Civil Service?

[Snaggysnoo]

Has anybody who works for the civil service heard when they’re going back? My friend is on maternity leave, due back to work in a month and wondering if she’ll need to be back in office full time.

I work for local government.

There are currently no plans to return to office and expect if/when we do it will be minimal in order to reduce office space required and save money

So do I - we are definitely going back (thank fuck) probably at least 2/3 days a week.

If they want me in the office 2 or more days a week, I might be able to do 2 days a week if the salary is right but I assume I wouldn't get London weighting if only going into the office 2 days a week, it's a technical role so I might be able to request a slight bump in salary. I applied as it said national on the location, but when I actually contacted them they said it was Whitehall with "sensible flexible arrangements possible" I interpreted that as not being as flexible as I'd like 😂 but I won't know if I don't try, and it's my first interview for the next grade up so will chalk up as experience either way...

Aargh thread missing posts again

Oh I see. Definitely negotiate salary but it won't be easy from a lower grade, I get that. Good luck anyway!

My DH is in the Civil Service (Home Office) and he has been doing 3 days in the office and 2 days working from home the last couple of week

Our offices are reopening to the public from the 12th so most staff will be back in the office with a little WFH possibly.

Our offices are reopening to the public from the 12th so most staff will be back in the office with a little WFH possibly.

@StealthPolarBear thank you, I've applied for 3 more that are much more easily commutable so fingers crossed I will get something workable but we'll see.

@wigeon I don't want to be too specific in case it's outing, but i'm classed as a key worker and some of my role can't be done from home so we're in on a rota for 2 days a week to maintain skeleton staffing on that part of our role - apart from a short time at the start of lockdown #1 when everything shut down.

The extra couple of days they gave us notice they would want us in can easily be done from home so everyone was a bit even before the Jan lockdown was announced.

Throughout its been "we'll give you 2 weeks notice of any changes", which doesn't feel like much...

I'm civil service. We've been told not until after all restrictions are lifted on 21 June.

Even then it's going to be once a week as we don't have enough desks and are not allowed to share them like we had to.

I think it's dependent on the dept and location. Civil service is huge and some parts have still been in due to the type of work.

She can use a Kit day and have a catch up on policies etc

We are being told most back in from 12th April. Still no firm plans in place though.

The difference is that at some point the pm will actively encourage people back to the office (we saw that on the briefing tonight) and at that point the pressure will be on civil servants to fall in line

The PM can encourage what he wants - he doesn't tell local government what to do, which was the point of the post you responded to. Councils are shedding staff and real estate at an alarming rate, and there are, for many, literally no offices to go back to.

Before the pandemic we already had compulsory working from home days, whether you liked it or not, because thanks to austerity we had sold off our offices and only had office space for 75% of the people who needed it. We have lost over 500 jobs in the last five months, and yet we are being told that there will literally be no office space for the majority to go back to because they are selling anything that isn't nailed down. And despite the fact that some people seem to think working from home is wonderful, it isn't for everyone, and I know of staff who are already looking for new jobs because they cannot bear the thought of having no office to work in. Not everyone can, or wants to, turn their home into an office.

@minou123

iamme21 LittleG69 Our new pay deal gave us the option to WFH 2 days a week (for most people). We’ve been good everyone will have a 1-2-1 with their manager before returning and will be given at least 4 weeks notice

Given that we used to work on a 6 desks for 10 people basis pre Covid, it’ll be interesting to see how it works

You are obviously the same department as me!

Me too! I recognise this. Shall we gave a secret signal?

I think PM is encouraging Whitehall staff back in, but for the rest of the civil service its anyone's guess.
My guess is for the large regional offices, it will be a while. In my location there are 6,000 people, so it'll be a nightmare for social distancing etc. That'll give you a clue where I work

And me! Although I’m sure we were told last week we would be minimum 3 days per week wfh which suits me. Given the lack of space before Covid with local offices moving to our buildings I can’t quite see how it will work!

Central Gov here. (Whitehall)

We have had the option to change to a WFH contract with only a requirement to attend the office for essential meetings that can't be held remotely and a 3 monthly face to face.

I am not going to be back there now I'm contractually allowed never to have to commute again. So the PM can 'encourage' attendance all he likes. It's been proved that all that unnecessary travel did nothing to improve the job, the output of the quality of life.. so we are not going back to it .

Moondust001, yes that was the difference I referred to, the difference between civil service and local government.