Hybrid working guidance for all staff

Hybrid working guidance for all UCL staff

Contents

• Introduction
• Scope
• Key principles of the guidance
• Categories
• On Site First
• Hybrid Worker
• Remote First
• Activity-led approach for hybrid workers
• Activity-led framework
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity
• Disabled colleagues
• Staff with caring responsibilities
• Part-time staff
• Flexible working requests

Introduction

1. UCL is at the heart of one of the most dynamic cities in the world. We are a campus-based University, and our identity and student experience are in part, framed by its staff and students, interacting, and collaborating in person, to support learning, creativity, and innovation within our diverse community. 

2. It is therefore essential for all staff to engage in the culture and life of UCL on campus; to interact with and act as role models for students and colleagues, and it is important teams come together in person. 

At the same time, we want to offer staff flexibility, where possible, with hybrid working, but balance that with supporting the campus experience and retaining what makes UCL a great place to study and work. 

3. The UCL campus, or a designated University site, will remain the contractual “normal place of work” for most staff.  However, an appropriate balance of both on campus and remote working, where possible, may enhance productivity, efficiency, and wellbeing.

4. The offer of hybrid working where possible, will support general EDI objectives by meeting the needs of certain groups such as parents and carers or those with certain protected characteristics such as disabled colleagues. 

5. The guidance is intended to provide a framework to support senior managers to plan how and where their teams’ work activities are carried out, notwithstanding that some teams and roles have an established pattern of attendance, driven by institutional requirements, for example, Laboratory Technicians or Teaching Staff.

6. Some roles may have more flexibility in determining the amount of time that is spent on-site. However, the allocation of time between campus and home working must be agreed by the staff member’s Head of Department (or equivalent) and the activity-led approach should be adopted to ensure there are opportunities to collaborate with colleagues and support students.

7. Arrangements under this guidance are non-contractual and may be subject to change so that departmental objectives and demands can be met. Staff are expected, with reasonable notice, to amend their working days on campus, or to attend on additional days, as requested.  

8. Remote working for all staff is voluntary and no employee will be required to work remotely unless a particular issue determines this. If an employee wishes to work on campus every day and this is not the pattern of the team, they should discuss this with their line manager so arrangements can be made.

9.  Staff who would like to request a permanent change to their working pattern may apply through the Flexible Working policy. 

Scope

10. This guidance applies to all UCL staff on a UK contract.

Key principles of the guidance

11. All UCL staff are aligned to one of the following three categories by their Head of Department (or equivalent): 

Further details on the expectations for each category are set out in the section Categories below. 

12. When advertising roles for recruitment, managers should include which category the role falls under as above and indicate the required level of campus attendance.

13. Levels and patterns of campus attendance in each category should be managed using an activity-led approach. Department Heads should use this guidance to establish: 

i) which category applies to the roles in their area; and 

ii) how best to apply the guidance in a way that suits the ways of working of their Institution / Division / Department / Team.

14. Decisions about the level of attendance on campus should be discussed at team level with overall approval at an appropriate leadership level, such as by the Head of Department, the Dean, Director or equivalent.

15. Department heads and managers can receive advice from their HR Business Partner to support them in making their decision.

16. Where additional ad hoc attendance is required for an in-person event or meeting, staff are expected to attend, with reasonable notice, even if this is not on a day, they are normally on-site with their immediate team or for their normal scheduled activities. Flexibility may be needed where there is an institutional requirement, for example teaching, departmental meetings, collaborative activities and in person training. 

17. UCL recognises that there might be different expectations within and between departments regarding how much on-site working is required. Whilst the activity-led framework can help to provide some degree of consistency, there are differences in working patterns and levels of attendance either within or across departments and teams, and Department Heads should be open and transparent about the reasoning behind this.   

18. Individual circumstances may also affect working patterns or levels of attendance on campus, for example, a reasonable adjustment, a flexible working arrangement or if the individual’s home working environment or equipment is not suitable.  

19. Guidance for Working Remotely for UK-based staff provides further information on equipment and an appropriate working environment. . 

20. Staff working hours should normally cover the core period of 10am to 4pm, whether working remotely, or on-site, unless the employee has an approved flexible working arrangement. This is to ensure they are available to colleagues and students during usual working hours. Meetings should also be held during these hours. However, not all teams operate services or undertake work within the “traditional” 9-5 hours working day and many staff members work part-time or work different hours to their colleagues. Whilst most meetings should still be able to take place between 10am-4pm, the meeting organiser should consider attendees’ working hours to ensure meetings take place at a convenient time for everyone. 

