Valkas municipality adds remote work to retain specialists

Valkas municipality will allow some administrative employees to work from home for up to two days a week, LSM reported. Rising fuel prices are one reason for the decision, while municipalities elsewhere in the Vidzeme region take different approaches to remote work.

Remote work had been available to Valkas municipality employees only during the Covid-19 pandemic. The municipality now hopes the more flexible arrangement will help retain existing staff and fill vacancies that have become harder to recruit for.

Valkas municipal executive director Valdis Šaicāns said remote work could partly compensate for salaries that were not competitive in many fields and increase employees’ loyalty to the municipality. Candidates regularly ask about remote work during job interviews, he said.

Many municipal employees travel to work from distant locations, Šaicāns said. Working from home could provide them with a financial benefit because of fuel costs, while the municipality would also save small amounts on electricity and other office expenses.

In Cēsis municipality, remote work has continued since the pandemic and can be used at least partly by about 40 percent of employees. The arrangement can be withdrawn if a manager finds that an employee is missing deadlines, cannot be reached or has prompted complaints, said Cēsis municipal executive director Līga Medne.

Valmiera municipality has taken a more cautious approach. It treats remote work as a special work organisation regime, and it is currently available to about 10 specialists, or less than one percent of municipal employees.