Civil servants who work from home and refuse to return to office should have their pay CUT, minister warns
CIVIL servants who work from home and refuse to come back to the office should have their wages slashed, a minister has warned.
A senior minister has reportedly said it's unfair that those still at home should get the same benefits as those commuting in.
It comes as bosses at one department said they were struggling to get their civil servants to return to their desks for just one day a week.
A source told the : "People who have been working from home aren't paying their commuting costs so they have had a de facto pay rise, so that is unfair on those who are going into work.
"If people aren't going into work, they don't deserve the terms and conditions they get if they are going into work."
One Whitehall department is expected to order staff to work from the office for at least three days a week by October.
A source at the unnamed department told : “We are significantly concerned at the lack of people coming into the office.
“We are monitoring attendance. We will be mandating people to return from the start of September.
“It might not be every day of the week but at least two to three days a week by October."
BACK TO REALITY
One unnamed cabinet minister is leading efforts to scale back remote working and has said that career prospects could suffer as a result of continuing to work from home.
The minister said: “There doesn’t seem to be a great enthusiasm to get back to work.
“But people will find that those who get on in life are those who turn up to work.”
The minister said people should be "keen to get back to normal", adding that it was difficult to know whether someone at home was working or watching television.
"There is suspicion that some people have spent the last 15 months working from home but haven't actually been doing very much."
"I think people who want to get on in life will go into the office because that's how people are going to succeed," they said.
Whitehall departments are being allowed to decide individually how quickly they want their staff to come back to the office.
The Department of Health and Social Care has reportedly abandoned plans for its civil servants to be back at their desks between four and eight days a month from September.
Meanwhile, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is encouraging its staff to return, something sources said had so far not proven difficult because many are young and keen to be back.
Civil servants need to get off their backsides and into the office and they need to do it pretty quickly
Sir Iain Duncan Smith
It is understood that Whitehall managers have pointed out to civil servants that they receive "London weighting" – a salary boost to cover the additional costs of working in the capital.
Tory grandee Sir Iain Duncan Smith said last night: "Civil servants need to get off their backsides and into the office and they need to do it pretty quickly."
He said there should be an end to home working as a "default" as the office is more creative and "fosters better mental health".
He added: "Managers can't manage properly, companies aren't as effective, income goes down – go back to the office."
Sir Iain, a former party leader, also suggested London weighting should be scrapped for home workers. "If you're not travelling anywhere you don't carry any extra cost," he said.
But Dave Penman, of the FDA union which represents senior civil servants, said: "Ministers don't need to create a fake conflict with the civil service over the return to workplaces, where there is none.
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"The vast majority want hybrid working, with a balance between time in the office and time working from home."
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A Government spokesman said last night: "The civil service continues to follow the latest Government guidance, and is gradually and cautiously increasing the number of staff working in the office."
The move is at odds with public opinion, with a majority in favour of staff having a legal right to work from home permanently according to a poll by YouGov.