[PIO] Regulation of Flexible Working Arrangements in the Public Service

The Council of Ministers, at its meeting on Wednesday 30 August 2023, approved the policy framework for the regulation of flexible forms of employment in the public service, in the context of the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021-2026. The need to regulate flexible forms of employment stems from the recent experience of the effects of the pandemic, which highlighted the importance of the issue.

The regulation of flexible forms of employment as a reform policy has the broader objective of modernising the way the civil service operates, while contributing to a better work-life balance for employees, enhancing incentives and creating a more supportive working environment for all employees and, by extension, better serving the public.

In the context of the Cabinet Decision under review, the arrangement for the implementation of mixed teleworking, i.e. the possibility of teleworking on certain days of the week and/or for some consecutive period during the year when this may serve a specific official purpose, the implementation of reduced working hours up to a maximum of two hours, with a corresponding reduction in remuneration, was approved, for those employees covered by the Leave (Paternity, Parental, Carer, Force Majeure) and Flexible Working Arrangements for Work-Life Balance Act 2022 (parents of children up to eight years old and carers) and additionally employees with disabilities or who have health problems that make it difficult for them to work on a full-time basis, and the extension of flexible working hours from the current 1½ hours to 2 hours.

The implementation of the flexible working arrangements decided by the Council of Ministers has an implementation horizon of around the end of 2024 and to this end actions will be promoted to:

1. developing/adapting electronic systems and providing the necessary technological equipment to support telework,

1. defining the framework for the implementation of telework and other flexible forms of employment, with guidelines and conditions for their implementation,

1. developing training programmes to support the changes to the new way of working, and

1. implementing modern electronic systems for recording employees' arrival and departure times to support the implementation of reduced hours and flexible working arrangements.

It should be noted that the regulation for the implementation of flexible forms of employment in the public service is also consistent with the promotion by the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance of a bill on the regulation of teleworking in the private sector, which is currently under discussion in the relevant parliamentary committee.

(ΕΠ/ΣΧ)

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