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Civil Servants Given Go Ahead to Work From Beach

by Richard Eldred
19 November 2023 7:00 PM

Civil servants have been granted permission to work remotely overseas, allowing for a maximum of two weeks per year for visits to friends and family abroad. The Telegraph has the story.

Civil servants have been given the green light to work remotely overseas, prompting concerns that some will choose to log in “from the beach”. …

The senior civil servants’ FDA union has repeatedly argued that many of its members have connections outside the U.K. and should be eligible for “international remote working” for the benefit of their “family life”.

The decision, which sources said allows staff to work away from home for up to five days at a time, comes months after ministers resisted plans to let civil servants work from abroad.

The bosses of Government departments have long been calling for staff to be allowed to work overseas “for personal reasons” rather than having to take annual leave.

It is understood that some departments have found it difficult to recruit workers with the required level of expertise, partly because other sectors offer higher wages and more flexibility.

Relaxing the rules on overseas working marks a victory for public sector staff, although it is not clear how lenient ministers will be in practice as insiders said applications would be subject to “stringent legal and security requirements”.

Greg Smith, Tory MP for Buckingham, said: “Hard-pressed taxpayers will be raising eyebrows across the country at the thought of civil servants kicking back, sipping cocktails on the beach whilst delivering public services.

“We need civil servants in Whitehall, in their offices, delivering on the priorities of this Government, not saying they’re working, from the beach – we all know the reality of that. Just doing your day job from the beach is preposterous.”

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, added: “This is absolutely stark raving bonkers. I’ve never heard something more idiotic, stupid and pointless for a long, long time.”

Worth reading in full.

Tags: Civil ServantsPublic sectorRemote WorkingTWaTWork from home

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48 Comments
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Marcus Aurelius knew
Marcus Aurelius knew
1 year ago

Can we please quit this crusade against people who don’t go to an office to do their jobs? Who cares where people sit/stand? Surely what matters is WHAT they’re doing. Which we can all agree, in the case of Civil Servants, is often NOTHING OF ANY WORTH – in or out of an office building.

43
-62
Coup detat
Coup detat
1 year ago
Reply to  Marcus Aurelius knew

Well for one I care, I run several businesses and I can tell you wfh is a complete joke, customer service no longer exists, I’ve lost grants from councils during the Covid scamdemic due to poor advise from people wfh…
I hear dogs, kids etc in the background, are you seriously suggesting theres no pay off to being “at work” in an office environment with managers /colleagues to ask if in doubt..
All I can say is you’ve not experienced it if you think it even remotely works.

Last edited 1 year ago by Coup detat
103
-9
DHJ
DHJ
1 year ago
Reply to  Coup detat

It depends on the business and people. It can be very successful.

19
-45
Jonathan M
Jonathan M
1 year ago
Reply to  DHJ

Possibly. But nine times out of ten “working from Home” = Shirking at Home.

71
-2
Marcus Aurelius knew
Marcus Aurelius knew
1 year ago
Reply to  Jonathan M

Possibly. But let’s not say that WFH is the problem. That’s like saying guns should be banned because guns kill people.

15
-9
GroundhogDayAgain
GroundhogDayAgain
1 year ago
Reply to  Marcus Aurelius knew

…or pencils cause spelling errors.

But. The togetherness of an office has a lot of benefit. Shirking is noticed for one.

Last edited 1 year ago by GroundhogDayAgain
41
0
For a fist full of roubles
For a fist full of roubles
1 year ago
Reply to  GroundhogDayAgain

And encourages other when they see it is not sanctioned.

7
0
Dinger64
Dinger64
1 year ago
Reply to  Marcus Aurelius knew

Fair point, one size does not fit all👌

5
0
Dinger64
Dinger64
1 year ago
Reply to  Marcus Aurelius knew

Guns aren’t made at home!
Designed maybe? But build in a factory by workers who can’t do this from the beach!

Last edited 1 year ago by Dinger64
15
0
DHJ
DHJ
1 year ago
Reply to  Jonathan M

This is something management is supposed to identify and deal with. Disinterested staff can also spend their day wandering around an office chatting, on social media, reading the news, shopping – all the things they could also do remotely because it goes unchallenged.

