About the level of fear over returning to the office?

[Hilyie]

We all currently WFH, our employer has said that this is the way forward, and we won't go back to working even weekly in the office - indeed we can't as our building has been partly sold off so there's only room for a limited number at any one time . The suggestion by our organisation is that within our teams and workgroups we try to attend the office 'a few times a year'. Apparently the ideal is once a month but there's no hard and fast rules.

As a department, we're currently trying to make arrangements to get people in the office a couple of times before the end of the year. But the level of anxiety is unbelievable.

Most people are vaccinated (personally I'm not, but the majority are), under 50, and with no underlying health conditions, not carers for those who are high risk etc. Very few have had Covid (that they know of)

Yet so far we've had some refusing outright to come in at all because they don't feel safe, others saying they would come to the office but refuse to use public transport as it's too dangerous, some saying they would come in if everyone had done a LFT beforehand (this is not required by our employer, though they are doing other checks) some saying they'll come in but want to sit 2m apart from anyone and if we get together for a meeting insist on everyone wearing masks or that we'll have to sit outside. Someone else wants to go home at lunch because 'its not safe to eat in the office' and so on. There are probably even more examples of what people won't do.

These people all worked side by side 18 months ago, ate lunch at their desks, chatted by the water cooler etc, all very normal. Yet now it feels like they're scared to leave the house.

Are we just unlucky or are other people this concerned? It feels like any semblance of our work environment will never return!

Before covid I was constantly sick and expected to come in sick.

Same. Because of our sickness policy, my flexi days I built up, or much of my annual leave, i'd end up taking because I was ill with sick building syndrome for the 5th time that year.

In the last 18 months WFH i've not had to waste a single days leave, or take a sick day. I've had the odd cold or bug but it's much easier to deal with in your own home than stuck in an office and facing a 2 hour round commute.

We've all been back in office for months. No issues, no cases, just all being sensible.

My colleagues and I have been back in the office full time since August and it’s fine. No covid scares. Life is pretty much back to normal. I feel like you’re anxious for no reason

Sorry @Waxonwaxoff0 I see now I was mistaken.

@JengaNonConfirming

Has your company done a Risk Assessment? Where I work there is an over arching one which lays out mask usage, social distancing, meeting room usage, air flow etc. Then people who are vulnerable has personal ones. Might this reassure people?

Yes do a proper covid risk assessment and let them all see it? Where i work meetings are 2 metres apart or by teams from desks as a measure to stop the whole team having to isolate if we all get ill. They can't afford for a whole team to get wipes out.

@genericuserneeded

My colleagues and I have been back in the office full time since August and it’s fine. No covid scares. Life is pretty much back to normal. I feel like you’re anxious for no reason

We've had outbreak after outbreak, my colleagues are travelling internationally, taking little to no mitigation's as they're "indestructible" and we've a young team who are not all vaccinated

The current arrangement suits them better and they are using the fear factor to get out of returning to the office.

@Whitecushion

Teachers seem to be ignored by everybody who is not a teacher. I think thats the answer. The fact that those in schools are living a completely pre pandemic life with out any restrictions whilst the rest of the country insists on wfh or complex rules and regulations has to be ignored because there is no sensible explanation. And how can people explain the unexplainable.

Here here.

I work in a school, you wouldn't know there's a pandemic on. Travel 1.5hrs across London every day. Time to get on with it peeps. Wash you hands, wear a mask, open a window, and carry on.

@JBlow

The current arrangement suits them better and they are using the fear factor to get out of returning to the office.

In find it quite odd that people say they're "using the fear factor".

You're talking about people who have been literally imprisoned in their homes working really bloody hard for 18 months.

18 months of anything repeatedly will lead to some pretty serious issues around anxiety.

Really depends why you need people to be in the office. My DH’s work want people to come in, but all anyone does when they’re there is work at desks with headphones on; they still have all their work conversations via Slack as it’s quicker that way . For this they all have to commute on public transport, the company has to pay £££ on office space - it just seems pointless. Even if people aren’t worried about getting covid themselves, the more people we have pointlessly commuting the length and breadth of the country, the more we are spreading contagious illnesses of all kinds during what promises to be a pretty grim winter for the NHS.

You're talking about people who have been literally imprisoned in their homes working really bloody hard for 18 months.

