Almost 1,500 public employees of the AGE are in quarantine due to contagion or contact with a positive
When a year has passed since the pandemic, teleworking is no longer the priority modality in the General State Administration (AGE). Thus, only one in four public employees continue to work remotely since last summer, while the remaining three-quarters work in person, according to data released today by the Ministry of Public Function.
More specifically, of the 178,128 officials that the AGE currently has, currently 127,691 (71.68%) already work in the ordinary face-to-face mode and 46,760 (26.25%) from their homes.
In April 2020, the first full month in the first state of alarm, the personnel who teleworked in the Administration exceeded the personnel in face-to-face mode: 108,691 compared to 47,816, respectively. At the end of the first state of alarm, the situation changed and the modality of face-to-face work was imposed as of June 2020.
On the other hand, there are almost 1,500 troops, 1,459, which represents 0.82%, who are in a situation of home isolation due to contagion of covid-19 or because they are in a quarantine period after having maintained contact with someone affected. This is practically a quarter of the figure that was reached a year ago, when the isolated personnel exceeded 6,200 personnel.
Regulation of telework
Just last week the Ministry reached an agreement with the unions so that public employees of the General State Administration can voluntarily telework three days a week.
Teleworking will be voluntary and reversible and will always be subject to guaranteeing the face-to-face provision of services to citizens. It may also be authorized in exceptional situations of force majeure that imply a restriction of mobility, as happened last winter with the storm Filomena or during confinement.
However, not all State officials will be able to enjoy the working day at their homes, but only for jobs that can be performed, upon request and authorization. For this, each ministerial department or public body, after negotiation with the unions, must carry out a preliminary study of the positions that can be carried out by teleworking. For each position, work objectives will be identified and their fulfillment will be evaluated, according to general negotiated criteria, establishing a fixed schedule of availability and location.
