Council employees working from home “better be seeking alternative careers very, very quickly” declared Nigel Farage as a turquoise tidal wave swept across Kent last week.

The Reform leader pledged to crack down on the practice at Kent County Council, but in reality what does this mean for workers, and what pitfalls should Reform beware of as it takes control of County Hall?

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has put council workers on notice - saying those working from home and people with jobs relating to diversity and climate change can expect to face the axe.

Speaking after his party’s local election success last week, he was outlining his intention to copy events across the Atlantic, namely Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge), and slash public spending here.

“No more work from home, increased productivity,” he said. “That won’t be a magic wand, it won’t solve every problem, but it will be a good start and we’ll be judged on that.”

But away from the soundbites, headlines, and rhetoric, the reality of stopping WFH could cause real problems - legal and personal - for the council and its thousands of workers.

One KCC staff member, who we’re calling Jenny to protect her identity, said any large-scale clampdown on homeworking could see job losses.

The mum-of-two said: “Potentially, I would have to give up work to pay the childcare costs. It wouldn’t be worth working.”

She believes her productivity is far better under the current working arrangements, where she is free of any distractions and water cooler conversations.

And she predicts a full-tilt towards office working would see KCC “lose a lot of people” with it becoming a lose-lose for all involved.

She added: “A lot of people go in, attracted to that hybrid working, to have that option.

“I think it would be hard to go out and find [another job] with the days and hours that I wanted.”

It’s come out the blue for the working mum who finds it easier to juggle the demands of her daily life at home.

“Sometimes if I don’t have children to look after, I’m one of these people, I work through my lunch break,” she added.

“If it’s a case I’ve got to pop round and get the children from school or get some medicines, I do it on my lunch break.”

Fellow council worker ‘Claire’ is another working parent - her role is in the education sector.

She explained how she took it on to support her work/home life balance and care for her children.

She said: “The flexibility of work from home has enabled me to keep on top of my case load/work as a whole and be a present mother.”

The mum-of-three attributes this to the commute, juggling the school-run and having to lug her office equipment back and forth.

“WFH means I am not using my car, spending extra on petrol, maintaining it and fewer road users at busy times of the day,” she explained.

“We will see an astronomical jump in traffic delays if this is pushed through.

“Those of us who do work from home should not be penalised or be treated as children. Yes, there are some that abuse it.

“But we are adults who should be trusted to maintain our workload and report to management as and when needed.”

‘Ridiculous rhetoric’

To seemingly rub salt in Jenny and Claire’s wounds, just days after Reform’s historic win, the party was hit with accusations of hypocrisy.

This followed the circulation of posts online advertising “regional director” roles, with salaries between £35,000 and £50,000 and… home working.

Labour’s Medway Council leader, Cllr Vince Maple, seized the opportunity to point out the discrepancy.

“Dear Reform UK. I heard your ridiculous rhetoric over the weekend about people not working from home,” he posted to X.

“Could you explain why you are advertising jobs working from home when saying hard-working council staff should have this taken away? A bit hypocritical some would say.”

The job posting came after comments from newly-elected Reform mayor for Lincolnshire, Andrea Jenkyns at the party’s victory bash at Hop Farm.

She vowed to axe diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) officers in her own constituency, calling it a “historic moment”.

The only problem? There were none.

Former leader’s advice

Someone with more knowledge than most about the inner workings of KCC is Roger Gough, who led the council for five years until his defeat on Friday.

Keen to say Reform needs time and a fair chance, he felt it would be wise not to be too hasty in how it tackles work-from-home and flexible working.

Although he personally was sympathetic to more in-person working - seeing its advantages in terms of building team cultures - a blanket approach can pose problems and risks.

KCC staff work in many different environments and circumstances and an “absolutist approach” could lead to HR issues, especially as the majority of the council's 8,000 full-time employees are female.

He says he feels there are also benefits being flexible with the workforce, especially as it helps with recruitment and retention.

In fact, KCC was promoting flexible working before the pandemic made it more common, and was something which helped the authority as it sold off office space to save costs amid austerity.