14
-2
Marcus Aurelius knew
Marcus Aurelius knew
1 year ago
Reply to  DHJ

Exactly! People seem to think the office is a hive of activity! In my considerable experience, it’s a hive of pretence and small talk.

16
-9
Dinger64
Dinger64
1 year ago
Reply to  DHJ

I dont give a f!÷k, the last thing I want to hear in the background is dogs barking, kids playing and the sipping of pinã colada’s while my financial world is falling apart! Get them back to work so they at least appear to care!

Last edited 1 year ago by Dinger64
13
0
DHJ
DHJ
1 year ago
Reply to  Dinger64

That’s all to do with how the individual conducts themselves and how management deals with it. Public and private businesses can have staff bring in children and pets and make it a disruptive environment.

Some staff might find working out of the office beneficial as it puts some distance between them and the narcissists and psychopaths that tend to make office environments toxic.

4
-3
Marcus Aurelius knew
Marcus Aurelius knew
1 year ago
Reply to  DHJ

Thank you. Everyone is not the same. It’s a matter for the employer and their employee. What matters is the quality of the relationship and the resulting productivity, not the location of the desk, FFS.

I think a lot of the problem is simply bad management and jealousy towards those who are disciplined enough to work alone without a manager constantly breathing down their neck! They (I am including myself here, if it weren’t already obvious!) usually only appear disciplined not because they are, but because they actually enjoy their work – another reason people are jealous of them.

There is a lot of wisdom to be found in this regard in David Graeber’s Bullshit Jobs – a highly recommended read.

So much of David’s predictions have come true, not least the culture which gave rise to the scamdemic.

Last edited 1 year ago by Marcus Aurelius knew
17
-8
Dinger64
Dinger64
1 year ago
Reply to  Marcus Aurelius knew

Isn’t working on a computer/Internet all based on electricity? So if electricity isn’t made anymore or fails for whatever reason, isn’t all your hard work lost in a microsecond?
A spoon is still a spoon, modern ways or not!

7
0
Dinger64
Dinger64
1 year ago
Reply to  Marcus Aurelius knew

Not so much if there’re a public servant!
We pay their wages, they should knuckle down and do as their told! Private companies are a different matter

7
0
varmint
varmint
1 year ago
Reply to  DHJ

Government is NOT a business

7
0
Marcus Aurelius knew
Marcus Aurelius knew
1 year ago
Reply to  Coup detat

Customer Service was good before everyone went home?! I think you and I must live on different planets!

15
-7
Coup detat
Coup detat
1 year ago
Reply to  Marcus Aurelius knew

Nope, never said that… Another who puts words in to my mouth…. Its WORSE- without a doubt.
Covid scamdemic was an excuse to close the office to save money, thars all it was about, a cost saving excersise, it was certainly never about improving customer service was it ffs.
Another thing that happened is direct phone lines were closed and no longer operate, only “chat” or email.

Lets be honest here, how many employees are conscientious and how many hate their job, can’t be arsed as only doing it for the money….. And you think Wfh works..
Yep, you certainly live on a different planet..

Last edited 1 year ago by Coup detat
14
0
Marcus Aurelius knew
Marcus Aurelius knew
1 year ago
Reply to  Coup detat

You say you run several businesses. OK. So run them. Get your people where you need them. WFH is not mandatory. I am nevertheless very sympathetic to the shite poured on us all by the ridiculous scamdemic, but I repeat, WFH is not mandatory.

Are these several businesses you say you “run” your own businesses, or are you just one of those jumped-up middle-managers in smart suits whose entire reason for existing is to feel big by bossing productive people around, by any chance?

