The Office of the Principal Permanent Secretary makes reference to what has been said by UĦM with regards to telework as reported by various media outlets.
Telework within the Public Service was never removed or halted. The Public Service can be proud of the fact that, along with other concessions that were provided to employees under its wing, it truly and without any doubt remains a leader when it comes to achieving a work-life balance.
It is this experience which, together with the one hundred and fifty-million-euro investment in technology, coupled with the determination and ability of public officers, ensured continuity of government services whenever these were needed. These continued to be provided from the homes of these employees rather than from the workplaces.
One must also note the fact that this transformation was sudden.
From that sudden shift to today, although the respective directives issued by the Office of the Principal Permanent Secretary were repealed, the direction remained for telework to continue to be made available.
One needs to recall that, during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic at the start of the year, an analysis was conducted at the very outset to investigate managerial and technical work defects away from the office environment (remote working).
The result has already been analysied, and work commenced so that, from the notion of telework, the Public Service shifts to remote working. Thus, the Public Service will continue to be a model and pioneer of how a work-life balance can be achieved. This not only with a view of Covid-19, but for this to become an everyday process.
As regards the other points raised in the UĦM letter, instructions were always clear and modelled on the guidelines issued by the Department for Health.
