15,000 Revenue and Customs staff join work to rule

Over 85% of PCS members employed at HMRC voted in favour of a ban on overtime and a work to rule in response to the introduction of new working practices called 'LEAN'. The new working practices are leading to staff reporting that they have to work in a culture of corporate bullying, with their work being deskilled and in some cases leading them to exposure to the risk of repetitive strain injury.

HMRC management have rejected moves by the union to reach a negotiated outcome, which included an offer by the union for a joint evaluation of 'LEAN', the provision of appropriate safeguards for members as well as an agreed implementation programme.

Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary added: "The support for this action shows how angry members are at being excessively individually monitored and forced to meet unreasonable targets as their work is deskilled and they are reduced to nothing more than robots. HMRC have refused our offer of a joint evaluation of 'LEAN' and we are concerned that the way it has been introduced is not only deskilling our members but is ultimately inefficient. Quality targets of 85% are down to 50%. Lean is also creating massive backlogs with post not being logged as it comes in and thousands of tax returns remaining unopened.

"The introduction of the new style working practices which breaks up individual tasks is leading to the deskilling and demotivation of a committed and skilled workforce. We are actively seeking to engage constructively with senior management to resolve this issue but they so far seem determined to plough ahead with the roll out of this demoralising work practice."