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Guidance: Hybrid working

  1. Section 01
    Introduction to hybrid working
  2. Section 02
    Hybrid working — the quick guide
  3. Section 03
    Considering your approach to hybrid working
  4. Section 04
    Hybrid working — all the detail
    1. 4.1
      Part 1: Context for hybrid working
    2. 4.2
      Part 2: Factors to consider when designing a hybrid work environment
    3. 4.3
      Part 3: What work needs to be kanohi ki te kanohi/face to face?
    4. 4.4
      Part 4: Implementing hybrid working to ensure productivity
  5. Appendix
    Appendix A: Working overseas
  6. Appendix
    Appendix B: Model Team Charter
  7. Appendix
    Appendix C: Assessing the level of work to be done kanohi ki te kanohi
  8. Appendix
    Appendix D: How much work can be done from home or remotely?
  9. Appendix
    Appendix E: Setting expectations for hybrid work and the SMART model
  10. Section 10
    Appendix F: Hybrid working case study — ACC
  11. Appendix
    Appendix G: Further reading related to hybrid working
28 September 2022

This guidance is currently being reviewed to ensure it aligns with Government expectations as announced on Monday 23 September.

Hybrid work is where staff who can and want to, work some of their time in the office and some of the time at home. Agencies are not required to develop a hybrid working policy but should use this guidance to inform their approaches.

Executive summary

This guidance is based on the professional and academic literature about hybrid working. 

Agencies can also apply the guidance to circumstances where people work in a different city/region to the main location of their organisation or team. It is not staff permanently working outside of Aotearoa. 

Key points:

  • Hybrid work is a type of flexible work, and needs to be applied consistently with the flexible-by-default guidance. 
  • Agreements with individual staff will continue to be covered by flexible working policies. Agreements should be regularly reviewed. 
  • The work comes first in determining who can work in a hybrid way, because the Public Service must deliver services to New Zealand. 
  • Hybrid work is not available or suitable for everyone, but it can support Māori Crown relations, and inclusion and diversity. 
  • Agencies need to take an organisation-wide approach to hybrid working.  
  • Agencies need to consider their security requirements, including best practice under the Protective Security Requirements framework. 
  • Agencies need to provide working space for workers whose preference is to be in the office or whose home environments don’t support working from home.  
  • Hybrid teams need to talk about and agree how they’ll work together. 
  • Some work is best done kanohi ki te kanohi | face to face, particularly where the work is new, ambiguous or requires the input of more than one team member.   
  • Agencies should continue to regularly monitor their organisational performance against the indicators they already have in place.  
  • Normal performance management practices such as setting clear expectations, are the key to ensuring individual productivity. 
  2. Section 01
    Introduction to hybrid working