NSW public servants ordered back into the office as Chris Minns shows leadership
Public service productivity in NSW is likely to improve as a result of commendable leadership by NSW Premier Chris Minns in telling workers to get back into the office. On Monday, a government-wide memo from the secretary of the Premier’s Department, Simon Draper, told employees to stop working from home. The cessation of arrangements in place since 2019 will be a culture shock to many. But flexibility will continue through job-shares, compressed hours, and variations to starting and finishing times. “The starting position is that work is principally done in an approved workplace in NSW,” the updated guidelines said. Employees were expected to fully use office accommodation “across the whole working week”.
Apart from taxpayers, who should benefit from greater public sector efficiency, Mr Minns’s move will be a major boost to CBD retailers and cafes, which have suffered a major fall-off in trade due to a lack of foot traffic in the city. Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou said employers were keen to see the CBD return to its pre-Covid footing in order to “support the hundreds of businesses and enterprises that depend on them”. Governments had a responsibility to set the benchmarks.
A balance between the needs of employers and staff is missing from many federal public service workplaces, due to a deal between the Australian Public Service Commission and the Community and Public Sector Union that imposes no limit on work-from-home days. It covers 174,000 bureaucrats across 103 federal agencies.
A Productivity Commission research paper in September 2021 found the continuing popularity of working from home had had both positive and negative economic effects. Even at that stage employers noted problems such as increased co-ordination costs, reduced interactions and knowledge-sharing, and some workers slacking off when separated from managers. Three years on, with the pandemic long in the rear-view mirror, it is unrealistic in most occupations for employees to expect working from home to be standard.
Mr Minns’s unambiguous stance sets a welcome example for both public and private sector employers.
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