The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has said it will ballot workers at HM Land Registry over plans to ‘order’ staff to work in the office three day a week.
PCS members at offices in Croydon, Birkenhead, Coventry, Durham, Lancashire, Gloucester, Hull, Leicester, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Telford, Wales, Weymouth will be asked whether they wish to take strike action in response to what the union describes as ‘arbitrary attendance targets’ and concerns around the employer ‘inappropriately using personal data and having to accept extra responsibilities without extra pay.’
3,800 members will be balloted from 28th November to 23rd December. PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said:
“Another government department has set another arbitrary attendance target without providing any evidence or reason for the decision. Flexible working helps people be more productive and allows them to fulfil caring responsibilities.”
“As someone once said, ‘we’re not in the 1970s’ – we’re in the 2020s and working practices have evolved for the better. It’s time the government caught up with the rest of the world and realised forcing people back into the office does no-one any favours. A responsible, progressive employer would trust their staff to work from home if they choose.”
PCS members working at the Office of National Statistics have voted for strike action over compulsory office attendance and those working for the Metropolitan Police are currently balloting for strike action over returning to the office.
It is not the first time in recent memory PCS members at HM Land Registry have walked out. A long-running public sector pay dispute in 2022/23 saw a series of strikes averted before a 1 day walkout in February 2023.
Today’s Conveyancer has contacted HM Land Registry for comment.
6 responses
Astonishing that they would even consider balloting for a strike for this reason. Working from home was only a temporary measure during Covid. Some people need to get back in the real world. I also suspect that productivity would improve if they all working back in the office!
Good for them. Companies want more work and longer hours for no additional pay, plus the travel time and expense of going into the office.
It’s called being an adult, having responsibilities and going to work. It is outrageous that anyone should be allowed to strike for being requested to go to their place of work. If they don’t want to travel, they can find another job closer to their home.
HMLR are still trying to work through their covid backlog. What changed over covid?
HMLR are an utter shambles. The quality of the work and the timescales are really rather poor. It is about time these staff got back to the office full time and were monitored as to the quantity and quality of work they produce. It is extremely clear to a lot of the public and professional users that WFH has seen a catastrophic decline of this. If they don’t like working in an office, employ others that will.
HMLR now have 55 directors and deputy directors, yet nobody seems to be able to create a coherent workforce strategy. The new caseworkers are poorly trained, the experienced ones are demoralised and want to leave. Middle managers are incapable of developing and motivating their staff whilst senior managers spend most of their time on vanity projects and writing blogs, neglecting day to day operations.