Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng took on union bosses on Friday as he called for people to “get back to work” as Plan B ends.
The Cabinet minister said the country had to try to return to “some degree of normality” after Covid cases have fallen significantly from the peak of the Omicron wave.
Speaking on LBC Radio: “I speak to union leaders frequently and I think we should get back to work.
“I have said that to the department that I run.
“We have got to get back to some degree of normality.”
He admitted that there were still only around half of the staff in the Business Department back in the office but said this would increase.
The Government ditched the work from home guidance on Wednesday, with mandatory masks on public transport and in shops, as well as vaccine passports in nightclubs and some other venues going next Thursday.
Some union leaders have been resisting the moves to get more workers back into the office, with coronavirus infection levels still high.
Pressed on the fact that many people have been working away in their homes, Mr Kwarteng added: “I think that people working in the office do get benefits from working with colleagues, being able to interact directly with them.
“I want to get back to a sense that the pandemic is turning from a pandemic into what scientists call endemic...so it’s something that we just have to live with.
“If we are going to live with it, the sooner we get back to the pre-Covid world, the better in terms of workplace practices.”
The Government has faced accusations that it has been slow in getting civil servants back into Whitehall, while more employees in the private sector returned to the office.
Cabinet ministers and Whitehall mandarins have now been asked by No10 to ensure all Government offices are “open so staff can return to normal working patterns as soon as possible” while following the guidance for “a safe return for all workers”.
