Fórsa has said it wants a fair and transparent approach to worker requests for blended work after Dublin City Council staff were told to return to the office full-time from next month. The union has insisted that the council follows the recently-agreed framework on blended work when it invites staff to apply from mid-June.

In a message to staff, council management said its move followed a review of its approach to remote work, which had generally meant three days onsite for most office-based employees. “All staff will return to office-based working on June 7,” it said.

Staff will have four-weeks to put in for blended work arrangements once applications open in mid-June.

The local authority sector has signed up to a similar framework to one agreed between Fórsa and civil service management in March.

Negotiated by Fórsa, the local government framework gives workers the right to apply for remote or blended working. It doesn’t guarantee blended work arrangements for all who apply, but workers will be able to have the decision reviewed if they are turned down, with a view to resolving the issues that led to the refusal to facilitate remote work.

The framework also places a responsibility on managers to ensure a “fair and effective” system with strong supports, staff development, communications, and effective performance management. And it says there can be no change to a worker’s pay and working conditions on the basis that they have blended working arrangements.

Dessie Robinson, who heads Fórsa’s Local Government Division, said he’d told council management that the union expects a rapid move to the new blended work arrangements agreed across the local government sector.

“We see blended working playing a big part in future work organisation in Dublin City Council and other local councils. The experience of remote working since the onset of the pandemic has demonstrated that many roles can be carried out remotely in ways that are productive, cost-effective and attractive to employers and their staff,” he said.

Many local authority staff have continued to attend workplaces throughout the pandemic, either full-time or on a blended basis already.