Civil servants who refuse to return to the office should be paid less than those back at their desks, a Cabinet minister has suggested. While the Government has recommended employees make a 'gradual return' to offices over the summer, a senior minister - who preferred to remain anonymous - has told the Mail it is unfair that those still at home should get the same benefits as those commuting in.
The minister commented:
“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.”
According to the Mail, the minister said people should be “keen to get back to normal”, and 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,” they added.
Whitehall departments are reportedly being allowed to decide individually how quickly they want their staff to come back to the office, while a source in another department, who asked not to be named to avoid a revolt, told The Times they would be mandating a return to the office from September after struggling to persuade civil servants to return just one day a week.
It is reported that in discussions about returning to the office, some 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.
The comments come after Tory grandee Sir Iain Duncan Smith said, “If you're not travelling anywhere, you don't carry any extra cost. Civil servants need to get off their backsides and into the office and they need to do it pretty quickly,” and the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, said it would be “really beneficial” for young people in particular to work from office buildings, and cautioned against remote working being allowed to become the norm.
The comments are in stark contrast to calls last month by Labour MP Tulip Siddiq to introduce a Flexible Working Bill, which would mean all staff would be entitled to flexible working from day one of employment. At present, employees must have worked for the same employer for a minimum of 26 weeks to be eligible to make a flexible working request. Under the new Bill, employers would be required to offer flexible working arrangements in employment contracts and to explain what flexibility is available when advertising job vacancies.