Working from abroad - public sector?

[pinkmink]

Thinking about long term career prospects, I’d like to find a job that allows me to work remotely from anywhere in the world for at least a couple of months a year. I also quite like the idea of working for the public sector? Does anyone know if public sector employees are ever allowed to do this?

The Civil Service generally doesn't allow this, in my experience. The main reason is IT security, though depending on the job and the country you have in mind, this may not be insurmountable. Not sure on other parts of the pubic sector.

It will depend on the organisation's policy. I'm CS and for security reasons my department doesn't allow WFH abroad, you have to get permission and specific devices to do business abroad (and only on official business).

My previous employer (another department) did allow an employee to work abroad during Covid, I don't think there was anything in policy disallow.

But one thing to be mindful as well as security is the time difference.

@TheFoldOx

The Civil Service generally doesn't allow this, in my experience. The main reason is IT security, though depending on the job and the country you have in mind, this may not be insurmountable. Not sure on other parts of the pubic sector.

This is what I was going to say. I’m not allowed to do this. (Public sector)

Not public sector but our company has a policy about this. Basically you’re not allowed to - I believe there can be tax implications.

I’m private sector and work for an international company from home. We are not allowed to work from abroad whatsoever. It has complicated tax repercussions for the company.

Unlikely to be permitted - security clearances, tax issues relating to employment outside the UK etc.

I'm in finance and my sector don't want people WFH abroad because of tax implications. Tech sector might be OK for this if you could find progressive company that prioritises talent (then actually be talented).

I work in the public sector and this isn’t allowed for us. I believe it’s due to tax implications and data security stuff.

I'm public sector and it's only allowed in very specific and compassionate circumstances. There are tax implications as well as security issues. I do t think you'll find a public sector department that allows it as a matter of course.

Public sector and I know my organisation won't allow this and someone was in a lot of trouble when it turned out they were working from abroad.

My cousin does this though (although she is a US citizen). She runs her own business and is able to work from wherever in the world she chooses to be. And I think her staff can do the same

FWIW as well as tax and other implications at the UK end there can also be tax/visa implications in the country you choose to work from, even if you only do so for a few weeks.

I'm civil service. Also specifically told we cannot be abroad when wfh.

I'm in the the Third Sector.

Remote working is culturally now very acceptable. I've done online meetings with people in Spain, the US and South Africa in the last few weeks. All in jobs that pre-Covid would have been uk based.

A third of my colleagues (including me) now permanently wfh.

My husband has a colleague who relocated to the Maldives.

Personally I hope in about 10 years to move to working from somewhere like the Canaries for a number of months a year.

Become an MP? Works for Geoffrey Cox.

Of course, you'd have to lose all your morals along the way.

Generally it's not allowed due to potential visa issues. If you were a citizen of that country there still could be taxation issues. Small companies are more likely to turn a blind eye

Digital nomad visas may become more popular over time and will help with the legal side of things for this.

I do think that now WFH is the norm, it won't be too long till we all have random colleagues who work overseas too.

Local government won’t let you, union isssues around inconsistent treatment of staff who need to be on site for work

We're not allowed to, again because of the potential tax implications. My understanding is that the problem is that in many countries it could make your employer liable for employers taxes in that country, such as their equivalent of employers national insurance.

Ds is CS and until Covid had to live within 10 miles of his office city. He was here last Christmas and fortunately had his work laptop here when lockdown occured. (Didn't want to leave it in empty property) Still had to get the OK to work from here. We are 150 miles away from his office.

I'm in the public sector, sort of local government but not, kind of an English devolved authority. Anyway, absolutely no working abroad (I had team members who asked and I had to go through it with HR). The main reason is for tax and employment law purposes. We've not even discussed the logistical aspects of it, but I know that staff who work in say IT where the jobs could be done remotely from anywhere have been told a hard no. There's no point even discussing the logistical aspects because of the tax and other legal implications.

Only if you're high enough up the CS food chain
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8638629/Anger-data-watchdog-Elizabeth-Denham-spends-three-months-working-home-CANADA.html
I used to work for an international company that accommodated wfh from overseas (EU) if they had an office in that country but not sure that would fly post Brexit.

Wasn’t there a senior civil servant /minister who was recently rumbled for working fir months from Bermuda or somewhere like that?

My public sector job requires me to be within an hour of a a particular location, but others may not be so reactive. A “bought in” private sector colleague went to Canada last Christmas and stayed for the duration of the Jan-March lockdown. It was a absolute PITA organising Teams meetings with her.