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Working from home

To support staff as we work in lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic, the HR division has provided more useful guidance.

Many staff have had to adapt very quickly to new ways of working in order to follow Government guidelines recommending that staff, where possible, work from home.

Some staff who provide essential services to students living on campus are still working at the University, under carefully arranged restrictions.

We have provided a comprehensive set of Common questions  and Guidance for Managers  to enable them to support their teams in the best way.

Peter Brook, Acting HR director, said: “Colleagues have adapted quickly to new ways of working and we want to be to help them to continue to do that. 

"We understand this has been and continues to be a challenging time for staff and we hope this guidance will support staff to work remotely, or under new circumstances if they are working on campus delivering essential services for students.

“The common questions address what staff have been asking us and the guidance for managers will ensure we can continue to support our teams in the best possible way.”

In his regular View from the VC this week, Adam Tickell confirmed that the University is looking into whether the government’s furlough scheme could be used in certain situations.  The University is actively working on this and will be sharing more information soon.

If staff have any questions about the new HR guidance they should speak to their line manager. 

Other teams across the University have also been working hard to provide resources to make it easier for staff to work from home and support staff wellbeing.

These include:

Supporting you to work from home:

• ITS guidance on working and teaching remotely
• Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) training sessions – including - new online teaching and assessment webinar series
• Updated HR Common Questions 
• Guidance for Managers and Leaders 

Staff mental health and wellbeing:

• New wellbeing workshops for staff – including resilience and stress management training
• Video: meditation exercises by Christopher McDermott, Lead Chaplain
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

Support to keep physically fit:

• Sussexsport’s free online exercise classes
  
• How you can keep fit without leaving your house

Please keep an eye out on the Events channel so you can advantage of upcoming events to help support you through these next few weeks.