If you work in the Civil Service and built your life around hybrid working, being told you must now be in the office 60% of the time can feel like the ground has shifted under your feet. Many staff moved further away, took on caring responsibilities or adjusted for disability on the basis of 1–2 days in the office. Now they are being told to attend three days or more, often with the same pay and little consultation.

This guide is written for UK Civil Service staff in England and Wales—including caseworkers, policy advisers, jobcentre staff, operational managers, analysts, IT specialists and administrative officers. It explains how the 60% office mandate interacts with:

• Contracts and flexible working agreements

• Constructive unfair dismissal

• Indirect sex discrimination

• Disability discrimination and reasonable adjustments

It is not legal advice, but it is designed to help you read your policies, contracts and letters more clearly before you speak to your union, HR or a legal adviser.

What is the Civil Service 60% office attendance rule?

In 2024 the Cabinet Office reinforced expectations that many office‑based civil servants should spend at least 60% of their working time in the office. Departments including the Home Office, DWP, HMRC, MoJ, ONS and Land Registry have applied this in different ways, but the basic message has been consistent: more days in the office, less home‑working.

Key points:

• The 60% figure is often framed as a minimum expectation, not a negotiated individual agreement.

• Some departments have tied performance ratings, promotion prospects or even disciplinary action to compliance.

• Unions have reported non‑compliance action at organisations like the Office for National Statistics, and industrial action ballots at bodies such as HM Land Registry specifically over the 60% mandate.

For many civil servants, this feels less like a policy statement and more like a sudden change to how and where work is done.

Contracts, flexible working and when a change is “fundamental”

Whether the 60% rule is lawful in your case depends heavily on what was agreed before and what your contract and policies say.

Questions to ask:

• What does your written contract say about your normal place of work and office attendance?

• Did you agree a formal flexible working arrangement (for example, under the statutory flexible working regime) that reduced your office days?

• Have there been written assurances or policies since Covid that promised a certain pattern, such as two days in the office?

Common situations:

• Pure policy change: your contract has always said your base is a particular office and the department simply relaxed attendance during Covid. In that case, they may argue they are merely re‑enforcing the contract.

• Agreed variation: you have a letter or email confirming a long‑term hybrid pattern, for example “one day per week in the office”, possibly agreed as a reasonable adjustment or flexible working request. In this situation, forcing 60% attendance may look more like a contract variation.

A change is more likely to be problematic if it:

• Has a major impact on your ability to do the job (for example, doubling your commute time or childcare costs)

• Was imposed with little or no consultation

• Disregards prior, documented agreements

Constructive dismissal: when a forced return to office may cross the line

In England and Wales, constructive unfair dismissal arises when:

• Your employer commits a fundamental breach of your contract (including the implied term of mutual trust and confidence), and

• You resign in response to that breach.

Examples in the 60% context include:

• Unilaterally forcing a substantial change to your working location or pattern without genuine consultation

• Ignoring your caring responsibilities or disability‑related needs, despite clear evidence

• Threatening disciplinary action for non‑compliance when you are trying to discuss arrangements in good faith

Important caveats:

• Constructive dismissal claims are complex and risky. You generally need at least two years’ service to bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim, and you usually have to resign.

• Timing matters—waiting too long after the breach can be treated as accepting the new terms.

• Tribunals will look carefully at what the contract said, what consultation occurred and how both sides behaved.

Because resignation is a serious step, it is usually safer to:

• Gather documents (contracts, policy extracts, emails)

• Take advice from your union or a legal adviser

• Explore grievances and flexible working routes before giving notice, unless your position is completely untenable
  
  
  

Indirect sex discrimination and caring responsibilities

The 60% rule can hit some groups harder than others.

In many households, women still shoulder more of the caring load for children or elderly relatives. A rigid “three days in the office” rule may:

• Increase childcare costs beyond what is affordable

• Make nursery or school pick‑up logistics impossible

• Force difficult choices about reducing hours or leaving the Civil Service

In law, this can raise the issue of indirect sex discrimination where:

• A provision, criterion or practice (such as a 60% office rule) applies to everyone

• It puts a particular group (for example, women with caring responsibilities) at a particular disadvantage

• It also puts you at that disadvantage

• The employer cannot show the rule is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim

Things that matter in practice:

• Whether the department has seriously considered individual circumstances

• Whether less intrusive options (for example, 40% attendance, different days, or team‑by‑team flexibility) were explored

• Whether decisions and justifications are properly documented

Even if you do not bring a claim, framing your concerns in this language—in a grievance or flexible working request—can help managers understand the legal risk of a blanket approach.