21. Managers should consider the personal circumstances of staff who are adversely impacted by frequent changes to their work pattern and regular varying campus days – for example, carers who need to change their care provision to commute to campus if required to attend on varying days of the week.

However, some roles will require regular changes of campus days to meet the business needs of the service, for example those on a rota system, or who are in the “On site first” category.  This will be made clear in job advertisements and job descriptions, and staff will be consulted if there are changes to their current arrangements.  The employee will need to ensure that they are able to meet the requirements of the job. 

22. If Departments are considering varying the presence of their teams on campus, they should discuss space requirements with their Estates contact at an early stage so the feasibility can be included in the wider University space planning.

23. Any hybrid working arrangements are subject to ongoing review. Should any concerns arise, for example, an impact on performance or conduct, or the member of staff has a change of role, then a hybrid working arrangement may be revoked or modified.  

24. Where staff are working remotely, this guidance should be read in conjunction with Guidance on Working Remotely for UK staff.  

Categories

25. For all categories of role, it may be useful if line managers record their teams’ working patterns on the Team Working Pattern form detailing any potential impact on departmental objectives and how these will be delivered.  

26. The purpose of recording this information is to provide the appropriate Department Head or Director oversight of the number of staff in each category in their areas and an understanding of the various working patterns. Information on this form must be recorded anonymously. 

On-site First  

27.This category is for roles and teams that are normally required to spend most of their time working on-site (>80%), and the nature of their role does not normally lend itself to working remotely.

28. They are mostly involved in the delivery of student-facing or in-person work which requires an on-site presence unless there is an exceptional management agreement for remote work. 

29. Where staff are required to be onsite to perform their role for all or most of their time, thoughtful consideration should be given by department heads to offer some degree of flexibility where possible. For example, a rota system can be helpful, offering increased flexibility outside of busy times, if this could be accommodated with the fluctuations in the amount of time the role is needed on campus. 

Hybrid Worker  

30. This category is for roles and teams that spend some of their time working remotely, between 20% and 80% of their working time on campus.

31. Academic, teaching and research staff and Faculty professional services staff who support them should expect to attend campus for 40% of their time or more. The minimum attendance for each team will be approved by the relevant Director / Head / Dean.

32. This group comprises those whose roles do not dictate the need to always be on-site. They can carry out some work remotely and may also deliver services and activities on-site, such as teaching, events, meetings, and interaction where face-to-face contact is necessary and/or beneficial. 

Remote First

33. This category is for roles and teams that spend most of their time working remotely (less than 20% on campus).  

34. Remote First roles are exceptional and are normally only limited to: 

• Roles that do not require in-person interaction for example:  
  
  - Systems-driven roles 
  - Roles that do not benefit from cross-collaboration or networking 
  - Roles that take a high volume of calls  
   
• Individually negotiated agreements as part of a job offer (for hard-to-recruit to posts)  
   
• Working arrangements that require a reasonable adjustment or the individual has a formalised flexible working arrangement in place.  

35. Remote First arrangements should be agreed at Director or equivalent level.

36. Considerations when deciding on whether a role should be Remote First: 

i) Department Assessment: What activities does the department carry out that they need to come to campus for?

ii) Team Assessment: What do individual teams need to come to campus for?

iii) Individual Assessment: Does the individual carry out a different or unique role that requires a remote arrangement or do their personal circumstances require adjustments that may include consideration of a remote arrangement? 

Activity-led approach for hybrid workers

37. An activity-led approach should be followed when planning how much time on-site is required for hybrid workers and for what (and for the other two categories to a degree). There are three overlapping rationales that should be considered:

38. As overriding principles, all working arrangements should support UCL’s mission, departmental objectives, and the role requirements to ensure optimal performance. Where it is considered that a hybrid working arrangement supports these principles, the following activity-led framework should be followed:

Activity-led framework

39. An activity-led approach should be assessed using the following criteria:

i) People:

If there is a benefit to carrying out a face-to-face activity, for example:

• meeting new starters
• teaching and tutorials
• supervision meetings
• relationship/network building
• incidental learning

Some formal training opportunities, such as induction, team and leadership development are best achieved as least partly in-person.

