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WFH civil service.. why wait for someone to get it??

63 replies

Nononoandno · 08/03/2020 14:44

I work in the civil service and we all have working from home capabilities...but the stance seems to be (not just in civil service but offices in general) wait till someone gets it then tell everyone to WFH!! The chances are by that time it will have already spread to other members of the team/office and be actually sick and not able to work....my pint is of all those people in jobs where you can wfh in the uk, why don’t companies just say to start now!!! It seems obvious to me rather that wait to catch it/spread if around ???

OP posts:
HavelockVetinari · 08/03/2020 19:46

I think it depends. If you can still do your job effectively from home and wont use it as an excuse to skive off then yes, WFH. Unfortunately I get really miserable if I can't go into the office, and I need to anyway for visibility/relationships.

However, I do sympathise with those line managers who have lazy staff who use any excuse not to work - they'll be having a field day.

Nononoandno · 08/03/2020 19:52

Gallusalice
Well said 👍

OP posts:
GhostofFrankGrimes · 08/03/2020 20:01

If people "should" wfh then surely they shouldn't be going out at all? Except those of course that have no choice but to get on with it.

daisychain01 · 08/03/2020 20:03

What I'm learning from these threads is that those economically better off are able to better protect themselves. Home working favours those higher up the pay grades.

Don't believe everything you read on any threads as being wholly accurate or complete. It gives a partial picture only, based on who's posting.

I can't speak for every branch of CS, but mine is one of the largest departments in Government, It is simply not true that only higher grades get to work from home. Anyone, from E grades (administrators) upwards have the option to have a laptop and many EAs habitually wfh already, even before Covid19.

I'm a higher grade and I often go into the office more than some of the lower grades! My choice - often because of management responsibilities or f2f meetings, but CS tries to treat employees equally.

Gone are the days when admins had to be in the office because they had fixed desktop PCs, they can have a laptop. With Skype on laptops, people can continue with meetings as if they were in the office, and there is meeting etiquette to ensure people dialling in on Skype are not excluded from discussion.

If anyone has any medical risk eg respiratory or autoimmune compromise, or a Reasonable Adjustment, they can elect to wfh with immediate effect. It's based on trust, and 99.99% of CS people are totally trustworthy and work effectively from home. Remote working guidelines have been in place for 2+ years, and recently updated for Covid19 circumstances. There is a Pandemic (generic) business continuity plan in place, and we get daily updates from Government on any changes in response to the UK CV situation.

daisychain01 · 08/03/2020 20:05

many EAs habitually wfh already - not every day, but they are empowered, as we all are, to choose which days they want to wfh.

GallusAlice79 · 08/03/2020 20:10

I intend to limit the amount of time I go out for the foreseeable future, because I can, without it having a massive impact.

Most people spend the majority of time outside their house at work. So telling those who can WFH easily enough to do so, it is limiting the amount of people out and about, getting/spreading it.

Will some people take the piss? Yes - although it's fairly easy to check how productive people are, even at home.

Are some people unable to stay in/WFH? Yes, and that is shit for them. Plenty of my friends and family are in this situation.

Are some people going to be hit economically if they do stay in? Yes, and that is shit for them. Plenty of my friends and family are in this situation.

However, if the people that can stay in do, it might have a positive impact on the spread of COVID. It also may not, but in my opinion it's better than doing nothing.

Mimi85 · 08/03/2020 20:12

I have thought a lot about both sides of this argument: if people with the capacity to WFH should in order to benefit those who can't or whether it's unfair.
I'm highly anxious about corona & I really wish I could WFH just to avoid public transport... And no I wouldn't then go to crowded places when i socialize. I try to self isolate as much as possible apart from going to work.... My weekends I walk in local parks...

MeadowHay · 08/03/2020 20:41

Home working certainly isn't just for people on higher pay grades! I only earn just about a living wage for my hourly pay and work PT. I'm one of the most junior members of staff in my organisation and on a very low wage propped up by tax credits. Certainly not talking from a position of much privilege.

VanGoghsDog · 08/03/2020 22:50

We can theoretically work from home but none of the IT systems have ever been tested to that extent. It's highly likely that the whole system would fall over if suddenly everyone was using VPN.

I'm a day rate contractor and while my job can be done from home, and is occasionally, the last thing I want is to be told to work from home and then find it's not possible and not be able to earn anything for days on end

LizB62A · 09/03/2020 00:02

I WFH most of the time and have been limiting my exposure to other people.
Apart from going to the office once last week, I've left the house twice in the last 10 days.
Anyone suffering from anxiety will be having a very hard time commuting to and from work at the moment so, on balance, I think if people can work from home and they are happy to, then they should be encouraged to do that.

Stripeyshirts2450 · 09/03/2020 08:58

Can this be raised? A lot of private companies are being far more proactive. They don't want to lose money with staff off sick.

I suppose govt don't want to cause panic.

bellinisurge · 09/03/2020 09:01

We've just had a message to make sure we take homeworking laptops home every night and to check our info outlet stuff every morning in case we are all order to stay home. Pity they haven't made sure our zero hours contract cleaners are still going to be paid. Grrrr.

TheMostHappy · 10/03/2020 16:01

I'm in a large government department and we work from home fairly frequently on an informal basis, and we've been asked today by the powers that be to ensure that we have everything we need from an IT perspective should we need to work from home.

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