Jacob Rees-Mogg has threatened to tighten down on “flexitime” work schedules that allow civil officials to put in about five fewer hours each week than the average for the country while still receiving full pay.
A formal Whitehall-wide examination of the agreement was required by the minister for government efficiency because, in his opinion, it is most certainly a waste of tax dollars.
Given that they are putting in 37.5 hours per week and working outside of core hours in the middle of the day, employees who choose to work flextime are entitled to significant overtime pay.
According to a report by Eurostat, the statistical arm of the European Union, the average work week in the UK is 42.5 hours.
Some employees have cited the system’s advantages as helping them attain a better work-life balance.
However, MPs claim that flextime employees shirk duties, leaving those who depend on government services with “poor end products.”
Rees-Mogg added that Whitehall has “a culture of wastefulness” and that woke indoctrination is “intended to divide individuals or talk the country down.”
Rees-Mogg said yesterday in an interview with The Telegraph that “working with others is beneficial for everyone” and “would imply more job satisfaction for civil employees.”
“For this reason, I am requesting that the Cabinet Office report on the amount of flextime and requesting that secretaries of state do the same in their departments.”
Additionally, he said to The Sun: “I work with some good civil employees who are cost-conscious, but I see the pervasive evidence of a culture of wastefulness.”
Whitehall hasn’t given efficiency the attention it deserves.
I’ve always known there was a problem with waste, but after taking on the role of minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency at the beginning of the year, I quickly saw how poorly money can be spent.
“Unfortunately, it’s not just that money is squandered; it’s what it’s wasted on that’s so detrimental to our society,” says one author.
“This increasingly means divisive woke agendas aimed to divide people against one another or speak the country down.”
Meanwhile, Conservative MP Philip Davies lamented the backlogs in important government agencies and blamed flextime employment.
We can’t have these types of working techniques when the end product for so many people who rely on them is so awful, he added.
“Whether it’s passports, driving licences, or visas, the whole thing has been quite poor,” he said.
According to the Cabinet Office, “even though the vast majority of public servants do not have flexible work schedules, such arrangements enable the Civil Service to attract a range of brilliant and capable individuals who may have care obligations or disabilities.”
These agreements are always subject to rigorous vetting procedures.
The Daily Mail recently reported that hundreds of civil officials have been given permanent permission to work from home, meaning they would never have to go back to the office.
According to official statistics, the number of government employees with special “home-working” contracts has almost tripled since the pandemic.
In the Cabinet Office, which is supposed to spearhead the effort to get civil servants back to their desks, the number increased by more than twice as much, from 30 to 62.
Taxpayers are tired of the unfair treatment they receive from the government, according to Elliot Keck of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, who received the information under the Freedom of Information Act.
Whitehall home workers are becoming more prevalent despite the fact that Central London real estate is vacant and public sector salary is higher than private sector pay.
Officials must find savings if mandarins insist on going remote for the long haul.
According to the most recent statistics, only the Ministry of Defence’s headquarters were more than two thirds full during the last week of July, with 71% of its workforce present.
With a 27% occupancy rate, the Scotland Office was the least populated.
Rees-Mogg has spearheaded the campaign against WFH by placing notes on vacant Whitehall desks and requesting that politicians tell government servants to report back to work.
Most federal officials, according to the Cabinet Office, work in offices.
Those who want to work from home continuously must request a contract change from their line manager, and it will only be accepted under specific circumstances.
For instance, employees whose jobs need them to handle sensitive papers cannot always work from home.
Those who are approved to work from home on a contract basis must complete a six-month trial period and have a specific room designated as their office.
Some blame the Covid-19 pandemic, which made flexible work schedules and WFH contracts popular, for the significant backlogs that have developed as the number of passports lost by the Home Office almost tripled last year.
Between January 1 and October 31 of 2021, 312 passports were “proven lost,” compared to just 111 over the entire year of 2020.
The figure for 2018 will be made public next month, but losses are now estimated to have exceeded the 168 lost passports in 2019 (the year before Covid hit).
The Passport Office is reportedly in “disarray” and bringing “misery” to tourists due to a lack of employees, according to the Telegraph.
People are still complaining about protracted delays in receiving their travel documents, which have ruined many families’ vacation plans.