Last edited 1 year ago by Marcus Aurelius knew
4
-22
Coup detat
Coup detat
1 year ago
Reply to  Marcus Aurelius knew

Lol…absolutely hilarious.. We wear overalls mate not suits….. Hard, dirty, dusty physical work… Working class not some jumped up office BS…. You’d last 10mins…
Yes they are my businesses… 3 of them, Director of two

Last edited 1 year ago by Coup detat
14
0
Marcus Aurelius knew
Marcus Aurelius knew
1 year ago
Reply to  Coup detat

My day job is coding. My evening and weekend job is electrician, builder, plasterer, plumber. Careful, mate 😉

0
-3
Marcus Aurelius knew
Marcus Aurelius knew
1 year ago
Reply to  Coup detat

So WFH has never been a problem for you, then, has it? Hard, dirty, dusty, physical work can’t usually be done remotely, can it?

Stick to what you know.

0
-3
Dinger64
Dinger64
1 year ago
Reply to  Marcus Aurelius knew

You keep forgetting, tax payers money not private business! Don’t give them the excuse

8
0
Dinger64
Dinger64
1 year ago
Reply to  Coup detat

Seconded 👍

9
0
stewart
stewart
1 year ago
Reply to  Marcus Aurelius knew

I have a strong reaction to your post in two opposite directions. I strongly disagree with the first bit and strongly agree with the second. I just dont know what to feel about you…

Joking aside, I think working from home is good in principle and bad in practice, in general.

For the disciplined, the driven and the well incentivised, I agree completely that it doesn’t matter too much where you work from.

But most people don’t fall into that category, least of all civil servants.

43
-1
GroundhogDayAgain
GroundhogDayAgain
1 year ago
Reply to  stewart

…or Snivel Serpents as I heard recently.

If our country was second-to-none in this category I’d feel differently. But we know they’re mostly captured by the woke crap that’s afflicting our consciousness, so soft-touch management is inappropriate for them.

Gold-plated pension. Tin-plated service. Off the beach, into the office.

26
-1
Marcus Aurelius knew
Marcus Aurelius knew
1 year ago
Reply to  stewart

“I just dont know what to feel about you…”

We can try to meet in person, if you like?!

2
0
Dinger64
Dinger64
1 year ago
Reply to  Marcus Aurelius knew

No matter what I’ve said, I respect you Marcus, just saying, kill me now!

2
0
Coup detat
Coup detat
1 year ago
Reply to  stewart

“For the disciplined, the driven and the well incentivised,”

Exactly… And those sort of employees are very hard to find

7
0
Dinger64
Dinger64
1 year ago
Reply to  Marcus Aurelius knew

Cop out! You wouldn’t have an office to go too if your didn’t have skilled workers like me!
If the shit hit the fan, who would we need more of? Accountants, lawyers or me?

Last edited 1 year ago by Dinger64
7
0
Dinger64
Dinger64
1 year ago
Reply to  Marcus Aurelius knew

Anything found by future archaeologist will not have been made on a computer! It never existed in the first place, only for the whims of mice and men!

7
0
Marcus Aurelius knew
Marcus Aurelius knew
1 year ago
Reply to  Dinger64

See above comment,

My day job is coding. My evening and weekend job is electrician, builder, plasterer, plumber. Careful, mate 😉

0
0
DHJ
DHJ
1 year ago

MP’s are the last people who should be criticising others for how and where they conduct their business. Most do not have their luxury of vast pay and expenses to do whatever suits their own ends, take on other well-paid jobs without having to answer how they find the time alongside the publicly-funded role, be dishonest and still keep their job and through their decisions, cause untold death and destruction without being held accountable.

Last edited 1 year ago by DHJ
26
-7
DHJ
DHJ
1 year ago
Reply to  DHJ

Sorry to burst your bubble downvoters but to choose a topical example: do you think the Scottish Health Secretary is repaying the £11k data charge for his sons watching football because he always planned to or because he got caught?

34
-1
Dinger64
Dinger64
1 year ago

I would have loved to be able to fit fire doors and frames into an older building from the beach,..but the lift was too small,…⛱️!
Other than that, we had to carry and fit the fuc#@g things up two or more flights of stairs ,’in reality’ dho! Such a bummer!
Build a cupboard..from the beach!

