Council staff have been asked to give up their festive holidays to help out in a crisis.
Renfrewshire Council has a back-up plan to put the County on emergency footing when key workers go off sick with the virus or have to go into isolation.
Staff who have booked time off - and all teachers who always get Christmas and New Year off - have been asked to volunteer for service.
The rare call-up has the full backing of trade unions and is a clear signal council top brass expect to be impacted.
They say it is likely the council “will experience a temporary reduction of available workforce across all services”.
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And a message to workers says: “It’s important that we all work together to make sure we can manage any reduction carefully and prioritise resource to support services that are critical to our communities.”
It will mean workers switching roles and helping out colleagues in strategic jobs such as assisting at booster centres, providing care to vulnerable residents as well as cleaning, catering and even rubbish bin collecting.
Bosses of council departments have pinpointed which operations can be suspended so workers can be released from their normal roles if they are already working over the holidays.
The Council said: “We are also asking colleagues, who may have booked leave over the festive period, to please volunteer to work at any point over the holiday period.
“Over the next few weeks, we may require additional resource to help run our vaccination centres and also support the delivery of some critical services.
“Colleagues who volunteer will get information on job roles and can select the service area or role they feel best able to support.
“They will get training, equipment and ongoing support.”
Meanwhile white collar staff who work at the Renfrewshire House HQ have been told the latest government restrictions mean they cannot book desks for work and meetings.
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