And there wouldn’t be enough space now to have everyone working in an office full time - finding a balance is key.

He suggested the new administration bears in mind the local government reorganisation which is projected to see KCC abolished by 2028 and new councils set up.

Reform will have a very difficult dilemma, as any administration would, in managing what it wishes to achieve while having to consider at the same time how its actions may affect the new authorities.

Mr Gough, who was a county councillor for 20 years, also warned against policies such as only flying the Union Flag and St George Flag, pointing out that the county flag was certainly among those that should be flown.

In terms of DEI, he said there were currently no roles focused purely on promoting diversity, but said there were jobs which included diversity responsibilities under the national Equality Act 2010.

Saying KCC had to make £1bn in savings this past decade, he suggested Reform concentrate on core issues such as paying for social care.

How many roles are there?

KCC previously responded to a Freedom of Information Act request to say it does not hold specific remote working policies, and is therefore unable to give exactly figures on the number of people working from home.

Instead, it says it promotes “hybrid working” where possible if the role can be conducted remotely.

In a 2023-24 report commenting on KCC’s workforce diversity, it said this “remains broadly reflective of the Kent county profile”, with modest increases in the proportion of disabled, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and LGBQ+ staff within the workforce.

“Work will continue to support staff attraction and retention in order to further narrow remaining areas of disparity,” it read. There have also been slight improvements to the diversity of KCC’s leadership group in the period.”

Although KCC’s 12-month rolling turnover from this period showed the number of staff from BAME backgrounds fell from 22.1% in 2022-23, to 16.7% in 2023-24.

Can employees refuse to return to the office full-time?

Since April last year, employees have had a right to request flexible working from day one of their employment.

An employee could, therefore, make a written request under the current legal framework to work from home a certain number of days per week. Any employer refusing a request must not only state the grounds for its refusal but also set out its reasons for doing so.

In turn, anyone who “unreasonably” refuses a request at any time to return to the office full time, could potentially face a disciplinary.

Depending on the seriousness of the conduct and the basis of their refusal, an employer may term this ample grounds to order their dismissal.

However, employers need to tread carefully as Ashford-based HR director and employment law specialist Sebastian Mattern warns.

“Any employee whose place of work is contractually defined as ‘remote’ or ‘hybrid’ is of course contractually protected,” he explained.

“However, all others who have been working remotely or in a hybrid setup for an extended period of time [as KCC has been for the last thee years], are fully protected under ‘custom and practice’ provisions.”

Custom and practice refers to unwritten workplace practices that, over time, become implied terms of an employee's contract following no objections by either the employer or employee.

The extended period is not defined but usually anything above two years would be accepted to have become a term of the employment contract which has the same standing as a written clause.

It means each employee affected, regardless of written contractual terms, must be consulted and subsequently agree to return to the office.

“Forcing them would be a breach of contract and would enable the employee to claim constructive dismissal and potentially tag on an indirect discrimination claim,” adds Mr Mattern.

“Terminating employees who refuse, be that following a lengthy disciplinary procedure (for which there are no grounds) and appeals procedure or, attempting to use a ‘fire and rehire’ process, would necessarily enable employees to claim unfair dismissal, again with potentially tagging on a claim for indirect discrimination.”

Any employees who have impairments which bar them from attending the office full-time also have recourse to claims for direct discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.

Mr Mattern, who has more than a decades experience representing both employers and employees at tribunals, says the move could prove costly - both in terms of cash and time.

“Any attempt by the new councillors to push ahead with this would necessarily involve lengthy internal processes and consultations at great cost,” he added.

“The majority of employees would be flat out refusing to end hybrid working; any attempt to then force those employees regardless or indeed to dismiss them would tie up the council in tribunal for years to come with a colossal amount of tax payers’ money being wasted in solicitor fees, tribunal awards and settlement agreements.”

He further warns this will only be exacerbated once the new Employment Rights Bill becomes law.

“Of course many KCC employees are also union members which would make matters infinitely worse and even more expensive, for example by joint tribunal claims being lodged instead of claims by individual employees,” he added.

