Workload, costs, and equipment identified as home working issues

Last week, the AUFA Membership Engagement Committee (MEC) concluded its second telephone survey of the membership. The methodology and a portion of the results were presented last week. This blog post examines the portion of the survey dealing with working from home.

Context

Since late March, approximately half of AUFA’s membership (mostly professionals) have moved to working from a home office due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, President Fassina noted that this experience was informing AU’s discussions around moving to a semi-virtual workplace. Presently, professionals who work from home receive less financial and material support then do academics.

As noted in a previous post, AUFA’s bargaining team will be tabling proposed language around teleworking. The current teleworking policy is subject to employer control. AUFA’s proposals seek to bring teleworking under the ambit of the contract with negotiated terms. AUFA’s proposals will also seek to level the playing field between professionals and academics.

Results

Most respondents (88%) indicated that they have an adequate home office set-up.

Respondents identified a number of needs if they are to work from home for any lengthy period of time, including:

• proper office equipment (particularly ergonomically appropriate chairs and desks),

• computer equipment (desktop computer, multiple screens, scanner, printer),

• adequate bandwidth (particularly for members in rural locations), and

• dedicated space within their home.

AU is presently providing employees newly working from home with $25 every two weeks (taxable) to defray costs. The teleworking procedure provides AUFA academic members with a $2000 set-up allowance and monthly allowances for telephone ($35), internet access ($52), and printer costs ($9) (all taxable). Academic members can also be reimbursed for office supplies and receive the forms required to deduct a portion of their household costs for income tax purposes.

A minority of respondents (28%) indicated that they were covering costs above AU’s stipends as a result of working from home.

These extra costs include office supplies, printer costs, computer peripherals that were not supplied, mobile phone data and long-distance charges, internet upgrade costs, and extra utility costs. Several members also indicated they paid out of pocket to purchase adequate office furnishings in order to work from home.

A minority of respondents indicated that they were experiencing health issues as a result of working from home. The health issues disclosed includes

• social isolation,

• a lack of structured breaks during the day,

• physical discomfort from inadequate office furnishings, and

• difficulties drawing boundaries between work and home (i.e., a sense of always working).

Some staff members also identified a high level of stress due to COVID-19, juggling multiple roles (e.g. work and childcare), and talk about possible layoffs. Others identified that the extra work associated with moving to home offices was taking a toll on their physical and mental health.

Half (50%) of respondents indicated that their work had become more difficult to manage during the pandemic.

Respondents identified the following sources of additional work:

• creating and managing alternative assessments

• shifting in-person courses to online,

• increasing administrative work due to higher registrations,

• responding to additional student questions and/or students in distress,

• adjusting processes and learning new systems,

• additional meetings, including meetings designed to monitor attendance, and

• difficulty coordinating work with colleagues due to (1) lack of face-to-face contact, and (2) their own workloads. 

A number of respondents also indicated that attempting to work while also managing family responsibilities while working was extremely demanding and making it much harder to work. Some respondents also expressed concern about how the institution would allocate the work of the (now 53) staff members who were planning on voluntarily leaving AU. 

A strong majority of respondents (78%) indicated that they are satisfied with their work from home arrangements made with their supervisor. Some respondents indicated that they have arranged for flexible scheduling and other accommodations. Members concerned about their arrangements are encouraged to contact the AUFA office to discuss their situation.  

Demographics

Reviewing the data by demographic information revealed the following:

• Professionals (n=50) and Academics (n=55) did not show substantive differences on most of the questions, with the exception of 18% of professionals had an inadequate home office setup

• Issues related to working from home were the most prevalent in smaller departments (n=15) with 40% showing both additional costs from working from home and an inadequate home office setup, and 33% with health issues from working from home

• Workload difficulty during the pandemic varied by department with Faculty of Health Disciplines showing the most issues and Faculty of Business showing the least.

Conclusion

While the unexpected move to home offices during the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed operations to continue, AUFA members have identified several concerns.

Some of these concerns are specific to the pandemic (e.g., increased workload, difficulty managing childcare, anxiety) and will hopefully resolve with time. In addition to accessing the support available through our benefits, members concerned about their working conditions or accommodations are encouraged to contact the AUFA office.

Other concerns (e.g., inadequate equipment, furnishings, and stipends) are longer term issues that AU will need to address as it moves towards a semi-virtual organization. These concerns are particularly important as AUFA goes into collective bargaining with a mandate to secure adequate remuneration for the costs of working from home for all AUFA members.

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped complete this survey so quickly. Several respondents noted that they appreciated the personal contact from the union. The committee looks forward to further member outreach as we prepare to face the challenges and opportunities of the coming year together.

Rhiannon Rutherford, Chair

AUFA Membership Engagement Committee