‘Uncertainty’ puts the brakes on workers returning to the office

THE Government’s return-to-work plea was undermined by trade unions and employer groups yesterday, as they insisted productivity had improved as a result of working from home.

Under new guidance, which came into force on Saturday, businesses now have more power to ask their staff to return to the workplace.

But “back to work Monday” was largely ignored by commuters, and workers’ organisations insisted their members were better off at home.

Transport for London statistics for Monday morning revealed that Tube journeys had increased by just 6 per cent on the previous week and were still 25 per cent of pre-covid levels.

Meanwhile, one third of employers claimed that working from home had increased productivity in a survey conducted by CIPD.

David D’souza, the membership director for the professional HR body, told The Daily Telegraph: “Our research shows that [most] employers believe productivity hasn’t been impacted or has improved during lockdown.

“There’s no strong rationale for lots of people to be working in an office environment, particularly when it’s potentially dangerous.

“The idea that the default is that people have to commute and have to go into the office is an unhelpful one, especially when we’ve [seen] a rise in the number of coronavirus cases.”

Boris Johnson took the decision last week to put the breaks on further lockdown easing plans such as reopening ice rinks and restarting close contact beauty services.

To counter rising cases, the Prime Minister also banned people from visiting other households in significant areas of the North.

A spokesman for the Trades Union Congress said: “We would like to see as many people back in work as possible but the infection rate is rising and we’ve got to be cautious.

“We’ve seen what happened in Leicester, when employers have not been safe about returning to work.”

Last month, Alok Sharma, the Business Secretary, pledged to investigate claims that garment factories in Leicester had ordered sick employees to carry on working amid fears such practices had led to a surge of cases in the city.

There are concerns that the trend for home working will last after the coronavirus pandemic, putting thousands of businesses dependent on passing office and commuter trade at risk.

The Institute of Directors (IOD) believes that four fifths of businesses plan to keep flexible working in the future.

Edwin Morgan, the Iod’s director of policy, said that it was hard for businesses to know “whether they’re coming or going”.

“With so much uncertainty, not least around public transport and childcare, [companies] may have to shelve plans for a full return to the office,” he said.

Despite the changing government guidance, many civil service departments also chose not to implement a widespread return to work yesterday.

As many as four fifths of civil servants are currently working from home, with a source in one department noting that 99 per cent of staff had continued to stay away.

Alex Chisholm, the head of the Civil Service, told all permanent secretaries last week that it was time to “accelerate the return to the workplace”.

However, the move has been criticised by civil service unions, who accused Downing Street of using officials to “virtue-signal” to the private sector.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We have removed from the guidance the default that people should work from home where they can. Individual permanent secretaries and civil servants should [discuss] about how best they can be working.”

‘We would like to see [people back in work] but the infection rate is rising and we’ve got to be cautious’