‘They’re going to be in for a rude awakening’

Trade union officials have sounded warnings about plans to sack DEI and net-zero officers and are already preparing for a fight with Reform-controlled councils.

Christina McAnea, general secretary of Unison, which represents 600,000 local government workers, said the party was naïve” and called on employees to join the union to protect their rights.

“They're going to come up bang up against the harsh realities of trying to run a local authority,” she said.

“This is not the US. Thankfully, workers in the UK have laws to protect them from bad employers.

“And soon employees will get even more protection from unscrupulous bosses when the government’s new employment rights come in.

“Reform has consistently voted against these new measures that will make work more secure. So much for being on the side of ordinary working people.

“Unions are there to ensure no one can play fast and loose with the law. Any staff working for councils now controlled by Reform, and who aren’t yet members, should sign up so they can be protected too.

“Nigel Farage and his new councillors have much to learn about local government. They’ll quickly discover there’s nothing left to cut and many authorities are balancing on the edge of the financial precipice.”

‘We know what we’re doing’

Newly-elected Reform councillor David Wimble says people were “fed up” of being “dictated to” by the two main parties and his party will provide the solutions.

In response to accusations they have no experience, he said: “That’s not true. There are a lot of very good members who put themselves forward who are local councillors.

“Also I would say 85% of us run our own businesses. We know how important it is to balance the books, get paid on time and make sure the right people are doing the right jobs.

Unlike others in his party, he has been in local government for nearly 20 years, and has steadily climbed the ranks from the bottom tier of a town council to a cabinet positions having previously been a Conservative member of Folkestone & Hythe District Council.

Cllr Wimble has been tipped for a shared co-leader position alongside newly-elected member for Sevenoaks Rural North East, Cllr Maxine Fothergill.

Asked how such an arrangement would work in practical terms if it were to come to fruition, he added: “We will have disagreements. All council leaders have disagreements.

“But what we’re going to do is work through it.”

What to do about the boats?

One thing is for sure, Reform UK’s first days in charge at KCC will certainly be a baptism of fire with not only questions about their credentials to deliver but also the thorny subject of small boats, never far from the headlines.

It was thrust into the spotlight once again this week following comments again made by Ms Jenkyns that she’d resolve the issue by housing asylum seekers in tents in Kent.

This would be a government policy with KCC having no powers.

When questioned over the practicalities by GB News presenter Camila Tominey, the former Tory cabinet member, said: “I stand by them [the comments]. Looks to me they house illegal migrants in tents in France and in other countries.

“And the whole point of that is to illustrate we are soft touch Britain. If people are coming over here they are being put in hotels they are getting expenses paid, food etc.

“We’re going to attract more, we’re never going to solve it. Let’s face it, taxpayers should not be paying for putting people in hotels.”

When asked who would want to have “tent camps” in their backyard and if so, is it fair for Dover to bare the brunt, she added it was a “temporary solution”.

Experienced view

Dartford council leader Cllr Jeremy Kite sat on KCC for 16 years until his defeat to Reform last week.

He wished the new administration well, but said it’s going to be a steep learning curve with so many of the new 57 councillors having no previous council experience.

“One of the big things to deal with when you win is that you’re buffetted by events and different interests,” he said.

“You can’t always do what you want to do. There’s not always the money and there are often issues which crop up.

“You do your best to get the results for your local residents and you work with other partners, but it’s not easy at all.

“To be fair, inexperience is not always a bad thing - we all have to start somewhere and learn as we go along - but you have to always look at the bigger picture.”

The Tory advised the new councillors to keep an eye on key issues like tips, SEND and libraries and work with council officers who will advise them fairly and expertly.

“You can't just go in and have set positions on everything, there’s a lot of competing information and you’ve got to make the best decisions for your residents.

“I fear when they get to the budget next year, they’ll have to put up council tax. You’ve got to understand the financial side of things; that’s massively complicated.

“You also have to remember the people who aren’t noisy or rich - decisions on libraries and such affect them greatly.

“I hope they manage things as Kent needs a strong KCC.