Hundreds of staff at the Office for National Statistics have voted to extend their industrial action over a demand to spend 40% of their time in the office.
Members of the PCS union at the ONS voted to extend a strike mandate put in place last year by six months.
Around 1,100 PCS members at the organisation have been taking action short of a strike since last May by refusing to comply with the attendance policy, which was announced last April. Until that point, ONS staff could decide how much of their working time to spend in the office and how much at home. PCS said ONS leadership had “repeatedly reassured” staff that this would continue.
Staff have been working to rule since 27 August.
The action, which also includes a refusal to work overtime, out of hours and out of grade, has spanned the organisation’s offices in London, Darlington, Manchester, Edinburgh, Newport and Titchfield in Hampshire.
The campaign escalated in October when union members voted to strike over the in-office requirement.
The ballot result comes after an unsuccessful attempt by the arbitration and conciliation service ACAS to broker a resolution to the dispute.
Nearly three-quarters (71%) of eligible members participated in the ballot, with 68% backing strike action and 91% voting to take action short of a strike.
Strike dates have yet to be announced, but union members will continue to take action short of a strike and work to rule in the meantime.
In its announcement, the union said the action to date had “had no tangible impact on the ONS’s outputs, proving PCS's argument that there was nothing to be gained by the attendance policy change”.
Extending the strike mandate by six months will enable PCS to ratchet up the pressure on ONS management over the 40% in-office demand, it said.
PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “This is the third time we’ve won a ballot in this dispute and participation has increased considerably each time, reflecting the growing resolve among PCS members at ONS to not accept arbitrary office attendance targets.
“These targets do nothing to improve productivity and everything to disrupt the lives of ONS staff. This refreshed mandate will allow our members to continue to blend office and home-working arrangements to best suit the needs of their work and their teams.”
An ONS spokesperson said: "We regard the continued industrial action as unreasonable given our highly flexible approach to hybrid working, and our ongoing discussions in good faith on this issue.
"Face-to-face interaction helps people to build working relationships and supports collaboration, innovation and learning."