Civil Service - Post Lockdown - Blended Working?

Maybe. I know people (not CS) who had flexi and remote working long before the lockdown.

They now have no flexi and are being told they have to come into the office. All the hard work to get where they were now wiped about because some drone has their head in the 1950s and wouldn't know how to measure productivity if they tried.

We've all seen the framework(s) for developing remote work policies and they seem reasonable. Has anyone seen an actual public sector policy yet? I have seen one for the local government sector. Haven't worked in local government myself but know some people in it.

The hybrid work policy is packed with "gotchas" which can be used to refuse hybrid work. One is a stipulation that the proposed remote work location must allow immediate attendance at the office if required. It's not clear if that applies to certain staff (e.g. those who have to respond to emergency situations in which case it is reasonable) or everyone (including back office and non emergency staff). Given the anti remote work tone of the document, it may well be the latter.

For everyone who wants certainty of days so they can plan (this is definitely me!), another staff member wans to chop and change every week based on: I am a bit tired after the night out / I am getting a delivery today / I was up late last night with the kids - these have all been used, which is tricky to manage. I think staff need to accept it can't be total freedom to come and go as you please and there needs to be some structure for everyone's benefit including planning and scheduling meetings etc and ensuring team members are in the office at the same time (and not different days) to facilitate team work.

it is demands, a sense of entitlement and divides like this that make is problematic to management.

A 4 day week will never happen in my career. And i have 24 years left to work.

If you are only going in 2 days a week that's your commuting cost cut by 3/5 that's a bigger discount then you ever got with commuter tickets.

The childcare and caring I don't understand. Since you can't do that and work at the same time.

The rest of it seems to be a problem with scheduling. You can't do any of that while you are working either.

I assume people will have fixed days in the office and that will only change if there's some scheduling conflict. Which should be rare unless a line manager or employee is taking the proverbial. If that happens then whomever is doing it is deliberately breaking the agreed days.

I suspect some people will have a problem with it because they don't plan things and do things on a ad hoc basis. No one can plan around that chaos.

Well you can't allow that level of chaos. Even if you have someone with genuine scheduling issues someone suck or a last minute change of plans in their other commitments there are other types of leave or local arrangements to facilitate that.

The childcare issue has already been explained on numerous occasions. Who do you think is minding children while people are commuting? WFH is a massive help for this - but if employers are going to order staff into the office with little or no notice on days they are supposed to WFH, WFH is pointless.

Nothing will work without a schedule. That's a given.

Wfh will help with shortening the childchare requirement. But it will be only be for 2 days.

You're actually saving on 3 days. Which is still better than pre lockdown.

Unless you are only comparing it with 5 days wfh which isn't an option.

If there's a possibility that your housemates might be able to see your screen or hear your calls, then your at home setup is not suitable for remote working (outside of emergency circumstances like a public health emergency).

Would you not challenge that, yourself?

A well-reasoned business case explaining why the process of sending files through the post isn't secure, risks data breaches much more than electronic systems, causes delays, is far less sustainable, etc., whereas an electronic system would be more secure, faster, efficient, sustainable, etc. Not to mention, would allow remote work, reducing risk if there's another lockdown, breakdown in business continuity, etc.

If the lockdown didn't make that business case for them nothing will.

Seriously?

Things you can do while validly WFH include dropping kids to school or creche, collecting them from same, calling to elderly parents or other relative you care for to heat a meal for them - all sorts of stuff like that which will fit in to the time immediately before or after the working day and just wasn't possible when you also had a commute; not to mention what you can do in the suburbs in an hour's lunch break.

So WFH is only for better off people who can dedicate a room to it, and not for those who share accomodation?

What if your kid's school or your elderly parents are nearer your office than your home? I know people who chose to put their kids in schools near work, so they were dropping kids off on their way to work. When Covid and WFH hit, they were left doing the work commute twice day while WFHing.