Workers who leave the head office to buy a cup of coffee are costing an Australian mining firm too much money, according to its boss.
Managing director of Mineral Resources Chris Ellison said during a financial results presentation on Wednesday he wants to “hold staff captive all day long”.
“I don’t want them leaving the building,” he said.
The head office in Perth has a restaurant, nine staff psychologists, a gym, and other facilities designed to encourage staff to stay in the office.
“We have a lot of different benefits that we have brought on,” said Mr Ellison, whose company has a strict “no work from home policy”.
"Why have I done that? Because when I get them first thing in the morning, I want to hold them captive all day long. I don’t want them leaving the building.
I’m fine with employers asking people to not work remotely on a regular basis, but unless the job is one that does not permit to be done remotely – I mean, you can’t really be a dental assistant working remotely, say – I also think that it also buys a lot to have some level of flexibility. Like, okay, say you’re having a plumbing repair done and you need to be present for that. I’m not sure that it makes sense to have people come in. On the other hand, I’m not sure that taking the day off makes sense either. I mean, you can be working, and you may not want to be totally taking the thing off. Also kind of annoying if I can’t rely on a coworker being available on some day because they have some relatively-minor thing that they need to deal with.
Maybe have a certain number of “work from home” days if you feel the need to regiment it or something.