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Four in five civil servants should be at their desks for part of the week leading up to October, according to a letter from the UK’s top mandarins.
Heads of English government departments have been told that the government “now strongly encourages” increased workplace attendance by the end of this month, in a bid to get those who work for the state back to their offices. .
Many have been working from home as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
But the move has been criticized by unions, one saying it is impractical and an example of “signaling virtue,” and another threatening to explore legal or strike action.
It comes after criticism that not enough public officials have returned to work in their offices.
This is because businesses that depend on them for income are hit hard, younger staff members are not trained, and the ability of politicians to implement policies is potentially impaired.
The letter, written by outgoing Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill and Alex Chisholm, Chief Operating Officer, says: “We all recognize that this experience has been challenging for individuals and departments.
“There have been challenges in recruiting new or inexperienced colleagues and limitations in the ability to mentor and develop our people.
“This is reportedly more serious for people who do not have easy access to high-quality home work facilities.
“Departments that are still below their departmental limitations should now act quickly to try to bring more staff back to the office.”
The problem affecting civil servants is the same for office workers and some employees in other sectors, with recent mobile phone data showing that only around 17% of UK workers had returned to the office.
The Confederation of British Industry has warned that UK city centers face “ghost towns” if people do not return to their workplaces soon.
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Sir Mark said that departmental permanent secretaries, who run government departments, must allow “80% of staff to attend their regular workplace each week, for example 20% for five days, 30% for three days and 30% for two days, with the rest attending only occasionally for now. “
But the secretary general of the FDA, a union that represents public officials, said those goals would be difficult to achieve.
Dave Penman said office use in Whitehall was already “over-subscribed” even before the COVID-19 restrictions were introduced.
“There are two fundamental problems with this government approach,” Penman told BBC Radio 4’s Today show. “One is its practicality: government offices have a maximum capacity of around 50% due to COVID restrictions.
In an elevator, for example, you can have a maximum of two in offices of thousands of people ”.
Mr. Penman said the civil service had worked “effectively” since the pandemic began, despite 95% of staff working from home.
He added: “It is quite clear from the letter that was sent, this really is a sign of virtue to the private sector that has already moved forward.”
Another civil service union, the PCS, said it also strongly opposes the plan “to force thousands to work.”
PCS Secretary General Mark Serwotka said: “If the government or any employer starts forcing people to go back to work and we believe it is unsafe to do so, we will consider our legal options first, we will provide legal advice second. individual and, third, we will consider whether a collective response is required.
“As a last resort, if you have no other choice and people’s health and safety are at risk, of course we would be prepared to consider industrial action.”
