Filenews 22 September 2024 - by Eleftheria Paizanou
New data will be created in 2025 for employees in the state machinery, as it is expected that flexible forms of work will be implemented, provided that the relevant legislative proposals of the Government are approved in time.
The regulation (introduction) of flexible forms of employment is a reform policy, which has as a broader objective the modernisation of the way the public service operates, while contributing to a better work-life balance for employees, enhancing motivation and creating a more supportive working environment for all employees and, by extension, to better serve the public.
Based on the decision of the Council of Ministers, which was taken about a year ago, the regulation of flexible forms of employment in the State is divided into three parts: teleworking, the reduction of working hours for specific categories of employees while reducing their remuneration and the extension of flexible working hours in the Public Service.
Already, the Department of Public Service and Personnel (TSI) has prepared relevant legislation, which it forwarded to the affected bodies to submit their suggestions. The aim is for the legislation to be approved by the Council of Ministers and to be brought to Parliament at the end of October – beginning of November, so that they can be voted on and can be implemented in the first months of 2025.
Of course, there will be the appropriate preparation, so that the transition to the new data will be smooth and without any particular problems. The Public Service (Working Time) regulations will be amended to implement reduced employment and the extension of the flexible egg. A single text of amendments covering working time issues will be prepared.
Six hours of work
Specifically, if the Government's proposal is approved, reduced working hours will be applied for specific categories of civil servants, which will not exceed 6 hours per day. That is, the reduced employment will be up to a maximum of two hours and will concern employees covered by the Leave (Paternity, Paternity, Care, Force Majeure) and Flexible Working Arrangements for Work-Life Balance Law of 2022, i.e. parents of children up to 8 years old and carers.
It will also cover employees with disabilities or who have health problems, which make it difficult for them to work on a full basis, with a corresponding reduction in earnings.
Extension of flexible working hours
The other change concerns the extension of flexible working hours in the public sector. According to the regulations, working hours will be extended from 1.5 hours today to two hours. Following the latest change in working hours to deal with traffic problems, the working hours will be extended by two hours. That is, the flexible working hours will be between 7:00 a.m. / 9:00 a.m. – 2:30p.m./4:30p.m. while the current working hours are 7:00am/8:30am. – 2:30p.m./4:00p.m.
Teleworking under certain conditions
The third form of flexible working will be teleworking, i.e. mixed work will be implemented, both with physical work and teleworking. The Council of Ministers had decided on mixed teleworking (hybrid working model), taking into account that the implementation of teleworking exclusively is considered not feasible, at least at this stage, in the Public Service.
Also, in his decision, he had taken into account the negatives of working exclusively remotely (mainly psychosomatic risks and work isolation). That is, the possibility of teleworking for certain days a week and/or for a consecutive period of the year will be regulated, when this may serve a specific service purpose, such as carrying out a specific project/study, in order not to affect the proper functioning of the service and in any case after approval by the relevant Head of Department.
What the bill says
According to the draft bill prepared by the Ministry of Finance and revealed on Thursday by "F", the maximum number of working days of telework will be up to 100 working days per calendar year and will essentially correspond to two days per week.
For 2025 and 2026 the maximum number of teleworking days will be up to 50, in order to better adapt to the new way of working. The number of teleworking days may be changed by decision of the Council of Ministers. Also, teleworking will be voluntary for the employee and will be granted with the approval of the head of the department, after submitting a relevant application.
At the same time, it will be granted to employees whose appointment has been confirmed and to employees who have completed two years of continuous employment in the public sector.
Based on the provisions of the bill, the control of employees will be ensured by the control of the work produced by the head of the Department.
Unsatisfactory performance of employees during telework may be a criterion for stopping or rejecting a future request for telework. In addition, in case the service needs require it, the supervisor reserves the right to interrupt teleworking and request work with physical presence.
The implementation of teleworking in the public sector will not change the other terms of employment of employees.
It is noted that employees who have at their disposal service laptops will be able to work by teleworking and it is possible to remotely connect it to the service phone, the official e-mail and any other information system necessary to carry out their duties.
In addition, teleworking using a private computer of employees will be allowed only if it is not necessary to connect to the information systems of the service for the performance of their duties.
Electronic systems are upgraded
In parallel with the preparation of legislation on teleworking and other flexible forms of work, processes are underway for the development, adaptation of electronic systems, as well as for ensuring the necessary technological equipment to support teleworking.
Soon a guide with guidelines and terms of implementation for the implementation of flexible forms of work is expected to be ready by the competent government departments.
In addition, a series of training programs will be implemented in order to support the changes in the new way of working, while modern electronic systems will be implemented to record the time of arrival and departure of employees to support the implementation of reduced employment and flexible working hours.
It should be noted that flexible forms of employment and especially teleworking are estimated to lead to decongestion of traffic and to the reduction of operating costs of the state machinery.
The regulation of flexible forms of work is part of the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021-2026, through which Cyprus will receive a total amount of €1.2 billion.
