WORKING FROM HOME & LACK OF FACE TIME WITH PUBLIC SERVANTS BY NUALA NOLAN GALWAY

Dear Editor,

The main idea behind “Working from Home” was originally to give workers a better work-life balance and, at the same time, save on long commuting times to and from the workplace, which in many cases meant a worker spending hours in their car, causing traffic congestion in all our major cities.

This idea was first tried out by major companies during the Covid lockdown.
It has since then become commonplace for many workers with workers having the right to request the ability to work from home where feasible.  Major companies have the technology to be able to monitor staff to ensure that the work assigned is being carried out, with employers and employees finding the practice very successful.

But one has to ask the question if the Civil Service and Local Authorities have the technology or the structures of to be successful in monitoring staff working from home, or have they evaluated the fact that ends up with a reduced the pubic ability to have Face Time with members of the public.

Many elderly people don’t use email and are not online; they are having difficulty getting through on phone lines that always seem to be busy and when they get through they don’t get to speak to the person relevant to their queries. They are totally disenfranchised. Their only chance to get answers on issues is to have FaceTime with a relevant staff member.

Also, how is a Staff Manager able to monitor staff from Home or is the status of Staff Manager just part of a career path?

The whole thing is a sad day for the public. While “working from home” works for Highly Digitised Multi-Nationals where even toilet breaks are monitored, it would be surprising if it works at all with Government Departments or Local Authorities staff, where the public are forced to spend weeks waiting for answers that should only take an hour or two if key staff were present in the workplace.

Yours Sincerely,

Nuala Nolan

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