Last edited 1 year ago by Dinger64
9
0
DHJ
DHJ
1 year ago
Reply to  Dinger64

The beach has just been used as an extreme example to trigger disapproval. This is about remote working which obviously does not apply to all jobs. It sounds like your job is not entirely office based? Do you sometimes find the change of scenery a positive when working?

We can be really down on office jobs and computers but if anyone wants to get paid, hope it keeps working to some extent.

As an observation, office workers can come from many backgrounds such as numerous engineering disciplines, trades, the military, police etc. Many are very active away from work so are not as physically incapable as some of the chat on this article seems to make out.

0
-1
Tintin
Tintin
1 year ago

Civil servants aren’t ordinary office employees. They are paid a much bigger salary than most and have benefits that last for life. Pension as well. So how dare they choose to work from a holiday resort? If they want a holiday in Cancun just take the 2 weeks off!!! No wonder the UK has gone down the drain in terms of customer service and productivity. Call centres are now your kitchen or bathroom. We can hear dog barking and babies crying. Tell me if you don’t take a longer than usual loo /coffee / jog / tea / kid football run / wife to the doctor breaks!!!!

18
-1
Prickly Thistle
Prickly Thistle
1 year ago
Reply to  Tintin

I called HMRC one day. He said to me “Do you mind my daughter in the background?”

Well yes, quite frankly, I did.

11
0
Prickly Thistle
Prickly Thistle
1 year ago

Someone I know, who worked remotely anyway, had to give up her job when her husband’s job took him to Germany. The reason? Online security. Yet our civil servants are exempt.

7
0
For a fist full of roubles
For a fist full of roubles
1 year ago

I am not sure if I like the idea of a person who has access to any data that relates to government business or includes “client” data viewing it in a totally public environment. Perhaps they don’t think security matters.

11
0
Dinger64
Dinger64
1 year ago
Reply to  For a fist full of roubles

True! It only takes a minor thug on the beach to threaten them and take the laptop off them ,open and connected, security out the window, and then sell it to the local gang that knows how to make money from selling our/your information! Sounds ridiculous? Not so much!

6
0
Monro
Monro
1 year ago

‘“This is absolutely stark raving bonkers. I’ve never heard something more idiotic, stupid and pointless for a long, long time.”

Eh?

‘It is crucial that we give those businesses confidence that government is still committed to net zero and can see the way ahead.’

Bunter 10 Sept 2023

‘And that starts today, with a new approach to one of the biggest challenges we face: climate change.
No one can watch the floods in Libya or the extreme heat in Europe this summer, and doubt that it is real and happening.’

Sunak 20 Sept. 2023

‘….we must understand that the worst thing that can happen is to give Labour the lead on net zero”.

Theresa May 02 Oct 2023

You clearly haven’t been paying attention…….

You’re all doomed……..

5
0
varmint
varmint
1 year ago

But won’t it save them money on flights and hotels as they are already on the beach when it comes to holiday time?

2
0
Dinger64
Dinger64
1 year ago
Reply to  varmint

I for one love to hear seagulls/kids playing/dogs barking in the background whilst discussing my serious tax affairs, it gives me so much confidence in this sh!thole of a modern world!

9
0
varmint
varmint
1 year ago
Reply to  Dinger64

I found out that Cocker Spaniels are a real pain in the neck while discussing my business on the phone with a home worker. She had to apologise about 8 times to me as it sent her cup of coffee flying and kept jumping over the top of her. She said “Sorry about this, he is still a puppy”

0
0
GeorgeBailey
GeorgeBailey
1 year ago

The image and headline on this article are very misleading. The story is NOT that British civil servants want to work from the beach but that the UK Civil Service now has a significant number of staff who have origins and ties in other countries and who want to work from those countries but on UK salaries.

In The Telegraph article: “The senior civil servants’ FDA union has repeatedly argued that many of its members have connections outside the UK and should be eligible for “international remote working” for the benefit of their “family life”.”

5
0
Dinger64
Dinger64
1 year ago

Civil servants (a contradiction in terms)
Give them an inch and they’ll take a yard!
Get back to work and serve us, your bloody well paid enough!

12
-1

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