Angry comments as Minister suggests people who work from home are ‘watching TV’

Ministers could face a battle with unions over a drive to get more civil servants back into Whitehall.

One Cabinet minister has suggested that officials should have their pay docked if they refuse to return to the office after working from home for so long during the pandemic.

The comments were described as “insulting” by a civil service union chief, who said ministers should focus on whether public services are being delivered, rather than where civil servants are sitting.

The unnamed minister’s comments came as the Government stressed it would follow a “cautious” approach to civil servants returning to their offices, with departments able to be flexible in how the process is managed.

But what angered most people was the part of the article that read: “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.”

“‘I think people who want to get on in life will go into the office because that’s how people are going to succeed.”

The anonymous minister seems to have missed the research that says people are actually working longer hours at home than they were in the office.

Also MPs can claim £10,000 for additional office costs incurred as a result of the coronavirus.

The money can be used to buy additional equipment such as laptops and printers for staff having to work from home.

A Government spokesman said the approach would take advantage of the benefits of both office and home-based working across the UK.

But a Cabinet minister told the Daily Mail that civil servants who refuse to come into the office should face a pay cut.

“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,” the minister said.

“If people aren’t going into work, they don’t deserve the terms and conditions they get if they are going into work.”

Insulting

Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA civil service union, told the PA news agency: “These insulting comments from ministers and politicians only demonstrate that they are out of touch with modern working practices.

“Across the economy – in both the private and public sectors – employers are embracing hybrid working, which provides greater work-life balance for employees and reduced office costs for employers.

“Only last week, the Government announced that due to hybrid working, an additional eight Government departments could now move into the new civil service hub in Leeds.

“As the last 18 months has demonstrated, there are many tasks that can be done just as effectively whilst working remotely.

“Indeed, the Government’s own flagship Places for Growth strategy – moving civil service jobs out of London – was already predicated on at least 40% of these being done remotely, and that was before Covid.

“What should matter to ministers is whether public services are being delivered effectively, not where individual civil servants are sitting on a particular day.”