- Conference
- 2022 Health Care Service Group Conference
- Date
- 9 December 2021
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes the work led by UNISON in all four administrations on flexible working including negotiating improved handbook provisions; negotiating updates to local flexible working policies; promoting workplace cultural change; and supporting members to access their rights.
Conference commends the composite passed at special health conference in September 2021 which highlighted the crucial role that increasing opportunities for flexible working could play in addressing the chronic staffing shortages that have only escalated during the pandemic. Lack of work-life balance was already a major reason for staff leaving the NHS pre-Covid and the experience of working through the pandemic will leave many staff desperate to get some of their lives back. If the NHS gets flexible working right, some of these staff could be convinced to stay. The actions in the composite set out a positive bargaining and organising agenda for UNISON which will make a real difference to members.
Conference notes that staff survey figures from the NHS in England showed 36% of staff in 2020 had been required to work remotely/from home. National and/or local infection control requirements, shielding, risk assessments, reasonable adjustments for disabled workers, and other issues such as school and childcare closures – all led many of our members to experience homeworking for the first time.
For some that experience was positive and one they want to continue, while for others it was negative and stressful. It threw up a range of issues which employers dealt with on an ad hoc basis, or not at all, ranging from health, safety and wellbeing to expenses and taxation.
Looking to the future, homeworking and hybrid working will continue to arise as an individual flexible working choice – but also as an employment model that employers seek to move to as an alternative to providing office space/work bases.
Conference therefore recognises the need for comprehensive policies and procedures covering homeworking that ensure fairness and protect the rights and interests of staff.
Conference calls on the Service Group Executive to
1 Carry forward the flexible working priorities agreed at the 2021 special health conference
2 Lead negotiations through NHS Staff Council structures to produce homeworking policies which deal with:
a. health, safety and wellbeing considerations
b. interaction with allowances, expenses and tax
c. equalities implications
d. impact on workplace culture, covering line management; inclusion; choice and autonomy
3 Provide negotiating advice and materials to support UNISON health branches on these issues
4 Encourage active involvement of self-organised groups in bargaining, organising and policy development work