- Guidance on Civil Servant office attendance will not change
- Requirement of 60% of time in the office given benefits of face-to-face working
Guidance on office attendance will remain in place, with most civil servants expected to spend at least 60% of their time at a Government building or on official business, such as visiting stakeholders.
Heads of Departments across government have agreed that the Civil Service is best able to deliver for the people it serves by taking a consistent approach to in office working.
Heads of Department have agreed that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service. Senior managers will continue to be expected to be in the office more than 60% of the time.
The approach will allow teams and departments to maximise the benefits of hybrid working and getting the best from being together. The Civil Service approach is comparable to other large private and public sector employers.
This reflects the view of Civil Service leaders that there remain clear benefits to spending time working together face-to-face as the government delivers on the Missions commitments.
Leaders from across departments commit to continue to listen to staff, to adapt to individual needs where specific changes may be required, and ensure the approach continues to meet business needs.
The office attendance approach comes alongside the publication of quarterly data for office occupancy in departmental headquarters.
The data for the period July - September has been published today, with further publications to now happen on a quarterly basis.
The change to quarterly publication will provide a more cost-effective way to track the use of office space in departmental HQs. This will balance the need for transparency whilst ensuring taxpayer money is used effectively by reducing the burden on departments collecting the data.
Notes:
- Data published on desk occupancy are related to departmental HQ buildings only, and inferences about the wider workforce should not be made based upon them.
