The UK’s statistics agency risks missing deadlines for crucial economic data because of a civil service row over home working.
Employees at the Offices for National Statistics (ONS) have refused to work overtime after being ordered to go into the office at least two days a week.
Almost 1,200 ONS employees who are members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union have said they will not work beyond their contracted hours from Aug 27.
The trade union claimed on Wednesday that the move risks delaying the release of several time-sensitive ONS publications.
Policymakers at the Bank of England rely on inflation and jobs market data collected by the agency to help determine the direction of interest rates.
Fran Heathcote, PCS general secretary, said: “ONS consistently relies on goodwill to remain functional but managers have themselves shown little goodwill by forcing staff back into the office.”
The PCS, the Civil Service’s largest union, said many members were already willing to spend more than 40pc of their working week in the office.
However, it claimed that mandatory attendance “robbed” staff of flexibility to manage childcare and other domestic responsibilities, while also forcing them to make “unnecessary” office commutes.
The ONS workers are based across Britain, in offices including London, Manchester and Edinburgh.
The PCS previously argued that many workers only accepted a job at the agency because of its home working policy.
An ONS spokesman said it has “robust plans in place and does not anticipate any disruption to key ONS publications”.
It said it firmly believed that a reasonable level of office attendance was in the best interest of the organisation and its colleagues.
“Face-to-face interaction supports personal collaboration, learning and innovation,” it said.
It is the latest pushback from civil servants who want to continue working from home despite calls from bosses to rethink remote working policies.
Whitehall staff have faced pressure from ministers to return to the office at least 60pc of the time, or three days a week for full-time staff, amid fears that working from home has reduced productivity and increased waiting times for services.
The PCS represents almost a quarter of the 5,000 workers employed by the UK Statistics Authority, which includes the ONS and Office for Statistical Regulation.
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