Anyone worked in Whitehall?

[Carbonmade]

Hi all - just wondering if anyone has worked for one of the big central government departments in London? I have a second interview for a position which is looking fairly promising but just wondering what the culture is like in terms of things like working hours, flexibility etc?

Yes. Still do (though not at the moment obvs). Some things wIill depend on the department and the role but the majority offer flexible working.annual leave entitlements are good. Working hours can be long. It's easy to build up the flexi time.

Thanks zwellers - do people actually take the flexi time they build up as a general rule? Are you able to wfh regularly under normal circumstances?

Hopeful bump

I worked for the Cabinet Office in two occasions. It was hugely flexible. On the second occasions I predominantly worked from home (4 days per week) and had a term time only contract. That was helped by them contacting me asking me to come back though!

The culture was very much that you should use your flexi time and not just build it up,

Good luck

Me! My Dept is very flexible, more so in London than the regional hubs. I work from home regularly (3 times a week pre-Lockdown) and spend 2 other days in London or at one of the regional offices in Yorkshire.

If you are G7 or above you can forget taking flexitime. It's always been an unwritten rule in the Dept's I've worked in that G7 manage their own time but don't take flexi leave (it balances out though as you can start late/finish early if work is quieter. My dept were good at converting flexii to pay (exp for SEO grades and lower, but with a decent business case would do the same for G7's and above if they'd been working on something exceptionally demanding)

Really does depend on your Dept and your Director to a large degree.

Thanks both- the role is g6 which I think is above g7 (all very new to me so I may have that the wrong way around!) so I guess unlikely to actually be able to take flexitime. Sounds positive re home working etc though, that’s something I’m really keen to negotiate. How easy is it to move around within the civil service once you’re in? Are you limited to roles very similar to your own or is there opportunity to move into something pretty different if you want to?

Yes, G6 is grade above G7. Moving jobs is much like anywhere, sometimes you'll be offered something in a temp basis by someone as they know y and that you can deliver....you are then in the prime position if and when the job is opened up.

Cross Dept working is something my Dept are keen on so there will be opportunities to work across Gov't.

Good luck