Maintaining integrity when working remotely

Your role as manager is important during this time as your staff look to you for guidance and direction.

While working remotely should be approached from a position of trust, you still need to oversee the work of your staff and ensure your agency’s resources and reputation are protected.

It is important to:

• make time for virtual team meetings and maintain open lines of communication with your staff
• specify working arrangements such as work hours and etiquette during virtual meetings (see also the Working remotely guide)
• reinforce that conduct expectations of your authority (its values and code of conduct) still apply
• record all assets (eg equipment) being used by your staff and remind them that they are not to be used by friends and family
• reassure your staff that any work, health and integrity concerns should be raised with you and will be dealt with accordingly
• discuss potential integrity risks including:
  • COVID-19 related scams
  • accessing inappropriate sites that put your authority’s data or information at risk
  • suppliers offering gifts and benefits in return for future work
• ensure approval processes, like leave and expenditure, are undertaken in a timely way
• act on any potential integrity risks that you observe or that are reported to you.
• remind staff that reporting avenues are still available in your authority and reports about misconduct can also be made to the Public Sector Commission (minor misconduct) and Corruption and Crime Commission (serious misconduct).

As an employee, you must uphold your authority’s ethical principles and values at all times. Your authority’s code of conduct still applies, along with the same level of professionalism, respect and duty of care.

It is important to:

• obtain appropriate approvals for working remotely and understand your obligations
• agree with your manager about remote supervision arrangements, including specific work outputs and team communications
• maintain confidentiality by
  • securing sensitive files
  • avoiding storing information on shared computers
  • not discussing confidential work with others
  • being aware of who is around when making calls or participating in virtual meetings
• keep your work and private life separate by not discussing work on social media or posting images of you working from home
• raise any potential conflicts of interest with your manager, for example, prior to undertaking work outside your authority (secondary employment)
• be mindful of cybersecurity, and do not open suspicious links or download apps and programs on work devices without authority
• alert your authority immediately of any security breaches
• know what information you are allowed to access and use it solely to help you with your work
• act within the powers and delegations provided to you
• continue to approach decision making as you would in person, by communicating with your team and talking through matters with them
• document the reasons for decisions, even if they need to be made quickly
• take good care of assets provided to you to do your work and store them securely
• be on the lookout for any unusual payment requests or requests by suppliers to change bank details, especially if you work in procurement or corporate services areas
• apply usual verifications measures for any purchases or transactions, and raise any concerns with your manager
• report anything that may be a breach of your authority’s code of conduct through your authority’s normal reporting channels.