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78% of civil servants believe office attendance mandate has failed, finds new FDA report 

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A new report published by the FDA finds that the government’s 60% office attendance mandate has failed to deliver on any of its own objectives to boost productivity, improve collaboration, and help younger workers.

The future of office work in the civil service report is informed by the FDA’s recent member survey, which received more than 7,000 responses – half of whom are line managers. Using these insights, the report calls for an evidence-led approach to office work in the civil service.

The report’s key findings include:

  • Civil servants do not oppose working in an office when it is purposeful: 69% of respondents indicated a belief that in-person working can bolster better relationship building and networking, with 59% agreeing that it can help create a stronger sense of community and belonging
  • 78% of respondents believe the 60% mandate overall has not been beneficial
  • 75% of respondents say they are spending time in the office on virtual meetings
  • Only 11% of respondents felt the mandate had increased productivity
  • 32% of disabled respondents indicate that the mandate has significantly worsened their productivity, compared to 18% of non-disabled respondents
  • Only 37% of respondents feel their office work is ‘sometimes’ purposeful, while 27% said it is ‘rarely’ purposeful

The report uses these survey responses to make recommendations for an evidence-led approach to office work in the civil service:

  • Comprehensive review of the 60% mandate: This review should be carried out with a view to creating a more flexible approach which takes into account whether a piece of work can be best completed in person or remotely, rather than a blanket mandate.
  • Equality Impact Assessment for under-represented civil servants: It is imperative that all civil servants can fulfil their potential and this requires a flexible approach, not a top-down mandate.
  • Purposeful office use: Promotion of ‘purposeful office use’, with a view to ending the ‘culture of presenteeism’ and ensuring that when employees are in the office, it is for activities improved by in-person presence
  • Departmental building assessments: The survey shows that there are significant issues regarding building capacity and availability of meeting spaces and other equipment needed to support modern ways of working.

Launching the report, FDA General Secretary Dave Penman said:

“This report demonstrates that civil servants do not oppose office work – they oppose top-down blanket mandates applied to over 500,000 staff in 200 different organisations that only deliver a culture of presenteeism.  

“Civil servants want effective hybrid working arrangements where the focus is on what they do, not where they do it. They do not want a policy that’s been determined by tabloid headlines.”

Penman continued:

“Figuring out how best to utilise the workplace is a challenge facing many organisations. There are no easy answers. Instead, this will require serious strategic thinking.

“Our survey of over 7,000 civil servants should be a starting point for a meaningful, evidence-based dialogue which looks to the future of the civil service, instead of clinging to the past.”

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