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Guidance for those impacted by the removal of VPN access

28 Jun 2023

A message from Adèle MacKinlay, Director of People and Organisational Development

Guidance - removal of VPN access

As part of our University's response to the recent cyber incident (https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/news/display/?id=29914), an important decision was taken to remove off-campus VPN access (https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/news/display/?id=29930) on all University accounts.

This is a necessary safeguarding measure, and we recognise that it will impact some of our colleagues as they may no longer be able to undertake all or part of their roles remotely. From now until August, which is when we anticipate this downtime will be concluded, colleagues may be required to spend more days working on campus if needed to carry out some or all of their duties.

We want to reinforce that this is a temporary measure and will only be in place for as long as absolutely necessary.   This does not mark a permanent change to the hybrid and remote working arrangements that were established as part of the University’s Hybrid Working Framework.  We remain firmly committed to the ways of working described within this framework.

We recognise that this temporary change in the way we work may cause some challenges for colleagues, whether that be health and wellbeing concerns or logistical ones due to transport and caring responsibilities. We are asking that teams work together during this period of disruption to navigate this temporary change and exercise flexibility to ensure we can continue to operate to the best of our abilities.

We encourage colleagues and managers to have an open dialogue to determine the most appropriate temporary arrangements for them and their wider team.

Examples of temporary adjustments may be:

  • Limited workspace/ resources: Give consideration as to whether all team members require VPN access to do their roles and need to be on campus at the same time? Is it feasible to put a rota in place to minimise the times/days when colleagues are required on campus?
  • On campus rota: It may be less problematic for some colleagues to attend campus than others in their team. In such situations consider whether it is possible for team members to arrange to swap tasks in the short term. This will enable those who can attend campus to fulfil any duties that would otherwise require VPN access, and those who may struggle to attend campus to work on alternative pieces of work remotely.  Consider if a putting an “on campus” rota in place would help ensure fairness across the team.
  • Temporary flexible working arrangements: Colleagues may need to temporarily amend their working hours for an agreed period and work outside of core hours. It is important that they are supported in doing so where possible e.g. splitting their day to help with travel difficulties/pre-existing childcare/caring arrangements. Similarly, colleagues may want to consider asking that their working pattern is flexed on a temporary basis to reduce the number of days they are required on campus, e.g. compressed hours. For the period of this disruption, any such temporary arrangements would not need to be via a formal flexible working request form.
  • Prioritisation: Identify activity/pieces of work that require VPN access that can be put on hold or postponed, prioritising vital work versus ‘a nice to have.’
  • Meeting timings: Be considerate when scheduling meetings and setting durations as some colleagues may need to leave earlier than normal to ensure they can still meet any pre-existing caring arrangements.
  • Travel arrangements: Colleagues may be impacted by travel arrangements or public transport. Consider if colleagues potentially need to work shorter days on-campus to accommodate this for a temporary period.
  • Annual leave/ special leave: If colleagues will still struggle to attend campus and are unable to do their role remotely after all other options have been considered, then management may want to explore for colleagues to take annual leave/special leave.  

Please speak to your line manager if you have any concerns and they will do their best to help colleagues navigate these. Colleagues can also access a wealth of support via our wellbeing page on StaffNet or our Employee Assistance Programme.  

Thank you again for your support during this critical time. We will continue to provide updates when we have further information to share.

Adèle MacKinlay

Director of People and Organisational Development

More information

  • Our guidance and information page has been updated with relevant frequently asked questions about this topic, taking into account questions asked during recent open meetings (https://www.manchester.ac.uk/cyber-incident/).