11.4.3 Allow remote working
Remote Working (Work From Home) for Employees at Srinakharinwirot University
Srinakharinwirot University (SWU) allows telecommuting and remote working for its employees. The University permits staff to work from home (Work From Home, WFH) through university-level measures, and it provides digital tools that enable remote working as part of standard practice. By allowing employees to work remotely, SWU helps to protect staff well-being and to reduce employee commuting to its campuses. SWU’s approach is based on remote working rather than a condensed working week.
1) University measure allowing remote working in 2025
On 22 January 2025 (B.E. 2568), the Office of the President (Human Resources Division) issued Memorandum No. อว 8702.2/500 on “Guidelines for Responding to the PM2.5 Fine Particulate Matter Problem”, signed by the Acting President of the University. Following the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s warning about PM2.5 levels, which affect public health, the University recognised the importance of the health and safety of its pupils, students and employees.
The memorandum allowed vice presidents and heads of units to consider or permit employees under their supervision to switch to Work From Home (WFH), or to adjust teaching and learning activities, on a case-by-case basis on 23–24 January 2025. Units were also asked to advise pupils, students and employees to wear masks that protect against PM2.5, and to avoid outdoor activities and outdoor teaching, or to keep outdoor work to what is necessary. These arrangements must not affect the rights of employees, university services or the interests of the University.
By allowing employees to work from home during these days, the measure protected staff health and also reduced employee commuting to the campus.
Figure 1. SWU Memorandum No. อว 8702.2/500 dated 22 January 2025: Guidelines for Responding to the PM2.5 Fine Particulate Matter Problem, allowing employees to Work From Home (WFH).
Source: Office of the President, Human Resources Division, Srinakharinwirot University
As the PM2.5 situation continued, the University issued the Srinakharinwirot University Announcement on “Measures to Respond to the PM2.5 Fine Particulate Matter Situation”, dated 26 January 2025 (B.E. 2568) and signed by the Acting President, which extended the measures to 27–31 January 2025. The announcement allowed vice presidents and heads of units to use their discretion to instruct employees to work from home (WFH), or to hold teaching and other activities online, as appropriate, provided that service users were not affected. Employees assigned or permitted to work from home had to remain available for contact and instructions from their supervisors and maintain work discipline, while staff working on site were closely supervised. Outdoor activities were to be avoided and outdoor work limited to essential cases. The announcement was also published publicly on the official Facebook page “SWU Maimeejut” on 27 January 2025.
Figure 2. Srinakharinwirot University Announcement on Measures to Respond to the PM2.5 Fine Particulate Matter Situation, dated 26 January 2025, allowing employees to Work From Home (WFH) on 27–31 January 2025.
Source: Srinakharinwirot University
Figure 3. Public post of the announcement on the “SWU Maimeejut” Facebook page, 27 January 2025.
Source: SWU Maimeejut Facebook page, post of 27 January 2025 – [https://web.facebook.com/share/p/19YQbPnqU3/]
2) Digital tools supporting remote working
The SWU Computer Center publishes public guidelines for working or studying from home. These guidelines list the tools that support remote working for staff: SWU VPN for remote access to university information systems, CL OpenAthens for access to the Central Library’s electronic resources, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams for online communication, and Google Workspace for Education and Microsoft 365 for collaboration. These tools allow employees to work remotely when remote working is permitted.
Figure 4. SWU Computer Center web page “Tools for Work or Teaching and Learning: Work from Home & Learn from Home”, listing remote working tools such as SWU VPN for staff.
Source: SWU Computer Center – Guidelines for working or studying from home: https://cc.swu.ac.th/knowledge/wfh ; SWU VPN: https://cc.swu.ac.th/services/vpn
Through these measures and tools, SWU promotes and allows telecommuting and remote working for employees, supporting staff health and well-being and reducing employee commuting, in line with SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).