The UK government has said that a “culture of presenteeism” among workers has damaged productivity, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer subsequently backing working from home to reverse this.
‘Presenteeism’ refers to the practice of businesses introducing a minimum number of days that an employee should be in the office per week or month, but there are questions on whether this tactic actually improves productivity.
The government also wants to introduce the "right to switch off", which would set out a code of practice on contacting employees outside of working hours.
RTO mandates failing
Both working from home and the right to switch off are aimed at tackling a single goal. “The focus behind that is on improving productivity,” Sir Keir’s spokesman said. “Good employers understand that for workers to stay motivated and productive they do need to be able to switch off and a culture of presenteeism can be damaging to productivity.”
“So it’s about making sure we have the right balance between making the most of the flexible working practices that we saw following the pandemic, with also having appropriate arrangements in place to ensure that people can stay productive,” he concluded.
A recent analysis by Flex Index (via ITPro) also found that just 3% of firms have a full-time return to office mandate, whereas 79% of firms offer fully flexible working. Just 18% are mandating which days their workers have to be in the office.
The governments working from home policy would however depend on individual business needs as “people’s roles will vary.” The Conservative party has questioned whether policies such as these would apply to civil servants and government advisors, criticising the PM that the rules Sir Keir imposed on businesses would not apply to his own staff.
“Expected working hours are set out for all Cabinet Office employees in their terms and conditions of employment,” Cabinet Office minister Georgia Gould said in response.
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