Civil Servant blasts Jacob Rees-Mogg over 'horrific' return to office plan

19 April 2022, 13:04

By James Bickerton

This civil servant says he'll be north of £2,000 worse off if Jacob Rees-Mogg's demand for a full return to the office is passed.

Brexit Opportunities Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg has written to Ministers urging a "rapid return" of officials to their desks.

Tony, a civil servant from Eastbourne currently home working, said a full return to the office would cost him an extra £2,088 and 40 hours per month.

He said: "The impact of going back to the office is going to be absolutely horrific.

"For me it will be an extra 40 hours a month commuting, I will have to find an extra £2,088 on a season ticket to get into one of those stinky, crowded trains twice a day.

"A lot of the ladies in my team, they have children and they rely on the flexible working to be able to do their job and take care of their family, that would be gone.

"The morale is much higher with us in our homes, not having to go to the office."

"I'm able to do my job 100% from my spare room."

Tony claimed civil servant absenteeism has plummeted since home working was introduced, and argued the Tories are using his colleagues as "punchbags".

He explained: "Our department discovered there was a 40 percent drop in absenteeism due to sickness' with work from home.

"A Conservative Government never does anything for the benefit of civil servants. We are the punchbags and scapegoats for everything they get wrong."

In his letter to Ministers Mr Rees-Mogg said: "Now that we are learning to live with Covid and have lifted all legal restrictions in England, we must continue to accelerate the return of civil servants to office buildings to realise the benefits of face-to-face, collaborative working and the wider benefits for the economy.

"To deliver this, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster [Steve Barclay] and I urge you to issue a clear message to civil servants in your department to ensure a rapid return to the office."