Home and hybrid working policies for Scottish Government staff: FOI release

Information requested

I am writing to make a request for information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

I would be grateful if you could provide the following information:

1. What is the Scottish Government's current hybrid working policy, including the minimum number of days per week or month that staff in hybrid roles are required to attend their designated office
or workplace?

2. How many Scottish Government employees are currently working on a fully remote basis (i.e. with no requirement to attend a workplace in person)?

3. Of those employees in hybrid working arrangements, how many are meeting the required minimum number of in-office days, and how many are not? Please provide figures as both a number and a percentage of the total hybrid workforce.

4. What formal process or management action is taken when a member of staff does not meet the required number of in-office days? Please include details of any escalation process.

5. Are there any formal penalties or disciplinary consequences that can be applied to staff who persistently fail to meet their in-office attendance requirements? If so, please describe them.

6. If such penalties or consequences exist, how many members of staff have been subject to to date? Please break this down by type of action taken where possible.

7. Has the Scottish Government conducted any internal review or audit of hybrid working compliance since the current policy was introduced? If so, please provide the date(s) and any headline findings.

8. Has the hybrid working policy changed at any point in the last two years? If so, please provide details of what changed and when.

Response

In answering point 1, all of the information you have requested is already publicly available. Under section 25(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, we are not required to provide information which is already reasonably accessible to you.

The Scottish Government’s home and hybrid working policies for staff have been published on the Scottish Government website in response to previous FOI requests. Home and hybrid working policies for Scottish Government staff: FOI release - gov.scot

If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

In answering point 2, the Scottish Government does not hold this information. Working arrangements, including whether an employee is working fully remotely or in a hybrid manner, are agreed and managed locally between individuals and their line manager and are not recorded centrally.

I am therefore applying section 17(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, on the basis that the information is not held.

In answering point 3, hybrid working arrangements are managed locally, and compliance with attendance expectations is not monitored or assessed centrally.

As the requested information is not held in a recorded format, I am therefore applying section 17(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

In answering point 4, there is no central escalation or enforcement process specifically for managing hybrid working attendance.

Line managers are expected to discuss attendance as part of normal management conversations, taking account of business needs, individual circumstances, and any agreed reasonable adjustments e.g. for disability or other reasons.

In answering points 5 and 6, non‑attendance in the office, in itself, would not automatically result in disciplinary action, particularly where it is isolated and unconnected to other employment matters.

Where persistent HR-related concerns arose about in-person attendance, these may manifest alongside other factors, such as performance management, sickness absence management, or other wider employment issues and would be managed in line with existing HR policies.

In answering point 7, the Scottish Government has not conducted a centrally led audit of individual hybrid working compliance.

While the hybrid working policy has been reviewed at an organisational level, this has not involved a formal audit of individual attendance compliance.

As such, the information requested is not held and section 17(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 applies.

In answering point 8, all of the information you have requested is already publicly available. Under section 25(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, we are not required to provide information which is already reasonably accessible to you.

This information has been released previously: Home and hybrid working policies for Scottish Government staff: FOI release - gov.scot

If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.