Civil Service : relocation

[Usernamechanged24]

I am returning to work after a long absence. My post no longer exists and I have been offered a new one in a different location (the North). I live and work in London . I am single with no children but I do have my own flat. They want me to start in February. Initially for 6-8 weeks to work from home with the intention that in the ‘longer term’ (not defined) that the north would be my location hub.

I am originally from the north and am not against moving but I have been living in London for over twenty years (continuously working for my employer: the civil service). I can’t up and move my life in weeks. They have made no mention of detailed timeframes, salary (would I retain my existing salary), transport or accommodation allowances . I am slightly terrified (I suffer with depression and anxiety so not sure if I am unreasonable to be concerned). I don’t want to accept the post and then in a few weeks be left high and dry ? Selling my home could take ages and will cost a lot : I can’t afford to pay for two places at the same time.

Unfortunately HR have said that I can’t have IT access until I am back in work (or the earliest a week before I start) so I can’t look up policies to see what may be possible. They claim no one is allowed IT access if they are away for over a month which I’m not sure is right but difficult to argue against. I have approached my union for advice but no response.

I wondered if anyone else had been in a similar position, whether I am being unreasonably worried and/or if it anyone had any thoughts on what I should ask about prior to accepting? Apologies for asking am just feeling very alone / worried about it all and conscious that with all the stress may not be thinking straight. Thank you.

Nearly a year : I was signed off whilst the investigation was underway.

If you are to request home working I would suggest that you offer to do a 6 month trial to see how it works (for you and the business). It might not be ideal for you given the isolation but it might give you the breathing space to look at your options more broadly.

OP if your illness was classed as a disability then they need to make reasonable adjustments. Requiring relocation within weeks is not reasonable!
The union is your best bet for support hut this all sounds pretty fishy and I think you'd be within your rights to say this role is not suitable alternative employment but just be aware the alternative may be redundancy.

I thought you owned your flat in London but see that it is rented. If you don't want to relocate up north I'm sure you could find another CS role in London. HR cannot just ship you off up north. Advise them you will not be relocating and as your job is no longer available you will be applying for internal roles in London.

She does own it; she talks in the OP about how selling it would take ages. The reference to the lease not allowing her to sub-let will be because it is a leasehold flat in a building with an overall freehold owned by a freeholder who imposes terms on those who buy the leasehold properties.

talking to a friend is good, but your director friend might have limited insight of your department’s HR so following up with someone with insider knowledge like the union is a good plan. Are you SCS?

the work being carried out by someone else
in your absence is fine, but you still need to have the same job to return to. Even if the original project has moved on and some changes have been made to teams etc in a year, your baseline role should still be free.

Your manager being based in a different office is fine, it doesn’t mean you need to move offices. I am a remote line manager. Some of my staff are in wales and Scotland, im in England. No one is expected to relocate.

What is also odd is your job being permanently filled. It feels most of the time that about 1/3 to 1/2 of the civil service are on TP or redeployment. I had 3 TPs before returning to my substantive role. And very few permanent roles are being advertised but everyone is shuffling around to cover: long term sick leave, maternity and others redeployment.
If you moved out of London you would lose London weighting but that is not much nowadays. They also should contribute to moving costs.
But with your medical history this is not something they should push.

Apply to work from home full time as a reasonable adjustment but offer to travel to alternative office once a quarter for face to face performance review if required