Just 14 percent of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) civil servants were present at the department's headquarters by midday on a recent Friday, according to a report by the Centre for Government Reform (CGR).
Researchers from the think tank observed Caxton House, the DWP's central London office, and counted staff entering between 7 a.m. and noon. They found that only 317 of the 2,245 staff members were in the building by midday, leaving more than three-quarters of the office's 1,395 available spaces empty.
The observation noted that only 26 employees arrived between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., and 114 had arrived by 9 a.m. This number increased to 220 by 10 a.m. and 278 by 11 a.m.
This finding comes amidst ongoing criticism of civil servants for not adhering to government guidelines that suggest they should be in the office 60 percent of the working week.
A spokesperson for the DWP stated that the department publishes its own attendance data and claims to be meeting its targets. However, the CGR's findings suggest a significant portion of the workforce was absent by midday.
Mike Wood, a spokesman for the Conservative Party's Cabinet Office, commented on the report, suggesting that low attendance at the department responsible for managing benefits might contribute to the rising benefits bill.
Ameer Kotecha, chief executive of the CGR, described the situation as "a system where rules are set but not enforced, and where nobody seems to be measuring if the public is getting value from the estate it funds."