Short-term Working Abroad for Personal Reasons

Overview

UKRI is currently running a trial to facilitate short-term remote working abroad for compassionate reasons, which is restricted to citizens of EU countries. Collecting views from staff who are both eligible and ineligible is incredibly important, as this will enable us to:

• learn from colleague experiences in participating in the trial, in order to help improve it and inform next steps
• advocate for an extension of the opportunity beyond the EU.

According to UKRI workforce statistics, 16.7% (1389) of staff based in the UK are non-UK nationals, with .3% (24) being dual citizens (as of 15 January 2024). This is not a marginal number. And we believe that all staff who have family and friends abroad should be eligible for reasonable international remote working for the benefit of their family life, connecting with friends and caring responsibilities. 

Not only that, policies already exist in several government departments, arms-length bodies, and other organisations allowing staff to work from abroad in several circumstances which are broader than those offered by UKRI. This indicates that the identified risks are not insurmountable.

Your views are incredibly important to help us in our advocacy efforts, to support colleagues looking to apply, and to improve the process. Responses will be treated as confidential unless you have opted in for your experience to be shared as a case study. If you do not wish to share details in free text boxes, please note 'N/A'. Information will be stored in accorance to UKRI's data protection policy. Thank you!