ONS Staff to Ignore Order to Work in Office 2 Days a Week

Almost 1,200 employees of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) will indefinitely ignore an order for them to work in the office for two days a week in an industrial action starting next month.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union said many of its members already willing spend more time in the office, but there’s “widespread upset about the arbitrary nature of the new directive.”

In March, the union balloted its members at the ONS. About 73.45 percent voted in favour of strike, and 83.84 percent supported action short of strike, on a 50 percent turn out, PSC said earlier this month.

On Friday, the union said ONS staff based in Newport in South Wales, Titchfield in Hampshire, London, Darlington, Manchester, and Edinburgh will “take indefinite industrial action from May 8, meaning they will not comply with a new instruction to spend at least 40 percent of their time in the office.”

In a statement, PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Our members are a highly skilled and capable workforce and they deserve to be treated as such, showing for several years they can successfully manage hybrid working.

“The new policy threatens serious disruption, especially for staff with childcare and other caring responsibilities, and those who live a considerable distance from their designated office.

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“The workforce at ONS is spread across the UK, meaning that regardless of where staff perform their work, most meetings and collaboration must have a virtual presence.

“Mandated office attendance removes the flexibility and trust that was promised to staff by senior leaders, which staff understandably shaped their lives around, for the sake of meeting an unnecessary attendance percentage.”

According to the latest figures published by the Cabinet Office, the civil service headquarters occupancy rates of different government departments ranged between 60 percent and 96 percent in the week commencing April 15.

In a speech made in January, Minister for the Cabinet Office John Glen said he had set out the expectation for staff to be in the office at least 60 percent of the time, and that senior civil servants needed to set an example as leaders.

The minister said there had been “consistent poor performance in a very small minority of staff” which frustrated their colleagues, and that better management and working from the office can help resolve the issue.

According to PSC, there had been no requirement for ONS staff to spend a certain amount of time in offices until January this year, and staff were given “regular reassurances” that the arrangements would remain unchanged.

The union said staff were told in November 2023 that they would have to come in for at least 20 percent of their working time from January, and at least 40 percent from April.

Opening the ballot on March 13, the union also said “while the planned minimum attendance requirement is lower than the 60 [percent] soon to be required by many other civil service employers, the sudden change has caused anger among staff demoralised by the lack of trust and the need for rapid changes to their childcare and other arrangements.”

The union, along with its sister unions Prospect and FDA, argued the new policy was not necessary, maintaining that the post-pandemic arrangements at ONS “have been an example of best practice in flexible and sustainable ways of working—reflected in the awards and recognition won by the organisation.”

PSC hit out at management for not presenting an “evidence-based business case” for telling staff to go back to the office and said they have rejected the unions’ request to delay the rule change.

An ONS spokesperson told The Epoch Times earlier this month that there are “ robust plans in place across the organisation to mitigate against disruption and maintain essential services should any industrial action take place.”