day a week in September and nobody knows what's next after that. Seems many departments are starting with one day a week in September.
I work in a small sub section of a team. I'm the only person assigned there so I mainly work on my own. One visit to the office per week is all I'd need but I imagine I'll be seeing more of the office than that. Not really too interested in seeing work colleagues despite department really pushing the mental health aspects of it in their address to staff.
We've just been told we're back from 20th Sept one day a week and from 25th oct 2 days a week. Will also have to clock in and out if we are working from home
We were clocking in and out the whole time working from home. Were other departments not doing that?
us also.
Really nice to see some departments are getting a blended working option. We wont get it in our place because of the nature of the work we do. Its all hands on, in the office stuff and apart from the 3 weeks at the start in march/april 2020, we've been in the office ever since. I dont mind though. I like the routine of going into the office. I would find it very hard to separate work from home if I was working from home
1 day a week from some date in September. 2 days a week some date in October, and we'll see how things go. Never had to clock in or out where I am.
Public office? I worked in a public office in my last department for a few years and they were all in as well for the most part from what I've heard from friends. My current office is not public facing so it's much easier for us to work from home. I suppose things like that will throw up the issue of fairness across the civil service in terms of blended working.
wow - we have always been clocking in. Just once a day since the sorted the tech but that was early last year.
well the public dont come into the office but they'd be ringing us up. But we deal with a lot of sensitive documentation that cant go online and cant leave the building which is why the majority of us cant work from home.
Only the very few people who have been able to do their work from home are complaining about being in the office, the rest of us dont mind as we didnt get to see what the grass was like on the other side anyway. Work has been as normal
Absolute madness by the Government to allow hyrid working in the Civil Service. I can't believe they'd be so short-sighted. It's going to cause chaos in terms of Industrial Relations down the line when those that have to go into the office each day demand additional allowances and so on.
It does seem a bit nuts. How long before someone injures themselves at home and puts a claim in?
What an odd thing to say!
We've been on the clock since March 2020
It won't be 'down the line'. If employees are expected to pay for heating and power costs, employers (public and private) need to be prepared to allocate a small part of the substantial savings they will make on office accommodation costs to pay for these utilities.
They aren't making savings though are they? They have office space and it costs the same to run it regardless of whether 20% of people are WFH or not.
They're not to keep the same level of office space when there is a formal scheme for WFH, they will be reducing it significantly. My current office is about 20% oversubscribed at present, as a result of recruitment and reallocations since Covid hit.
They may have a 10 year lease on the office though. It isn't as easy as you think.
I didn't say it would be easy, and I didn't say it would be quick - but it will happen. Large employers, like the public service, will have a wide range of lease agreements, some of which will be expiring imminently. As soon as a policy decision for remote working is made for the public service, OPW will start to wind down capacity. The full impact of this will take years to be seen, but benefits will start accruing reasonably quickly. For smaller employers, it may be a more bumpy road, with benefits arising in a small number of large transactions or changes - but benefits will absolutely arise for any employer that currently has large office spaces leased.
I would be amazed if there is any cost savings in the public sector when everything is taken into account. There will be increased hardware costs, claims from employees such as yourself that heating/electricity/broadband should be paid for, probably also additional payment for those who due to the nature of their work can't work from home etc etc.
Miesian Plaza spring's to mind.
Exactly, I think we will be disappointed if we expect the OPW to save us some money on office space.
A large employer in the west has said they are going to have office space available and you can come to office or wfh, but if you choose wfh it will be a defined agreement, it won't be a case you can just decide to come in whenever you want, but if you make the choice to wfh its your choice and you are responsible for all related expenses, I would assume many more would do the same.
This seems like a real bone of contention to you. I can only assume you were just as persistent in asking your own employer to cover the costs of your commute. You'll have expenses with the purchase of your bicycle, lock, maintence, chain oil, tyres, brakes, lights, batteries, clothing, bag, repairs, etc.
Do let us know how much your employer had reimbursed you for these costs.
What was their response when you asked?
Would imagine this would apply - if you voluntarily choose WFH, I don't see how you can complain about extra home expenses, as you could work from the office instead and avoid them. Can't have it both ways.
It's a different story if you are asked/required to WFH though imo.
AFAIK departments in Miesian have hired far beyond the capacity of Miesian since lockdown, so they're already saving money regardless of long term contracts
wow
Health was at capacity when they moved in and were still 150 under resourced
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