To ask if Civil Service are really enforcing the hybrid work policy to the letter?

[Lilifer]

I hope some CIvil Service employees can help me here. I about to leave a job for a position in the civil service. My current job is 90% remote and I love the work and my team but it's s big US corporation and the holiday and time off is quite restricted compared to the civil service which I think offers s better work life balance, flexitime more annual leave etc

The civil service Job ad says their policy is 2 days in office and 3 days work from home. Problem is I live 55 miles from office and nearby parking is £25-£30 a day and there's no civil service discount becasue there's so much demand for it that there's a waiting list. I did not know that when I accepted Job and now this adds £50-60 per week to my commute bill., as well as about £40 per week on fuel.

Are there any CS employees out there who can advise me how much flexibility there is in individual departments on the hybrid policy. Do they take in to account individual Circs such as how far away people live and the likely cost to them of parking etc or is it a rigid rule set for all regardless of circs?

Am quite worried about this and am thinking of now reversing my resignation in my current job. I really really wanted this cs job and if they can allow me to work a bit less in office then I don't mind a bit of extra expense but can't justify £200-£240 per month just for parking and the same amount again for fuel.

HMRC definitely do, and we don't know what dept the OP has been offered a job in.

Sorry what's ALB? Its in legal services (SOLS)

Oh god HMRC are a nightmare, we have some contingency workers from HMRC and they were needlessly forced in because of their own terms despite us not requiring it and it being a nuisance for us for various reasons, I felt sorry for them!

@LookingOldTheseDays Apologies, should have read ‘in my dept they currently don’t use that data to monitor attendance’. Which is really the point - it’s very variable and there’s no guarantees that it will stay the same.

The OP isn't talking retrospectively though, is she?

If she joins, and a week later they announce that office attendance is to be monitored and enforced from then on, there won't be anything she can do about it. The capability is there, some depts are already doing it, and the political pressure is in that direction, so it's not a far fetched idea.

@Lilifer No, nothing formal. I worked in another department that promoted hybrid working way before lockdown and if you hadn't been in for 3 months your security pass would disable but otherwise no. There was never enough parking/ desks for all employees anyway so often if I did go in it would be a farce trying to set up somewhere.

My team now predominantly work from a bigger main office now but I'm still officially based from a nearer office (10 mins from me) so if I have to travel my expenses are covered which is a big help.

We could apply for formal approval for our home address to be set as our base but for some reason a lot of those were turned down. My job was advertised as a pan- Wales post and no need to be within X miles of the office though so we're all spread out so you could have people living 5 hours from Cardiff for example so even if they were in the office it wouldn't really have any positive impact on the team if they're in Llandudno and someone else is in Cardiff/ Aberystwyth.

Agreed.

Having read all your posts now, it does sound like you’ve not really done the research around practicalities of doing this job. I’m afraid that’s on you - taking a job with a 100 mile commute into an expensive city was perhaps a bad idea in the first place.
However, if you’re by far the best candidate for this position, maybe your new boss will bend over backwards to keep you. One can only ask!

@Lilifer arm's length body, so if you're in a core department things tend to be more political and need to stick to the official rules more etc. ALBs, executive agencies, business units within departments tend to have a little more freedom as they're a bit removed from the core department. One ALB I was in was completely rogue, completely set their own agenda, but the BU I'm in now is closer to central government so the official lines are tighter (but practically still pretty flexible).

I would he delighted if I could do that.

To other poster who said why would I apply etc if I didn't think I could do it, can I just say that if I have to do it then obviously I will, and if I find it becomes to difficult or costly due to fuel and parking then I shall reassess. I know from anecdotal experience and from reading on here that there is a huge amount of variation in the enforcing or not of 2/3 days in office and I'm just asking on here to get more answers. My boss to be has said to me that privately she does not insist on it just for the sake of it as she doesn't see the value in making someone spend 3 hours in a car just to be in the office but that she can vary that requirement based on individual circs and that is why so far I have decided to try the job and see how I get on.

There must be/will be other options for parking. I think you haven't investigated fully as you're hoping that will provide a reason to not be in the office.

@LookingOldTheseDays indeed but you're talking like it is fact that they have freedom to use the data however they wish, it's not as simple as that and doesn't mean they would want to, and you still have to be informed, it still doesn't change the fact managers can still show a lot of discretion. Maybe your view is skewed by the strictness of HMRC, but without knowing where the OP is posted you don't know what environment she's going in, some are very, very different, the CS is large!

Also OP the more operational departments tend to be stricter; DWP and HMRC for example.

Speaking for my dept, they simply issued an announcement via the intranet stating that they would be monitoring attendance in future. Then they did so. It wasn't particularly difficult for them because office attendance is part of our agreed T&Cs.

So in what way do they not have the freedom to enforce it?

I don't mind, as I'm happy with the hybrid arrangements and I really enjoy the other flexible aspects of my job, but the OP has a big decision to make and needs to understand the practicalities.

My dh has to go in 3 days a week. It's a little flexible so if he has an appointment or something or there's a train strike he can go 2 instead but he always tries to go 3. He says it is monitored as their activity is tracked through their logins and passes.

My dept has a weekly all staff meeting with the Perm Sec.
The chat is always full of people arguing that rises is car parking charges/ train fares, costs of childcare etc are reasons to go back to more home working. They are not budging.
@Lilifer it's not just you that is looking at increased costs to get to work. I doubt your circumstances would be seen as exceptional enough.
My dept is also using the ID card data. Not at the level of a weekly or monthly report to your manager but if you don't attend in one of the offices over a particular period of time it is reported.

I don't work for the CS but I do work in a hybrid role with a commute of 25 miles on my 3 days in the office. My commute is easily 3 hours per day on the round trip, such is the congestion that starts at 7am and doesn't ease off until after 9am. It's absolutely exhausting. Some days I just get home, make something quick to eat, then go straight to bed. Honestly, it's so shit.

Wait, is this the SOLS dept within HMRC?

If so - I can tell you that HMRC are enforcing the office time.

If you work in a team

I would bear in mind, that if you only come into the office very rarely, that there may be some animosity from the regular office employees.

It is not their fault that you live so far away

You answer should be "It was agreed with my manager"

I work in a team, where some people continuously took the XXXX when they "worked at home". The result, is that there is no longer any home working

OP do you live in an area with other offices/departments? This could be a good foot in the door, see what you can manage in the meantime, but then transfer to a more flexible department if that is an option.

Fair enough - but did you know that before you applied?

There are some government departments that do advertise 100% home working jobs, maybe withdraw from this one and apply for one of those instead.

I have a couple of friends working for HMRC and their office attendance is very strictly monitored but I’ve heard it varies a lot across departments.

So so true!

HMRC, DBT (formally DIT), and looking at you DFE... have always had a bit of a reputation on WFH. I could barely wfh 1 day a week precovid at HMRC when in my 3rd trimester. HMRC is now back to strictly enforcing their guidelines on flexi-work. Thankfully have moved on and my current core department has actually given up on the weekly monitoring email, and seems to have quietly given up trying to force us all back.

The OP has said the job is in SOLS, which to my knowledge is a dept within HMRC (but there could also be SOLS depts elsewhere?). I work closely with some SOLS people, and they seem to be really interesting roles - but office time will be expected. Flexitime will be available up to grade 6, which is a massive perk.

If it is SOLS within HMRC, you'll also spend time at tribunals etc, so there will be a reasonable amount of travel expected. It's not excessive though.