Steve Price has expressed his support for the New South Wales government for forcing workers to return to the office, claiming staff working from home are only “pretending” to do so.
The project presenter made the comment on Monday night and questioned why the state government had taken so long to implement the directive.
Premier Chris Minns had revealed earlier in the day that civil servants would be required to return to the office full-time starting Tuesday.
“Nobody should be able to work from home in a dirty sweatsuit and put their feet up on their desk and go out to feed the dog when they’re supposed to be working,” Price said.
‘You get to work.’
Co-host Georgie Tunny questioned whether flexibility was important for workers, but Price again dismissed the idea.
“If I’m your boss, you come to the office,” he said.
“You sit behind the desk and work, because I have to keep an eye on you. You pretend to do the same work from home, but you’re actually in the store.”
Steve Price has criticised Australians who choose to work from home, claiming many are just “pretending” to do their jobs.
The end of working from home was announced in a NSW government-wide memo to all departments on Monday.
New rules from the Prime Minister’s Department dictate that public servants are now expected to work from approved office spaces every day of the working week.
Limited flexibility will still be allowed in cases of shared work arrangements or compressed schedules, but most workers will return to the office full-time.
The memo warned that current work-from-home arrangements, which were introduced in 2019, “should not be taken for granted or viewed as limitless.”
“The more we share our work experience, the more united we will be. This means being physically present in our organizations,” it reads.
But just down the border in Victoria, civil servants will still be able to continue working from home two days a week despite mounting pressure on the government to follow in New South Wales’ footsteps.
Victoria Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said having staff together in the office resulted in increased productivity as well as financial benefits to the economy with more workers in the city.
“The signal from New South Wales is positive for business and we encourage the state government to follow it,” he said. Herald Sun.
“For our economy to recover and move forward, we need to increase collaboration between the public and private sectors. We know the best way to do this is in person and we encourage Victorian public servants to follow the example of New South Wales.”
Melbourne Mayor Nick Reece is also in favour of more workers returning to the office.
Premier Chris Minns has told New South Wales public servants they will have to return to the office every day of the working week.
“In Melbourne, we expect people to work from the office, while implementing modern, flexible arrangements for those who need it,” he said.
“I strongly encourage state and federal governments to take this approach.”
But the government has said it will not introduce such a policy.
“We have no plans to reverse existing flexible working arrangements,” a Victorian government spokesperson said in a statement.
We know that workplace flexibility helps more women stay at work, and having more women in the workforce is better for everyone.
‘Any public servant in New South Wales who wants flexibility in their workplace should consider moving to Victoria.’
The Queensland government has also confirmed that it will not change its current work-from-home policy, which is left to the discretion of each department.