FOI Request - Employees Working From Home
Request 101002939752
I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information in MS Excel/spreadsheet format:
• The number of employees in your organisation and, of these, the number able to perform their work remotely (i.e., not those who are front-line workers) and the number who have started returning to in person work.:
Number of employees Of which are able to work from home Of which have returned to the office on a regular basis
1000 500 150
The following questions refer to the members of the workforce who are able to work remotely. Please provide in spreadsheet or text format as appropriate:
• Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, what has your organisational policy to employees working from home vs coming into work in person?
o Please explain this in terms of change to previous policy and how this has changed over the course of the pandemic. For example: “Prior to the pandemic, most staff were expected to work in person (except for managers who were able to work from home 2 days a week). When the pandemic started, all staff were sent to work from home, until August when some staff began to return to the office”.
o Did your organisation have enough of the basic equipment needed for transitioning to remote working during the pandemic? If not – how long did it take to provide everyone with the basic equipment (laptops) they required and implement remote-working?
o Did you provide further equipment at any point e.g. laptop stands, chairs, desks etc? If so what did you provide and was this based on a specified value (if so, how much was spent per remote worker)?
• Has your organisation created a policy for reversing the option for working from home and/or creating new hybrid working patterns, or returning fully to ‘pre-pandemic’ practices?
o If yes, please provide details of your policy including how many days a week you will be aiming to have employees working in person and by what specific date or date range you are aiming to achieve this.
o Has this changed or been delayed considering the government briefing on 29th November regarding the new Omicron Covid variant and updated advice?
o Did you consult your employees about their attitudes to returning to in person work? If so, please provide details of their responses (e.g. did you create a survey; if so, how many people responded and what % were in favour or against returning to the office?)
• Have you implemented any changes to pay for those working from home and if so, please describe the average change in pay rates and who it applies to.
o Were these changes implemented immediately or are you, for example, keeping current staff on the same pay but starting new remote employees on a lower rate?
o On what rational have you made changes to pay?
Response 12-01-22
• The number of employees in your organisation and, of these, the number able to perform their work remotely (i.e., not those who are front-line workers) and the number who have started returning to in person work.:
Staff total as at 31/12/2021 = 5,174
the number able to perform their work remotely = approximately 1500
The following questions refer to the members of the workforce who are able to work remotely. Please provide in spreadsheet or text format as appropriate:
• Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, what has your organisational policy to employees working from home vs coming into work in person?
• Please explain this in terms of change to previous policy and how this has changed over the course of the pandemic. For example: "Prior to the pandemic, most staff were expected to work in person (except for managers who were able to work from home 2 days a week). When the pandemic started, all staff were sent to work from home, until August when some staff began to return to the office".
Previously while flexible working was an agreed policy, there were only small numbers who worked substantively from home. The main change therefore was asking people to work remotely where at all possible with only staff who could only do their job at work due to the systems or infrastructure attending the office.
o Did your organisation have enough of the basic equipment needed for transitioning to remote working during the pandemic?
No
If not – how long did it take to provide everyone with the basic equipment (laptops) they required and implement remote-working?
Majority of office based staff moving to remote working were fully equipped by the end of the summer period. There is residual work ongoing with regard to replacing PCs being used for homeworking to laptops, but this is being impacted by supply constraints.
• Did you provide further equipment at any point e.g. laptop stands, chairs, desks etc? If so what did you provide and was this based on a specified value (if so, how much was spent per remote worker)?
Staff were able to take their office chairs, monitors etc home if required.
• Has your organisation created a policy for reversing the option for working from home and/or creating new hybrid working patterns, or returning fully to 'pre-pandemic' practices?
Review of flexible working policy is underway with inclusion of hybrid working included.
• If yes, please provide details of your policy including how many days a week you will be aiming to have employees working in person and by what specific date or date range you are aiming to achieve this.
2 Days at work 3 days at home as standard with agreed variations where required.
• Has this changed or been delayed considering the government briefing on 29th November regarding the new Omicron Covid variant and updated advice?
Policy will be flexible enough to allow the Council to follow Government Guidelines at any given time.
o Did you consult your employees about their attitudes to returning to in person work? If so, please provide details of their responses (e.g. did you create a survey; if so, how many people responded and what % were in favour or against returning to the office?)
Consultation was undertaken through the normal consultation framework as part of the collective bargaining machinery and through a section in the mental health survey in September 2021.
• Have you implemented any changes to pay for those working from home and if so, please describe the average change in pay rates and who it applies to.
No.
• Were these changes implemented immediately or are you, for example, keeping current staff on the same pay but starting new remote employees on a lower rate?
N/a.
• On what rational have you made changes to pay?
n/a