Keir Starmer has backed flexible-working arrangements, saying a “culture of presenteeism” can damage productivity.
The Labour government’s plan for workers’ rights – which is due within the party’s first 100 days in power – will recognise the importance of home working, a No.10 spokesperson said yesterday.
Speaking to reporters, Starmer’s spokesperson said: “A culture of presenteeism can be damaging to productivity.
“So it's about making sure that we have the right balance of making the most of the flexible working practices that we saw following the pandemic, but also having appropriate arrangements in place to ensure that people can stay productive.”
However, it will be up to individual employers to determine whether staff must work from the office, the spokesperson said, as “people’s roles will vary”.
Ministers have not yet set out their expectations for civil servants’ working arrangements. Earlier this month, junior Cabinet Office minister Georgia Gould said the government had “not yet reviewed existing guidance on home working”.
"The government is committed to supporting individuals and businesses to work in ways that best suit their particular circumstances and whilst terms and conditions relating to hours of work are delegated to departments as individual employers, the civil service must ensure that it provides value for money for the public,” she added.
Labour's “new deal for working people” will also include the “right to switch off”, which will set out a code of practice on contacting employees outside of their contracted hours.
"The focus behind that is on improving productivity,” the No.10 spokesperson said. “Good employers understand that for workers to stay motivated and productive they do need to be able to switch off.”
They added that the culture of presenteeism – in which employees are expected to demonstrate that they are working by being physically present at a particular location – is damaging both “in relation to after hours or to an extent that means that you develop burnout”.
“It’s about ensuring that we’re not inadvertently blurring the lines between work and home life and about ensuring that people have some time to rest,” the spokesperson added.
“Obviously the pandemic led to a step change in the kinds of technologies that enabled more flexible and remote working practices that enabled more people to work from home.
“But also in doing so, it means that you can deliver more of your work whenever and you don’t need to be in the office.”
While in opposition, Labour indicated civil servants would be expected to comply with a rule brought in last year – first reported by CSW – requiring them to spend 60% of their time in the office.
Shortly before the 4 July election, Jonathan Ashworth, then shadow paymaster general, said it was “sensible that civil servants are in the office and at their desks” and that he was confident that the “impartial civil service” would want to “turn their mind to that agenda as well”.
Last week, the PCS union announced it would escalate a dispute with the Office for National Statistics over its office-attendance policy.
ONS staff in the union have been taking action short of strike since May by refusing to comply with a policy introduced the previous month requiring them to spend at least 40% of their hours in the office.
They will step up action by working to rule from 27 August.
The union has said the policy “does nothing to improve efficiency but robs staff of the flexibility to manage childcare and other domestic responsibilities and forces them to undertake unnecessary – and often very lengthy – journeys to carry out work that they could have done from home, often via virtual meetings with colleagues in other offices”.