Civil servants 'driving to office car parks to connect to Wi-Fi before returning home' as bosses have 'no control' over remote working
A probe has found workers are "taking advantage" of flexible working arrangements
Civil servants are faking going into the office by connecting to the Wi-Fi before returning home and instead failing to attend for years on end, a new probe has uncovered.
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Workers are defying rules requiring them to work from the office at least three days per week, with insiders insisting managers have a lack of control over staff who are "taking advantage" of flexible working.
Some staff, including at HMRC, are alleged to have faked in-person working by connecting to their office Wi-Fi from a nearby car park before returning home to work from there, a Telegraph report has found.
The practice has become so common that managers are aware of it and have even dubbed it "drive-by login".
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An anonymous civil servant said staff also show up to work for a few hours before going home.
He said: "It meant you’re down for attending for the day and in theory you’re working in the office," he said.
He added it was common for "a lot of people to be in for a couple of hours and disappear".
Another HMRC official said the work from home took hold after the Covid-19 pandemic which formed a "lot of bad habits".
He added: "You can go years at a time without seeing certain colleagues."
One whistleblower said offices were "barren" and claimed: "On Friday it is really sort of like the Mary Celeste.
"There is a fear that one day they will go back to enforcing attendance. A lot of staff are worried about Reform getting in. There is talk about how if Farage was to get in, it would change things definitely.
"Like anything else, there will be people who abuse the system to their own ends. It’s just a small minority [and] it is there to be taken advantage of if people are of that mindset."
A former HMRC worker said: "Civil servants don't have to sit with their teams and managers have no control over them because they either sit away, or are at home.
"They cannot see staff trawling the internet, doing their online shopping, playing with their mobile phones or chatting when they should be working."
Labour has come in for criticism now facing calls for an “immediate” inquiry into public servants and their office attendance, with critics accusing the Government of “rewarding part-time work with full-time pay”.
Reform's Danny Kruger said: "The Government should order an immediate investigation into the productivity and workplace culture at HMRC and the Land Registry.
"This is part of a general problem, especially in departments like these that don’t answer directly to ministers. The Civil Service has grown by 20pc in the last 10 years to over half a million people – many of whom are clearly not delivering for the taxpayer."
A government spokesman said: "We are clear that a minimum of 60pc office attendance remains the best option for our staff and the public.
"This data represents a fraction of staff and includes people on long-term sickness, maternity leave and those who work in other locations or deliver services on the front line as part of their work.
"Attendance is managed within teams, and managers have our full support to initiate disciplinary proceedings if necessary."