Public servants, the Government wants you back in the office

Monday, 23 September 2024

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Public servants are being asked to spend more time in the office, with guidance being updated to make clear working from home is “not an entitlement”, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says.

Willis took questions about the announcement at a post-Cabinet press conference on Monday afternoon at the Beehive.

Willis says she wants to see more public servants come into their workplace every day, citing effects of widespread working from home arrangements on team culture and engagement, on young recruits who benefited from face-to-face time, as well as effects on Wellington’s CBD.

She said public sector workers had privately confided in her that working from home arrangements were eroding workplace culture, while ministers touring offices had observed “a lot of empty desks”.

As well, the Government intends to start collating and publishing data on the number of working from home agreements, as it updates its guidelines on working from home expectations. Willis hopes the data will be available early next year.

Crown entities will not be bound by the guidance, but it will apply to public servants across the country, not just in Wellington.

The Public Service Commissioner would be communicating the updated guidelines and the expectation that public servants should be working from home by agreement, and not as a matter of course, to chief executives of ministries and agencies.

Updated guidance for the public service will make it clear that working from home is not an entitlement and must be agreed and monitored, Willis said.

By law, employees have a legal right to ask for flexible working place arrangements.

“While carefully-defined working from home arrangements can benefit workers and employers, if the pendulum swings too far in favour of working from home, there are downsides for employers and employees. That's even before we consider the effects for the CBD retailers, restaurants and cafes.

“There are good reasons why employees have traditionally been physically brought together for work. It allows for face-to-face conversation, the sharing of skills and experience and relationship building. It supports younger and newer employees to observe, learn from and form connections with their more experienced colleagues.

“Many good employers have been taking active steps to ensure their working from home policies are fit for purpose. It’s time the Government did the same.”

Revised guidelines would reflect that working from home arrangements must be by agreement and are not an entitlement, that working from home arrangements should only be agreed to where they will not compromise performance of the employee or agency, and agencies must actively monitor the prevalence and impact of working from home agreements.

Agencies would be expected to regularly report to the Public Service Commission about the number and nature of the agreements they have in place as data was not currently being collated by the Public Service Commission. That information would then be made publicly available.

“Data is not currently being centrally collected by the Public Service Commission regarding the prevalence of working from home arrangements.

“I have asked the Public Service Commission to support agencies to implement the Government’s expectations, including ensuring information about working from home arrangements is captured in a way that allows for easy comparison between agencies,” said Willis.

Asked if she thought public servants working from home weren’t doing so legitimately, Willis said, “Performance matters. Doing your job is the most important thing and then your [flexible working] arrangements come secondary to that. Many are working incredibly hard…and doing a great job.”

But she said young people new to the job were particularly suffering from a lack of water cooler conversation where you could ask colleagues about the work.

“You can’t do [do that] over Zoom.”

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said a highly productive and collaborative public workforce was important to the Government achieving its policy goals. “I do not want to see working from home [arrangements] undermining that ambition.”

The Public Service Association said the Government’s cuts to the public service - about 6000 roles are set to be shed - was “hammering” Wellington’s economy more than staff working from home.

National secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi, Duane Leo, said the Government’s directive was out of step with modern workplaces.

'Many public servants already have flexible working built into the employment agreements that have been negotiated by unions and employers. The Government can’t just disregard negotiated employment agreements.

'Workers have made decisions around their family life based on these agreements, and its particularly important for our disabled kaimahi. Flexible work arrangements make it easier for those who face challenges being in the office every day to have rewarding and productive 40-hour weeks.

“The PSA will be backing our members to stand together to hold onto their legal entitlements.”

Deputy Labour leader Carmel Sepuloni said she was “very surprised” to see Government spending time on where public servants were working. “I’m not sure when this became the big issue of the day, and I think if you surveyed New Zealanders, it probably wouldn’t be top of the list….there’s no evidence base to show that actually public servants have in any way been less productive working from home, or in any way skivving off, which seems to be the inference here.”

The Green Party dismissed the announcement as “shallow soundbite policy and a cheap shot to the public service that is being gutted”, according to its public service spokesperson Francisco Hernandez.