Steve Price is backing the New South Wales government to force workers back into the office, saying workers working from home are just faking it.
The project’s presenter made the statement on Monday evening, questioning why it had taken so long for the state government to implement the guideline.
Prime Minister Chris Minns had announced a few hours earlier that civil servants would have to return to the office full-time from Tuesday.
“No one should have to work from home in a dirty tracksuit, with their feet up on the desk and feeding the dog through the back door when they should be working,” Price said.
‘Get started.’
Co-host Georgie Tunny questioned whether flexibility was important to employees, but Price again dismissed the idea.
“If I’m your boss, you come to the office,” he said.
“You sit at your desk and you work, because I have to keep an eye on you. You pretend that you are doing the same work from home, but in reality you are in the store.”
Steve Price has criticised Australians choosing to work from home, claiming many are only ‘pretending’ to do their jobs
The end of working from home was announced in a memorandum from the New South Wales government to all departments on Monday.
New rules from the Prime Minister’s Office stipulate that civil servants are expected to work from approved office spaces every day of the working week.
There will still be limited flexibility in the case of job-sharing arrangements or compressed hours, but most workers will return to the office full-time.
The memo warned that existing work-from-home arrangements, introduced in 2019, “should not be taken for granted or unlimited”.
“The more our work experience is shared, the more we become united. This means we are physically present in our organizations,” it said.
But just below the cut-off in Victoria, civil servants are still allowed to work from home two days a week, despite mounting pressure on the government to follow NSW’s lead.
Paul Guerra, CEO of the Victoria Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said having employees together in the office increases productivity and has financial benefits for the economy, as there are more workers in the city.
“The signal from NSW is positive for business and we encourage the state government to follow suit,” he told the Herald Sun.
‘To help our economy recover and move forward, we need to increase collaboration between the public and private sectors. We know this is best done in person and we encourage Victorian officials to follow NSW’s lead.’
Melbourne Mayor Nick Reece is also in favor of bringing more workers back to the office.
Premier Chris Minns has told NSW civil servants they must return to the office every day of the working week
“At Melbourne City Council we expect people to work from the office, but we are also implementing modern, flexible arrangements for those who need them,” he said.
“I would strongly encourage both state governments and the federal government to embrace this approach.”
But the government has indicated that no such policy will be introduced.
“We have no plans to roll back existing flexible working arrangements,” a Victorian government spokesperson said in a statement.
‘We know that flexibility in the workplace ensures that more women stay in work and that more women in the workplace is better for everyone.
‘Any New South Wales public servants who want flexibility in their workplace should consider moving to Victoria.’
The Queensland Government has also confirmed that it will not be changing its current WFH policy. This is at the discretion of each department.