WFH for Civil Service

[Asvan]

Hi,

I've recently been offered a job as an EO which will be purely home based. It is working for the Home Office.

I know the CS is a very flexible employer but what are they like when it comes to monitoring employees who are WFH? Do they set strict targets and put pressure on employees to achieve them? Also will I have the flexibility to drop and pick my kids up etc?

Thanks.

@Asvan

Hi,

I've recently been offered a job as an EO which will be purely home based. It is working for the Home Office.

I know the CS is a very flexible employer but what are they like when it comes to monitoring employees who are WFH? Do they set strict targets and put pressure on employees to achieve them? Also will I have the flexibility to drop and pick my kids up etc?

Thanks.

I work for the civil service and the current steer is that we will all be back in the office full time unless medical issues prevent it. Read your contact very carefully as it may say you will be expected to be in the office at some point or they can change your work location.

You can be flexible with hours. I work 25 hours around both my kids school times.

It was advertised as a wfh home with requirement to go in once a week.

Which department do you work for? And do you work term time only?

Are they strict with targets etc?

I’m CS and the flexibility is unlike anywhere else I’ve ever worked. I do the school run at both ends of the day which is great. Just be clear to set the boundaries early on.

And absolutely no monitoring for me. I think so long as you’re doing your work that’ll be the case.

Totally dependant on department, and to some extent your manager.
DH could probably go to the office once a quarter - but he covers a vast area of the country for his CS role, and could be 200 miles from home on any given day.

That makes me feel better.

Last year I was wfh as a call centre agent and the company was so strict. They monitored what time we logged on and off and also toilet breaks etc. Targets were also set high and we were pulled up if they weren't achieved. I found it sould destroying.

I wfh on a proper wfh contract since before COVID and travelling to our offices approx 1-2 days a month (no office travel since pandemic at all, haven’t seen collesgues in 21 months).

I have deliverables, and check ins with my team and the wider unit once a week, we record our progress using Planner and other digital tools. I would say its a light touch in my department - not Home Office - and there is only more monitoring when there are performance issues.

They kind of take the view of, as long as its done and done properly, they don’t manage your time. The expectation is I would keep in touch if I think timelines are off track or there are issues I need support with. No sneaky spyware time things at all ;)

Oh, also loads of flexibility for school runs etc here (although they would not approve of you having your young children home all day as the only carer as a rule) - we are high ranking in the family benefits type ratings though.

And I’m HEO - if it matters, but had same type of working as an EO.

In my CS Dept there is a lot of trust, normal checks and balances and objectives targets set to guide and motivate. A lot about CS is being a self-starter and evidencing progress proactively. If you play by the rules you get to benefit from wfh flexibility and can go far. We also use an electronic flexi system to log our hours. Put in falsified hours and it's classed as gross misconduct like fiddling expenses. People just don't do it.

Wfh does vary between gov departments- we have been given the reverse message to upthread, we are being given to continue working flexibly ie office and/or home to meet business need. I'm back at work 2 days a week and it's all very covid safe.

I work for the Home Office. Generally most people (who aren’t on annualised hours/shifts, most common in Immigration Enforcement and Border Force) work flexitime. This means that you can make up your hours as you (and partly your manager) see fit. There are core hours of 10-3 when you are supposed to be available, obviously you are allowed a lunch break but other than that it is really flexible and so long as you work the right amount of hours in the end, it is all good.
You’ll have targets or goals to meet, but nobody is sitting there checking exactly when you are logged on or off.

Back at work in the office 2d and homeworking 3d

Every CS department is landing on different requirements for “new normal” at the moment. I am in a corporate “back office” role in an operational dept and the ops frontline staff are being told to get back into the office 5 days whereas us in the back office roles are on a 1 day office. It depends on your role not just the department’s policies.

The CS is not all the same - each gov dept is a separate employer even though you get continuation of service if you move between depts. so when you ask here and lots of CS reply it’s not necessarily going to apply to your particular role/team/dept.

And yes they can check up on you, but it won’t be like you’ve described in the call centre (unless you are in one of the govt call centres) - if I want to check someone’s IT activity I have to fill in a million forms and have a bloody good reason and have it signed off by half the world)

Thanks all I feel very reassured. After my experience with the call centre I was a bit put off about wfh but I'm glad things are different in the CS. There is nothing more soul destroying then having to log every 5 min break or toilet breaks on the system.