Public servants have turned on their bosses for dragging them back to the office – forcing one executive to admit the decision was made with zero staff consultation.
Leaked screenshots of an online meeting, posted on The Aussie Corporate Instagram account, reveal NSW Government workers’ fury at being ordered to stop working from home after a decree from Premier Chris Minns to curtail the practice.
A participant in a recent online ‘town hall’ Teams meeting stated: ‘I feel the conversation did not properly address the majority sentiment felt in the audience.’
‘They don’t care. Just said people coming into and out of the public service was normal,’ a colleague replied.
‘That’s probably because the majority of non-executive staff weren’t consulted with prior to the decision being made,’ another reply read.
One department secretary was continually asked if younger staff were consulted about the sudden change – bearing in mind a ‘key’ justification for more in-office work was to support junior employees and enhance their career prospects.
Eventually, the secretary was forced to admit there had been no consultation with staff at all – despite the WFH decision supposedly being made for their benefit.
Another screenshot summarised arguments made against returning to the office.
Public servants have turned on their bosses for dragging them back to the office – forcing one executive to admit during an online meeting that the decision was made with zero staff consultation (pictured: a leaked screenshot from the meeting)
It stated that the NSW public sector ‘is not competitive on salaries and now it’s not competitive on flexibility’.
‘Younger generations will not find this attractive,’ the meeting participant argued.
It also said government sector employees whose work cannot be done from home ‘get a plethora of allowances that we don’t’.
It gave the example of cribbing allowances, which the participant said they did get in ‘circumstances we have to eat [at] our desks and work through unpaid lunch breaks’.
A cribbing allowance is a paid break to take sustenance when forced to work overtime.
The participant also argued the circular from Mr Minns only ‘strongly encouraged’ the public sector to reconsider their working from home policy.
‘Never thought we’d see the day public sector was less flexible,’ was the Instagram account’s comment on the screenshots.
A Reddit thread associated with The Aussie Corporate showed that some private sector workers were also concerned by what was happening in the public service.
‘It is scary imagining a world where I return to 3 hours plus of unpaid commuting/getting ready for work, to go to an office and have to deal with people IRL again,’ one person posted.
The public service revolt amused The Aussie Corporate Instagram account, but a Reddit post showed some private sector workers were anxiously monitoring the situation
‘Do you think return to office bs will influence private companies?’
‘WFH has been a game changer for the amount of time I have in a week to myself and my family, which has also positively impacted my mental and physical health in a huge way.
‘I don’t think I could handle returning to 5 days in an office in the CBD.’
Others agreed.
‘100 percent. I left public service 2 months ago where I could work 80 remote and ended up in a 100 percent office based role,’ a reply read.
‘It’s crushing my soul.’
However, some suggested thinking twice before making a decision to leave.
‘Where will you go? I ask myself this question’ a Reddit user said.
‘A lot of people expressing their outrage online, but at the end of the day, they will just put their heads down and go into the office.’
A thread moderator thought the issue had been exaggerated.
One of the reasons given for ordering a return to the office for NSW public servants is that it will provide more workplace support and better career development for younger employees; however, a secretary was forced to admit there had been no consultation with staff at all
‘The press blew the NSW RTO mandate out of proportion,’ the said.
‘It’s not a forced 5 days a week in the office, it’s an instruction that the primary place of work should be the office.
‘Which will be interpreted as 2-3 days a week, once it filters down to the people who will be impacted.
‘That’s totally in line with what many corporates are already doing (CBA, Optus, etc).
‘I don’t see that changing much in the short-medium term.’
Daily Mail Australia revealed on Thursday that the public service union is in open revolt against the move to force up to 43,000 public sector workers back into the office.
In an email sent to its members on Monday, the Public Service Association (PSA) said it had been flooded with queries about the premier’s directive – and declared that they believe the workforce would ‘never’ go back to previous arrangements.
‘Your union believes there will always be flexibility in the workplace and we will never return to pre-Covid work arrangements,’ the email stated.
Some Reddit users stated that being forced to join the daily commute was ‘soul destroying’
As proof of this, the PSA said it had been in contact with a number of NSW government department secretaries.
‘They have informed us that many office locations cannot accommodate all staff working onsite and that present arrangements will not change,’ the email said.
The union advised it had also been mobilising delegates to gather the concerns of members.
‘The more information we have from our members to take to the Government, the better,’ the email read, with the PSA promising to relay any ‘further developments’ back to the membership.
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