Council confirms permanent hybrid working policy for majority of staff
A Welsh council has confirmed it is to adopt a permanent hybrid working policy for the majority of its employees.
The move will now see most of Bridgend Council’s staff working from home or in a range of buildings during their working week, following the success of an interim policy that was put in place in October 2022.
The new policy was approved at a cabinet meeting held by the council last week, following a report which had highlighted how staff members had been largely positive about the plans – with 72% of those who were asked saying they were satisfied with them.
Officers said they had also been in talks with trade unions during the interim period, adding that the feedback they had received reflected that given in a staff survey earlier this year.
Flexibility
The report said the policy was in line with the authority’s commitment to “improving the work environment of employees by enabling greater flexibility in relation to remote working”, as well as with the Welsh Government’s goal of achieving as a minimum 30% of workforce being agile and working from home at any given point by 2024.
The report read: “The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 led to the council having to adapt and deliver many services virtually with employees often working remotely from their homes.
“Whilst not all services were impacted in this way, with some employees continuing throughout to work full time from service delivery locations, these experiences created an opportunity to review the council’s operating model with a view to ensuring that the council is fit for purpose moving forward.
“A hybrid working model offers a blended approach that can take account of the wide range of services delivered by the council. The application of hybrid working is dependent on the demands and needs of the role undertaken by the employee and the service within which the role is based. It also offers employees greater flexibility in their work practices, promoting a better work life balance.”
Support
Council leader Huw David welcomed the move and said: “I’m certainly in support and I’m pleased to see that we’ve got support from our trade union colleagues on this representing the work force.
“It’s now seen as an advantage to the organisation and a benefit for some people who want to work for the organisation. That’s important because we know we struggle to recruit in all sorts of departments and services now.”
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The council I work for is doing this too, only it’s got nothing to do with being “fit for purpose”, it’s because they (like most others) are potless because the council has been starved of funding by Westminster. The only way they can balance the books is to have staff working at home so they can sell off buildings & move out of expensively-rented town centre complexes, which is great if you don’t mind providing your own office (heated and equipped with broadband at your own expense, natch). This also assumes you even have room for an office in which… Read more »
….as for those kept in the office will the heat and light be turned on?
Nothing stopping you attending an office if that works better for you.
WFH also saves money on the costs of travelling to work. This balances out (fully or partly) the extra costs of working at home. This wasn’t mentioned by onedragonontheshirt.
Good. Nothing wrong with it. Forget the Rees Moggs of the world, let the workers decide. Work life balance is a lot better. Been there seen it got the t shirt.
Not so good if you are renting a room in a shared house, it might suit you but it maybe a nightmare cutting you off from colleagues and a change of scene.
No, really think it through and what I said. Where it suits. We delivered major projects via video calls, collaboration at distance. It works. Cutting off from colleagues is so Rees Mogg.