working from home

Summary

The requester asked for statistics on employees working from home at the Department of Health and Social Care between December 2022 and December 2023. The authority refused the request stating they do not hold the specific data, as home working is monitored individually by line managers rather than centrally recorded.

Key Facts

• The Department of Health and Social Care does not hold central records of where staff work on a day-to-day basis.
• Monitoring of home working is conducted on a case-by-case basis by individual line managers.
• Staff are permitted up to 2 full days of working from home per week subject to manager agreement.
• The policy is prorated for part-time staff to ensure 60% of working time is spent in the office.
• Ad-hoc requests for extended home working are allowed at the discretion of the line manager.

Data Disclosed

• December 2022 to December 2023
• 2 full days
• 60%
• 2024-07-23
• 2024-07-26
• 3997821

Exemptions Cited

• Section 11(3)a of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Information not held)

Original Request

Please provide the actual numbers or the annual percentage year December 2022 to December 2023 of employees that either worked from home or worked part time from home. If possible provide the overall number of employees in the period, and the number of days that were spent working from home.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Chief Officer: Paul Richardson Freedom of Information Team First Floor Belgravia House Circular Road Douglas IM1 1AE

Our ref: 3997821 26 July 2024

Dear ###

We write further to your request received 20th July 2024, which states:

"Please provide the actual numbers or the annual percentage year December 2022 to December 2023 of employees that either worked from home or worked part time from home. If possible provide the overall number of employees in the period, and the number of days that were spent working from home."

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Department of Health and Social Care (the Department) is unable to provide the information that you have requested. This is in line with Section 11(3)a of the Act, as a practical refusal reason applies; namely we do not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested.

Under section 15 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Duty to provide advice and assistance), the Department can confirm that it does have a policy in relation to home working that is set out in the DHSC staff handbook. The extract is shown below.

“Working from Home

Homeworking at the DHSC is a regular practice for a number of colleagues. Each colleague is permitted up to 2 full days working from home every week, however this must be agreed and documented by your line manager. This will be prorated for part time staff (so that 60% of working time is in the office).
It is acknowledged that there will be ad-hoc situations where people would like to be able to work from home for longer than this (such as caring for dependents/pets). This will be allowed at the discretion of the line manager taking into account the nature of the person’s role/work and the frequency of requests for homeworking outside of the usual policy. If you wish to work from home, please read the Government guidelines on homeworking.”

In relation to implementing and monitoring this policy, it is up to the individual line managers to agree and monitor the amount of home working done by each member of staff on a case by case basis. Therefore, the Department does not keep a record of where staff members are working on a day to day basis.

Please quote the reference number 3997821 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.