Civil servants have said that coming into the office three days a week is harming productivity, as politicians urge Whitehall staff to come back full-time.
Sir Chris Wormald, the head of the civil service, has backed the requirement that workers be in the office 60 per cent of the week, calling it “about right”.
His comments put him both at odds with MPs calling for more stringent rules, and also Whitehall staff who have slammed the policy as an act of “presenteeism”.
Under the previous Conservative Government, civil servants were required to come into the office for three days a week.
Civil servants have said that working from home allows them to be more productive
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Whilst Labour said upon coming to power that they did not mind where they worked, they decided to maintain the 60 per rule after top civil servants stressed it was needed to get people back into the office.
A survey by the FDA, a union which represents civil servants and public service professionals, found that 78 of those surveyed said the change had not been beneficial.
Workers unhappy with the policy said a shortage of desks and quiet working spaces made it harder to complete tasks.
However, Wormald has since insisted that the rule was not being reviewed.
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A survey by the FDA, a union which represents civil servants and public service professionals, found that 78 of those surveyed said the change had not been beneficial
PA
During an appearance before the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, he said: “We’ve set a policy and we intend to stick to it.”
He said that the policy allows “people time face-to-face with their colleagues, which is very important. It’s particularly important for new entrants … but also gives some people some flexibility”.
Wormald added: “We’ve got no plans to change that policy, so I think we’ve hit roughly the right balance.”
“However, as I said before, there’s very much a horses-for-courses part for this. We are not saying every single department, every single building, you are flat rate doing that thing,” he said, adding that individual departments are allowed to make decisions on what is best for each team.
Sir Chris Wormald, the head of the civil service, has backed the requirement that workers be in the office 60 per cent of the week, calling it ‘about right’
PA
Dave Penman, the FDA general secretary, has said that whilst civil servants “do not oppose office work”, they want the focus to be shifted on “what they do, not where they do it”.
“They oppose top-down blanket mandates applied to over 500,000 staff in 200 different organisations that only deliver a culture of presenteeism,” he said.
In December, it was revealed that Civil Service attendance has fallen since Labour won power with 13 different Government departments recording a drop in employees stationed at their desks.
Key departments including the Treasury, Housing and Justice are seeing fewer staff at their desks after just three months of Labour Government.
This trend emerges despite the private sector moving in the opposite direction, with Britain’s largest companies now requiring staff to spend 50 per cent more time in the office compared to last year.