Who are you talking about?

Anyone ‘literally imprisoned in their homes’ for 18 months has been doing that out of choice.

@TheKeatingFive completely agree with you there. “Literally imprisoned”… please.

The whole process has been risk assessed at the highest level, it's a huge company so everything is being done by the book. Numbers in the office are strictly limited and controlled, we have to book our team members in, and per dept only 1 team will ever be in at a time. We'll never be in meetings of more than 10-12. There is nothing more our employers could do really other than to just leave people at home forever...but even people who worked from home pre Covid still had occasional office days (we had some home workers pre Covid and they came in to the office for a day once every 4-6 weeks). I actually don't think it's healthy for people never ever to go to the office, to never see any colleagues face to face. I can understand reservations about once a week, or more often but surely twice in 4 months isn't too much to expect?!

It's called empathy and understanding

They've probably all moved to the Maldives.

@marieantoinehairnet

It's called empathy and understanding

Wonder how many WFH would have empathy and understanding if key workers refused to go out to work because it's unsafe.

@Hilyie oh dear. It's hard and it was a shock for me to go back to the office but I just had to get on with it. The only thing I can think of is if you offer for one or two of them to come back for just half a day at a time to readjust.

Suppose it depends on what the 'empathy and understanding' is for.

Empathy and understanding for someone who is a carer for their dad who's going through chemo and is worried about catching covid and passing it on to him, yeah, fair enough.

Empathy and understanding for someone who has developed severe anxiety about going out of the house since lockdowns, even though they're not at any level of unusual risk - well, I don't think the whole work organisation should be rearranged to accommodate that but it's still a real problem they have and not something they're choosing.

Empathy and understanding for someone who doesn't want to do the commute any more or quite fancies never catching a cold again, but prefers to present this as "I'm very scared about covid" than directly ask their employers for what they want -

I think you do have to remember slot of people were told for 18 months that you simply can't come to the office, as it's not safe. With no option to go in at all.

This has has caused in some people real mental health issues.

I'm going in, but I do have colleagues profoundly affected by WFH for 18 months.

And people can laugh about imprisoned, but when you've been working at break neck speed for stupidly long hours, you've experienced burnout as alot of my colleagues have, you've done nothing but eat, sleep and work, yes it does feel like imprisonments.

I think you do have to remember slot of people were told for 18 months that you simply can't come to the office, as it's not safe. With no option to go in at all. yeah when you've been fed the message DON'T COME IN IT'S NOT SAFE STAY AT HOME IF YOU CAN. It's hard to undo that.

And people can laugh about imprisoned, but when you've been working at break neck speed for stupidly long hours, you've experienced burnout as alot of my colleagues have, you've done nothing but eat, sleep and work, yes it does feel like imprisonments.

Winter lockdown did feel like a version of house arrest after a while, yes. Was grim.

I assume contractually they’re still assigned to an office? If so can’t you tell them to get their arses to the office in a highly risk assessed manner or you’ll consider they’re refusing to follow a reasonable request.

Unless they’re clinically vulnerable they need to stop taking the piss
I expect the ones saying they need to go home at lunchtime because they it’s not safe have got lockdown dogs and never thought about the long term consequence of that

I agree with your @Figgygal, time to pull the contracts out.

Define a risk assessed phased return rota
Invite FWR, aligned with your logistical change of office space
It is not an unreasonable request to require presence
Anyone with anxiety needs to go to Gp and get signed off

@VladmirsPoutine

To be honest. And very honest I think that a lot of those people refusing aren't anxious or worried in the slightest (I speak as one of these people) - it's just that WFH has been so bloody brilliant that I'd rather continue to do so. I hate office politics, I don't like eating and chatting with my colleagues and I've achieved a great work/life balance like this. I'm still getting my work done but I don't want to hear about Linda's new baby nor James' recent trip to Dubai over the water cooler. Of course I can't word it like that so I'd rather go for the 'worried and concerned' approach.

I'm no longer spending stupid money and time on commuting. Let people be.

I think you've hit the nail on the head here. People who love working from home want to continue to do so and and the 'anxiety' excuse is too good not to use as no one can argue with someone else's (fake) feelings!

I would want to take those precautions if I worked in an office, and I don't feel frightened or anxious at all. It's just common sense.