The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has officially withdrawn its work-from-home initiative, with all employees instructed to return to the office full-time from 1 January 2026, the Public Servants Association (PSA) has confirmed.
While SARS never formalised a remote-work policy, the arrangement was introduced under Commissioner Edward Kieswetter during the Covid-19 pandemic as part of the organisation’s Employee Value Proposition (EVP) – a framework of employee benefits aimed at attracting and retaining skilled staff.
Promote flexibility
A PSA spokesperson said the work-from-home initiative was introduced to promote flexibility, but was always subject to withdrawal at the commissioner’s discretion.
“It was communicated that the arrangement could be withdrawn at any time; therefore, no formal dispute has been raised,” the PSA said.
Nonetheless, many employees have expressed dissatisfaction with the decision.
The union has since registered the issue for discussion at the National Consultative Forum (NCF), seeking clarity on how the EVP’s benefits are structured and aligned with SARS’s broader reward and retention strategies.
‘Expects an update’
A meeting of the NCF held on 27 October 2025 failed to produce the requested SARS presentation on the EVP.
“The PSA has registered its dissatisfaction with the failure by SARS to make a presentation,” the union said, adding that it expects an update at the next forum session.
SARS did not respond to media queries about the withdrawal or possible exemptions by the time of publication.
In its 2024/25 annual report, the revenue service said it remains committed to “refining its EVP to prioritise a conducive working environment and continuous career development.”
Return-to-office trend growing across South Africa
SARS joins a growing list of South African employers ending or scaling back remote work policies introduced during the pandemic.
Many large corporates in the banking, insurance, and administration sectors have moved from hybrid models to full-time office attendance, citing the benefits of in-person collaboration and productivity management.
Legal experts note that employers are within their rights to end remote work, provided the decision is reasonable and does not breach individual employment contracts.
Hybrid work
South Africa’s labour laws – including the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) and Labour Relations Act (LRA) – do not explicitly regulate remote or hybrid work.
However, existing rulings by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and the Labour Court stipulate that such changes must be reasonable and consultative, particularly where remote work arrangements are contractually defined.
For now, SARS employees will have to prepare for a full return to the office at the start of 2026, marking the end of one of the country’s longest-running public sector work-from-home initiatives.
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