Disability, reasonable adjustments and hot‑desking

For disabled staff and those with long‑term health conditions, the 60% rule can interact with the duty to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010.

Typical situations:

• A staff member with a mobility impairment or chronic pain who struggles with commuting multiple days per week

• Someone with autism, ADHD or anxiety who finds open‑plan hot‑desking environments overwhelming but has been thriving with home‑working

• A civil servant with a compromised immune system whose risk profile changed during and after Covid

Reasonable adjustments might include:

• Reduced office‑attendance expectations (for example, 20–40% instead of 60%)

• Specific desk allocations or quiet spaces rather than pure hot‑desking

• Changes to working hours or start/finish times to avoid rush‑hour travel

Legal risk increases where:

• Occupational health recommendations are ignored or cherry‑picked

• Managers apply attendance triggers or performance sanctions without adjusting for disability‑related limitations

• HR treats all staff identically despite clear evidence of disability‑related disadvantage

The separate article on disability, attendance triggers and the DWP paradox goes into these issues in more depth, but they are directly relevant whenever departments insist on a rigid 60% rule.

Special cases: under 2 years’ service, sick leave and maternity leave

Your options also depend on your length of service and current status.

• If you have less than two years’ continuous Civil Service service, your rights to bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim are limited. However, claims for discrimination (sex, disability, pregnancy/maternity, etc.) are available from day one.

• If you are on long‑term sick leave, the department should still consult you properly about changes to working patterns and consider how the 60% rule interacts with your health and any occupational health advice.

• If you are on maternity leave, pregnancy and maternity are specially protected characteristics. Imposing new attendance rules in a way that disadvantages you on return—without careful thought or consultation—can be high‑risk for the employer.

In all three cases, documenting communications and keeping copies of policies is crucial.

Practical steps if you are struggling with the 60% rule

Before you resign or refuse to comply outright, it can help to take some structured steps.

1. Collect the paperwork:

   • Your contract, any flexible working agreements, and emails that refer to your previous pattern

   • Departmental attendance, hybrid working and equality policies

   • Any occupational health reports or disability‑related correspondence
     
     
     

2. Clarify what is actually being required of you:

   • Is the 60% rule being applied as an absolute requirement, or is there scope for exceptions?

   • Are managers making informal threats that go beyond written policy?
     
     
     

3. Frame your concerns clearly:

   • Explain, in writing, how the rule affects you (location, cost, caring responsibilities, disability, health)

   • Refer to flexible working, discrimination and reasonable adjustments where relevant
     
     
     

4. Use internal routes first where possible:

   • Flexible working requests

   • Requests for reasonable adjustments

   • Grievances if informal approaches fail
     
     
     

5. Take advice early:

   • Speak to your union representative if you have one

   • Consider independent legal advice, especially if resignation or dismissal is on the horizon
     
     
     

Using Caira to understand letters, policies and options

When you are receiving dense emails and policy extracts about office attendance, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. That is where a specialist tool can help you break the documents down.

Caira is an AI‑powered, privacy‑first legal assistant built for people dealing with law and procedure in England and Wales. It can help you:

• Upload attendance letters, flexible working decisions, the Civil Service Code, hybrid‑working policies, occupational health reports and emails with your manager as PDFs, Word documents, spreadsheets, screenshots or photos

• Ask specific questions like “Does this letter actually change my contract?” or “Where in this policy does it say 60% is compulsory?”

• Generate draft emails to your line manager, formal grievances, flexible working requests or questions for union meetings, so you do not have to start from a blank page

• Ask Caira to compare two versions of a policy or contract side by side—for example, pre‑ and post‑Covid attendance guidance—and highlight the practical differences

Behind the scenes, Caira reads both your uploaded documents and a large internal library of more than 10,000 legal and tax documents relevant to England and Wales, then uses generative AI to give tailored explanations.

From a privacy point of view:

• Caira is designed to be privacy‑first—your documents are not used to train public AI models

• Your information is not passed to third‑party human reviewers

You can try Caira with a 14‑day free trial that takes under a minute to start and does not require a credit card. After that it is an affordable, low‑cost subscription—roughly the cost of a cheap takeaway each month—at £15/month, available 24/7 on your phone, tablet or laptop.

Used well, it will not replace advice from a union or solicitor, but it can help you feel more prepared and less alone before you speak to them.

If you need more detail, our Civil Service Code vs Free Speech: may help.

You might also find Disabled in the Civil Service: Attendance useful.

For related issues, see TOLATA Claims: Sorting Out Property When.