When assessing this, first consider the best way to achieve team or department objectives and then manage individual needs and requirements for example accessibility requirements.

ii) Space / environment:

• Is there a benefit to having access to more space or a certain type of space, equipment or facility that is available on-site (sometimes campus can be quieter than remote working, might provide a more confidential space, or just give more space)
• Does the work require quiet “head down” space which might be best carried out remotely away from distractions if there is access to a quiet space remotely?

iii) Time:

• Length of meeting. It may reduce fatigue and increase engagement if long meetings are carried out on-site in person.
• If there are time efficiency savings by working on-site.

iv) Team/learning:

• Spending regular time working alongside team members has proven to be highly beneficial and appreciated by many staff.  This is especially important for supporting new starters and early career staff for sharing knowledge and best practices.
• Learning on the job and learning from others can make up 90% of someone’s overall development. Some of this learning takes place incidentally when working closely with others doing a similar role.
• Feedback from staff on UCL training programmes indicates that while online training is largely satisfactory for convenience, having a 100% online approach means missing the critical opportunities to network, learn in groups and interact meaningfully with colleagues found in in-person settings. This is a particularly acute issue for under-represented groups.

v) Collaboration and innovation:

• Deliberate time to focus on collaboration and innovation, either within a team or with others from around the university should be scheduled into working on-site time.
• Departments and teams should identify their key stakeholders and how best to facilitate in-person collaboration.

vi) Wellbeing:

• Working remotely remains voluntary. If individuals or teams feel working on campus more regularly, or for a specific activity, will enhance their wellbeing then this should be explored.

How to help facilitate the activity-led framework

40. Individuals should ensure their outlook calendars are accessible to others (whilst preserving confidentiality if necessary) and are up to date with their daily work location for example – a campus building, at home, etc.

41. Where possible, activities should be planned for a full day on campus, rather than attending short appointments/activities, and then leaving to work remotely. Make the most of being on campus!

42. If using a rota system, departments should map out who their key clients/ supply chain/partners/ are and on which days there can be overlap with other teams to allow cross-departmental collaboration.

43. Remind staff to follow desk, space booking and meeting room etiquette protocols. For example, staff should not book a meeting room to use as a private workspace and should cancel room/desk bookings in advance if no longer needed.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity 

Disabled colleagues

44. Staff who require a reasonable adjustment to their work arrangement (which may include working remotely) should be supported where the adjustment can be accommodated, for example if they require special equipment. Completing a DSE assessment will help to inform whether any particular equipment is needed at home as well as on-site for an individual.

45. If a colleague needs additional remote working because of their disability, this should be considered and supported if appropriate.

46. Consideration must be given to how space, including meeting rooms and desk space allocation, is organised on-site and the potential impact on disabled colleagues.

47. When arranging hybrid meetings, the chair of the meeting must ensure that all accessibility needs are met.

Staff with caring responsibilities

48. We recognise that hybrid working might offer enhanced opportunities for staff who are carers. For example, staff who are not commuting as frequently may be able to provide care for someone just before the beginning of the working day, and afterwards that they would have otherwise not been able to.

49. That said, remote working is not a substitute for childcare or care for other dependents, and those working from home must ensure that they have appropriate caring arrangements in place during their working hours.

50. Department Heads should adopt regular routines for working on-site, as far as reasonably possible, and provide adequate notice if arrangements change to ensure parents and carers are not disproportionately affected by changes.

Part-time staff

51. Care should be taken when adopting the activity-led approach to avoid any disadvantage for part-time staff. For example, and where reasonably practicable, avoid:

• Arranging activities that fall on some members of staff’s non-working days or during hours when they do not normally work.
• Asking part-time staff to come in for activities as frequently as their full-time colleagues as this could result in an unfair amount of time on-site for them. 

Where a manager requires a part-time member of staff to change their working days or attendance on campus, these staff will need to be consulted with and given appropriate notice to change their working days.

Flexible working requests

52. Hybrid working is a form of flexible working, however arrangements under this guidance are non-contractual and can be subject to change.

53. All staff remain able to ask for a formal change to their working hours or pattern (including increased levels of homeworking) under the Flexible Working policy where they are able to put forward a flexible working application.

54. Any changes to working hours must also be updated in MyHR.