Civil servants have been found to be faking office attendance for years at a time despite official rules requiring them to be in office for at least three days a week.
Whistleblowers report management having “no control” over remote staff who push the boundaries of flexible working policy, with one individual describing the Whitehall offices as “like the Mary Celeste” at the end of the week.
Civil servants are also reported to be connecting to their office Wi-Fi from the comfort of their own car, to prove they are in the office, only to return home.
The behaviour has become so popular among those who work for HMRC that management has called the phenomenon the “drive-by login”, The Telegraph reports.
There are now calls for the Government to trigger an “immediate” inquiry into the civil service and their working from home habits.
Criticism has largely focused on how mandarins are being rewarded for working at reduced capacity “with full-time pay”.
Staff have also been reported to show up at the office for a few hours of the working day before heading home.
A whistleblower said it was not unusual for “a lot of people to be in for a couple of hours and disappear”.
There are now calls for the Government to launch an inquiry into working from home habits among the civil service
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The possibility of Nigel Farage becoming Prime Minister has reportedly struck fear into some civil servants, as he advocates for working full-time in the office.
Working from home for the civil service started during the pandemic and has very much remained the norm, one HMRC official said.
During Covid, “a lot of bad habits” were adopted amongst the civil service, he added. “You can go years at a time without seeing certain colleagues.”
HMRC currently employs 70,500 people.
Over 4,000 HMRC staff have not attended the office for over six months
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More than 4,000 HMRC staff have not attended the office for over six months, according to data from the tax office – just over five per cent of total employees.
Just eight shy of 1,000 staff have not been seen in the office for 12 to 23 months.
A further 182 civil servants have not come into the office for over two years.
The tax office did say some of the office absence was due to sick leave or adjusted working for disabled staff.
Roughly 200 staff working for the Land Registry have not attended the office for more than six months.
Of these, 131 had not been present in the office for over a year and 78 had been working from home for more than two years.
These figures, which are accurate as of February, do not include those who have been marked as on long-term leave.
Both HMRC and the Land Registry are facing criticism that customer service standards are faltering.
A report conducted by MPs found almost 44,000 people were cut off by HMRC after being on hold for over an hour whilst trying to get through to the tax office.
The Land Registry is currently experiencing significant delays of 18 months or more for some services.
A Government spokesman said: “We are clear that a minimum of 60 per cent office attendance remains the best option for our staff and the public.
“This data represents a fraction of staff and includes people on long-term sickness, maternity leave and those who work in other locations or deliver services on the front line as part of their work.
“Attendance is managed within teams, and managers have our full support to initiate disciplinary proceedings if necessary.”