A new local authority blended working framework, which gives all council staff the right to apply for remote or blended work arrangements, has been welcomed by Fórsa.

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.

Fórsa is now urging every local authority to rapidly develop its own blended working policy, consistent with the new national framework. 

The head of the union’s Local Government Division, Dessie Robinson, said immediate discussion would begin at local level to ensure the introduction of the framework across the country’s local authorities.

“Some local authorities are returning 100% of staff to the workplace before implementing the new framework and it’s likely others will follow suit.

"This is why a rapid move to the new blended work arrangements must be agreed and implemented quickly across the local government sector,” he said.

The local authority framework is largely based on an earlier agreement between Fórsa and civil service management, which was concluded in March.

The union said support for blended working from council management will be critical to ensuring the success of this new way of working by championing and demonstrating a culture of flexibility, agility, trust and innovation in this new way of working.

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.

It says blended work arrangements must be functional and take account of operational needs, having regard to national and sectoral policy to ensure consistency. But it says no employee can have automatic access to a blended working arrangement on the basis that they have previously worked remotely.

Applications for blended working will soon be invited via the performance management development system, which will be utilised to assess the suitability of a role, function, task and applicant for blended working.

Fórsa has stressed that 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 this month. The union has insisted that the council follows this recently-agreed framework on blended work when it invites staff to apply from next week. 

Read the blended working framework and procedures for applications here.

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