Issue No. 08/2021 | 13 January 2021

On the 12 January 2021 the company advised us that they would be briefing members from the 13 January on their plans for Smart Working, this despite the fact that BT Group discussions had not taken place. The company have decided to press ahead.

In principal we have no objection to Smart Working but under the company’s plans there is no option of permanent home working.

Members will be aware we conducted a home working survey of all BT and EE Consumer members in September 2020 which resulted in 90% of members in BT and EE clearly stating that they want to continue to work from home.

The closure of Aberdeen under the Better Workplace Programme resulted in redundancies which we believe could have been prevented if permanent home working had been the table.

Fortunately the company will not start implementation until the spring and this depends on Covid. We have therefore requested a meeting with the company urgently to ensure permanent home working forms part of any future Smart Working plans.

Our aim is to provide safeguards for members and we will be raising our concerns about the lack of any contractual status for Smart Working. We will continue to keep members updated in the coming months and before Smart Working is implemented we believe it has to be fit for purpose.

If members have concerns please contact your local branch and we will keep you updated on any progress.

Regards,

Stephen Albon

Acting National Officer