Dear members,
 
On Thursday evening 30th January, I wrote to all Fórsa members working in the Department of Social Protection (DSP) and the Department of Finance, instructing members to continue to work the patterns they have worked up to now. This is in response to a directive to reduce remote working days from next week. 
 
By now you may have heard coverage of this in the media. I am writing to you now to underline that while this instruction applies to members in these two Departments, we are taking this stand to protect hybrid working across the civil service.

Reviews of hybrid working arrangements must be based on analytics which take account of the benefit to the workplace, the worker, and the wider socio-economic benefits.
 
We cannot let old ways of thinking endanger new ways of working. We must take this strong stand because a roll back on hybrid working arrangements for some would create a precedent that could impact all civil servants.
 
This is a serious and avoidable dispute that concerns the unilateral alteration of the Blended Working Policy 2022 to the disadvantage of workers, without discussion, analytics or prior consultation. It is also in clear breach of the Public Service Agreement 2024 -2026 which you voted to approve last year.
 
It is the first instance in which the Government has rolled back remote working arrangements for its own staff, following the recent publication of the new Programme for Government, which commits the new administration to a review of remote and blended work policies.

If you have any questions on how this impacts you, you should speak to your workplace rep, branch or official.
 
The union has issued a press release which you can read here.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Éamonn Donnelly
Deputy General Secretary, Head of Civil Service Division