The culture of working on the beach is also spreading to local councils, as more staff are granted permission to work in exotic locations around the world.
Freedom of information requests to local authorities have revealed that employees have applied to work from as far away as Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica and the United States.
Most councils currently offer staff the opportunity to split their time between working from home and working in the office, known as agile, hybrid or flexible working, although some authorities are offering staff the opportunity to split their time between working from home and working in the office, known as agile, hybrid or flexible working. or allowing them to perform their duties remotely in a country where they may have family members. family promise.
Labour-run Enfield Council will have a total of 24 staff members ‘overseas’ between 2021 and 2023 in countries including Australia, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, the Netherlands and Poland. He revealed that he had been working in a hybrid manner since then. , Slovakia, Spain, and the United States.
The “wrong message” about work ethics
But Conservative MP Maria Alexandrou claims north London authorities are sending the wrong message of work ethics.
“It is shocking that Enfield thinks it is acceptable for staff to work from all over the world,” she said. “This brings new meaning to the term working from home and raises questions about accountability, council work ethics and cost-effectiveness.”
An Enfield spokesperson said the council was “committed to supporting flexible working arrangements as long as business needs are met”.
“Authorization to work overseas will only be granted on an exceptional basis, for a short period of time and in cases of business importance,” she added.
“Given that the City Council employs more than 3,500 staff, the number of people with permission to work abroad in 2023/4 represents approximately 0.4 per cent of the workforce.”
Thurrock City Council, Essex, said: “Less than five employees worked hybridly overseas in 2022/23 and 2023/24,” adding that they returned to the UK full-time in January. Officials declined to say which country they were working from.
Terms and conditions will be “regularly reviewed”
Aberdeenshire Council does not centrally record “work patterns”, which indicate how many staff are allowed to “work in a variety of locations to suit the workforce”, but does not record “work patterns” centrally, which shows how many staff are allowed to “work in a variety of locations to suit the workforce”, but does not record “work patterns” centrally, indicating how many staff are allowed to “work in a variety of locations to suit the workforce”, but does One employee was working full time. From France in 2020/21.
Aberdeen City Council had three foreign staff from 2021 to April 2023, but this was reduced to two last year. Staff worked from Bulgaria, Germany and Dubai.
The council insisted that overseas roles “will only be approved after an evaluation to ensure that high standards of customer service are maintained”.
The terms are “regularly reviewed” to allow staff to deal with “unforeseen circumstances” or “long-term arrangements to enable individuals to work in the UK on a regular basis.” is often approved to enable
Kent County Council’s Growth, Environment and Transport Directorate has one staff member ‘living and working’ from Belgium. Of its 9,000 staff, 31 have permission to work from home permanently in the UK.
The planner is permanently resident in Austria
Bracknell Forest Council in Berkshire has one member of its planning department “permanently residing in Austria” and an ICT officer working from New Zealand “for an extended period”.
South Hams City Council in Devon has confirmed that from 2021, one person working in its waste department will be able to split their time between the office and Spain. Last year, another employee from the same department also came to work from Spain, as well as additional staff from planning and sales. The Support Division operates from Australia and Parliamentary Offices.
Norfolk County Council is allowing staff to apply to work from overseas for up to 90 days “if the work can be completed efficiently from outside the UK”.
Westminster City Council does not centrally record the number of staff who are allowed to work from home part of the time, but states that it is expected/required that the majority of their working week be spent in Westminster City. “It has been done,” he said.
A number of councils including Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Sunderland City Council, Leeds City Council, Harrow London Borough Council, North Lincolnshire Council, Hillingdon London Borough Council, Southampton City Council, Maidstone Borough Council and Telford & Wrekin Co-operative Council. Yorkshire’s East Riding Council and Cornwall Council said they did not know how many staff were working from home because the information was not centrally managed or such arrangements were managed at departmental level.
Some authorities prohibit working from abroad
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Waltham Forest Council, Bath North Somerset Council and Barnet and Somerset Council said they were not allowing staff to work permanently from overseas.
Kensington and Chelsea said: “Under no circumstances are we permitted to work from overseas.For the avoidance of doubt, we would like to add that there is no contractual right to work from home, which can be revoked at any time.” added.
Waltham Forest said its employees are not allowed to work from home for the full length of their contract and most employees are required to come into the office “at least two to three days a week.”
Runnymede Borough Council has allowed 218 of its 260 staff to work from home for part of their contracted hours.
Of the 4,125 staff employed by Cambridgeshire County Council, 3,464 were classified as ‘hybrid or flexible workers’ last year, of whom 21 were ‘work from home’. Not a single person worked from overseas.
Of Waverley Borough Council’s 275 staff, 245 have been allowed to split their time between home and the office, with four working from home permanently.
Newcastle City Council has 2,200 staff recognized as “agile workers”, with 33 people allowed to work from home permanently last year.