As the state officially reaches its 90 per cent double dose milestone, the Victorian government said it was committed to the three-day onsite agreement because it supported the “clear benefits of ongoing flexible working”.But it remains unclear exactly how many of Victoria’s 50,000-odd public servants have actually returned onsite, despite the government confirming it had started trickling back into the office after almost two years at home.Questions put to the government seeking answers on the percentage of employees that had returned to work on a full-time basis were not directly answered.“With 90 per cent of eligible Victorians now vaccinated, the Victorian Public Service is returning to workplaces under the flexible work policy, with a default starting position of three days a week for VPS employees to work in the office,” a spokesman said.“The Victorian Public Service’s return-to-office approach will continue to support the clear benefits of ongoing flexible working for all VPS employees, such as enhanced productivity and value for the public.”The CBD slumped to just four per cent of its pre-Covid office occupancy levels last month, prompting the Property Council of Australia to call on the government to mandate a three-day working arrangement at minimum, in a bid to recharge the city.“We fully expect the government to take a strong leadership role and ask public sector workers to return to office,” said Property Council’s Victorian executive director Danni Hunter said.Ms Hunter said public servants represented a “significant proportion” of the CBD’s workforce. A Community and Public Sector Union spokesman said the majority of workers who had returned onsite were working more than the required three days.“We’re back because many have recognised the benefits of working collaboratively face-to-face,” he said.“Others are looking at travel times and are making arrangements around the practicality of returning now or post Christmas, while some still have concerns about public transport and office ventilation.” It comes after Melbourne City Council earlier this month also refused to say when its workers would return, despite revealing about half of its 1600 workforce had worked in the city throughout the pandemic. Alison Leighton, acting chief executive officer of the City of Melbourne, at the time said Lord Mayor Sally Capp was “actively engaging with the city’s major employers to encourage as many of their workers to return to their city offices as soon and as frequently as possible”.Despite the revitalisation attempts, it would not reveal how many of its staff were back in the office full time. It comes after a top City of Melbourne employee said returning to the office might suit executives, but not lower-class employees.The council’s head of brand and digital in strategic communications Ben Campbell, who is understood to be on a six-figure salary, wrote on LinkedIn last month: “Returning to the office is different if you’re in the working class, not the executive class”.“Returning to the office is different if you have an unreliable car, poor health insurance, or you don’t have access to child care. (It) is different if you live in the outer suburbs and have a long commute or you live in a multi-generational household,” he said.“But of course senior executives are happy to go back to the office. The office looks pretty good when you have a nice wardrobe, a company carpark and a Lexus.”Mr Campbell said it was a “personal comment spoken in a personal context” that was in no way affiliated with the City of Melbourne.
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