Civil Service - Post Lockdown - Blended Working?

Is handing in notice not a little drastic as a first step? Would it not be an idea to either get the union involved, or all just contact HR and look for a transfer? CC'ing this guy's manager and outlining why you're all looking to move? Very hard to justify his position, given the circumstances, and more senior management might well tell him to cop on to himself.

Some managers are just petty. I have 6 staff working to me. We look out for eachother and ensure that we all get to WFH when we want. I have made in more than clear that as long as the work is getting done and they go to site when needs be that they can work where they want on the other days.

Circular on Haddington Road hours reversal issued: https://www.gov.ie/en/circular/46f72-circular-142022-revision-of-working-hours-in-the-civil-service/

In a nutshell: we're going to a 7-hour day.

Not, for some reason, the actual pre-HRA hours of 6:57. I imagine Fórsa will send a strongly worded email, and the land-grabbing PO or AP who decided this will get a promotion for "saving" all of those 15-minute chunks.

The core hours are weird and they retain the "we finish 15 minutes early on a Friday so ye can all rush to the train station to get a seat" and bizarre 1 hour 15 minute lunchbreak. And 9:12?!

This was interesting, though:

👍️

Partnership Committee, now there's a thing I haven't heard in 15 years or so.

Seriously, they still exist?

Totally unfair and displays an amazing lack of cop on tbh. Anybody who would implement such a thing should not be managing people.

As above.

LOL!

Zero consultation and zip from the union branch too.

👍️👍️

Gobshite. Should be stuck in a white walled room on his own and told to read reports for the rest of his days.

I brought home my fancy back chair, when we returned to the office regularly they eventually got me a second one for in the office. It's in their interest as the first chair saved them a fortune in sick leave. No desk provided and I haven't heard of anyone getting one in our Dept.

Hear hear 👍️👍️👍️ this is where all the airy-fairy management-speak BS hits reality, and so far it's not looking too pretty

👍️ and as for the union I couldn't even tell you who my Forsa rep is any more. The merger has, as predicted, been a complete disaster for everyone apart from the officials

Do you mean for under current arrangements; or what's been proposed for published policies? I can pull this out all right but I'll have to do it mostly manually, I think, so it'll be this evening.

We all want to see where we are going to look for a move to😀!

Oh, we plan to appeal as soon as we're offered the one day WFH. I spoke to our AP about the appeals process yesterday and he explained that we have to appeal to him and then ultimately the PO if that fails.

To be honest, I've already mentally prepared myself to leave. Submitted 2 job applications today already ( both offering hybrid/WFH options). I simply don't want to work under anyone who mistrusts and undervalues his staff to such a degree. His loss.

Wait, when you said the manager do you mean the HEO?

I wouldn't be paying any attention to what a HEO says

I should caveat this (and in fact all the results!) by saying I'm assuming good faith on all the responses, that nobody was messing, that nobody submitted multiple forms, etc., and that nobody should base career choices off an anonymous survey published on boards!

So, for Departments that have already published a Blended Working Policy:

• D/Enterprise will allow 2 days WFH, from next year. This is worse than at present, where currently staff have 3 days WFH. (Based on 1 response)
• D/Foreign Affairs will allow 2 days WFH, from Q3. This is worse than at present, where currently staff have 3 days WFH. (Based on 1 response)
• D/Justice will allow 1, 2, or 3 days WFH (1 response) or 2 days WFH (1 response), from Q3. This is worse than at present, where currently staff have 3 days WFH.
• D/Social Protection will allow... well, confusion. 6 responses, 4 different answers :-) So it'll either be 1 day WFH as the only option (unlikely, I feel - this was 1 person), 4 days WFH as the only option (2 people), choice of 1 to 4 days WFH (2 people), or choice of 1 to 5 days WFH (1 person). A majority saying this be introduced in Q3. The current situation is varied - ranging from WFH fulltime to "everyone is back in the office fulltime" - so presumably a public office. (Also, note another 8 people working in D/SP are under the impression that the Department has not published a blended working policy...)
• Revenue Commissioners will allow 3 days WFH (1 response) or a choice of 1 to 4 days WFH (1 response), from Q4. This is worse than the current situation, where currently (most?) staff are WFH fulltime.

Meanwhile, the current situation for Departments is as follows (note I excluded the "Organisation with more than/less than 500 staff" and the local authorities, cos it's a gorgeous evening...):

• 3 days WFH, 2 in the office: CSO, Departments of Children, Defence, Education, Enterprise, Environment, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Further & Higher Ed, Health, Housing, Justice, Rural & Community Dev, Tourism
• 2 days WFH, 3 in the office: DPER (though 1 of the 5 respondents has more WFH days), Departments of Agriculture, Transport

Other:

• D/Social Protection, as already noted, currently has a variety of work patterns. 14 respondents in total, one person says "everyone is back fulltime", but everyone else is WFH from 3, 4, or 5 days.
• Revenue, as above, most people WFH fulltime with just one person back in the office fulltime, as a local manager won't allow WFH.