00:00We are not prepared to introduce remote work if it is going to decrease the
00:06level of production, decrease the rate of, decrease the quality of service to the
00:11public. Public Administration Minister Alison West during the Senate's budget
00:15debate on Wednesday as she gave an update on the government's plans for
00:18remote work or work from home policy for the public service. Minister West first
00:23recalled that when the government was forced to close down the economy while
00:28keeping certain essential services of the public service in operation during
00:32the COVID-19 pandemic, quite a few public servants were required to work from home.
00:37And since then they've been asking, well if I successfully work from home during
00:42the COVID, why can't I work from home? No, because there's so many benefits to be
00:46gained from working from home. And our response to that is yes, while we had to
00:53work from home during COVID, and we managed to keep things afloat, there were
01:00tons of things that were not ready, that didn't run as smoothly as they could
01:05because everybody is not as able to work from home, as ready to work from home, or
01:13as self-motivated as they should be. The Public Administration Minister said a
01:18decision was made by the government to undertake a study as many of those who
01:22support a remote work policy say the benefits include less or no time in
01:27rush hour traffic and less stress. So what we undertook to do was a study to
01:34determine, one, whether Trinidad and Tobago is ready for remote work, two, what
01:39categories of jobs can accommodate remote work, what is required to
01:47facilitate remote work, how do we treat with it, who would be responsible for
01:56what, that kind of thing. Minister West said a consultant has been engaged by
02:01the Public Administration Ministry, but did not identify the consultant by name.
02:06However, the Public Administration Minister indicated to the Senate that
02:10the study is now at a crucial stage. They have embarked on the study,
02:14consulting with a wide range of people and so on. They will come back to us, but
02:20we will do a pilot project within the next month, we will start a pilot project,
02:25and the plan is for them to report to us by February, so that we can take to
02:33the Cabinet a position with a recommendation on whether we move
02:37forward with remote work or not. Minister West then made clear what would be the
02:42government's key consideration. I keep saying to people who ask me that the
02:48most significant decision we will have to make in respect of whether or not we
02:55introduce remote work is how the introduction of remote work will impact
03:01on the productivity in the public service. Minister West told the Senate
03:05once the government makes a final decision, it will inform the public
03:09service and others. Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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