Warning to Whitehall staf f who use WFH to look af ter their children
CIVIL servants will be forced back into the office if they are found to be looking after their children when they are supposedly working from home, it can be revealed.
Staff at major government agencies have been warned against taking advantage of the new ‘hybrid working’ arrangements that allow them to spend only two or three days a week at their desks.
Internal HR policies obtained by the Daily Mail make clear that working remotely cannot be used as a way to avoid paying for childcare or putting in fewer hours, and that employees’ privileges can be removed if their performance is found to be suffering.
It comes after the minister responsible for ending ‘WFH’ culture raised the prospect of home-based staff losing the extra pay they receive for being based in the capital, known as ‘London weighting’.
Jacob Rees-Mogg wrote in The Mail on Sunday: ‘If people are not back in their office it will be fair to assume that the job does not need to be in London.’
He has been branded ‘passive-aggressive’ for patrolling Whitehall buildings and leaving notes behind in deserted offices but his approach was backed yesterday by Tory chairman Oliver Dowden.
Mr Dowden told Sky News: ‘If we really want to serve the British people best, one of the things we need to do is have that collaboration that comes from working in the office.
‘So, Jacob’s efforts are driven by getting the very best value for taxpayers and I support him in doing that.’
The Mail has revealed that dozens of public bodies have recently developed ‘hybrid working’ policies that only require staff to spend 40 per cent of their time in the office. But the documents also warn staff that they can be ordered back to their desks if they do not put in their full hours.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority – which requires staff to spend only three days a month in the office – states: ‘Anyone with caring responsibilities must be able to commit to the provision of sustainable caring substitution during their working periods. Working from home cannot be a substitute for care provision.’
The British Council – which pays home-working staff £18 a month towards their utility bills – says: ‘Employees should ensure they are contactable when working from home.
‘Employees with caring responsibilities must be able to separate out their domestic and work activities by arranging alternative care during agreed working hours when working from home.’
It warns: ‘If any issues arise... they will be discussed with the employee and managed in accordance with the relevant British Council policies.’
The Information Commissioner’s Office points out that ‘a manager is placing their trust in someone to work with less supervision’.
It states: ‘The ability to work at home may be withdrawn from an individual if there are concerns about performance.’
The data watchdog says they must remain ‘logged on’ and able to be contacted when working at home ‘in the same way as when office-based’.
The Parole Board says it can ‘withdraw approval for flexible working if they believe it is being abused’.
The Disclosure and Barring Service says managers will monitor remote working and ‘any issues will be addressed immediately and remote working may be withdrawn’.
‘Approval may be withdrawn’
at the peak of the pandemic, it was necessary and justified for taxpayer-funded civil servants to work from home.
But with Covid firmly behind us and the adult population overwhelmingly vaccinated, it is now safe to get together.
yet disgracefully, the left-wing Whitehall workforce is brazenly defying ministerial pleas to return to their desks.
If the nHS, transport and shop workers who risked their lives during lockdown had pouted like the privileged public sector ‘blob’, the country would have collapsed.
the civil service union (which, risibly, denounced the idea of going back to the office as ‘vindictive’) insists staff operate just as efficiently at home.
But that’s bilge. Working from a spare room is less productive. tasks take longer. telephone calls and emails go unanswered.
It is clear from the abysmal performance on issuing driving licences, visas for Ukrainian refugees and passports that we are being shortchanged.
efficiency minister Jacob rees-Mogg is spot on when he warns that those who refuse to return to Whitehall risk losing extra pay and perks.
Ministers have promised a cull of bloated civil servant numbers. If the troublemakers dig their heels in, they will only have themselves to blame when the axe falls.