A union has encouraged civil servants to stick to existing remote working arrangements after being asked to work an extra day from the office.
The Department of Social Protection wants to increase the minimum number of days staff work from the office from one to two.
For senior staff at the Department it wants to increase the minimum office days from two to three.
Trade union Forsa is encouraging workers to push back against moves to reduce remote working days.
It also said the Department of Finance has requested an increase in the number of office days.
Forsa’s deputy general secretary Eamonn Donnelly said the departments had “failed to honour” the terms of the 2022 Blended Working Policy Framework, which provides for an ongoing review of blended working arrangements.
Mr Donnelly said: “These changes, which significantly disadvantage workers, are scheduled to be introduced during the first week in February. No prior consultation or discussion took place with Forsa on this matter. This lack of engagement is in clear breach of the Framework Agreement and is also in clear breach of the Public Service Agreement 2024 to 2026.
“We are now entering into a serious – and avoidable – dispute. These measures have been introduced with little thought for the consequences.
“At a meeting on Monday (January 27), we asked the DSP for the type of analytics applied in its review of blended working, and the department confirmed no analytics were used, and said it did not see any requirement to consult with trade unions.
“By forcing people to attend for an additional day each week, with no evidence to support a business case for this, management are just dumping an arbitrary obligation on staff.”
A right to request remote working came into effect from March 2024, inspired by arrangements introduced during the pandemic.
The new Programme for Government commits to a review of the Civil Service Blended Working Policy Framework “to consider how the public sector can adopt a coherent approach to blended working and remote work”.
Mr Donnelly said hybrid working gives employees flexibility to care for their families, reduces traffic congestion and cuts down on emissions.
“There was only one real positive to emerge from the global pandemic, and that was the revelation that there are other productive and beneficial ways of working. An arbitrary return to the office suggests that new ways of working are at risk of being eliminated by old ways of thinking,” he said.
The Department of Social Protection has said it is supportive of blended working and said that requesting staff to work from the office for at least two days a week was “reasonable”.
“The Department is supportive of blended working and was one of the first to introduce a blended working policy.
“That policy provides that Working from Home will be supported subject to business needs and customer service requirements and that arrangements would be reviewed on an annual basis based on experience and business needs.
“Based on experience and the level of take-up by staff, the provision for up to three days working from home in any week is considered reasonable and is in line with arrangements already in place in other Government Departments and as provided for within the wider Civil Service Framework agreement.
“The policy also provides for flexibility to allow for more days working from home in individual circumstances subject to senior management approval.”
The Department said it had advised unions of the change last November and is “disappointed” at their approach.
“The Department advised the trade unions of the revision to increase the minimum attendance requirement from one day to two days per week last November.
“It is disappointed at the approach now taken by the union which has been taken without prior notice to the Department, particularly when there are well established mechanisms in place and available for dispute resolution within the civil service.
“The Department remains available to meet with the union to discuss this issue and to using the appropriate and established industrial relations processes and mechanisms.”