WFH - is this still the government advice??

[Lou0808]

So Boris didn't really say anything about working from home yesterday.

Is the guidance still to work from home?

My husband has been working from home for the last two months.

Last week there was talk about having him back to the office.

He spoke to his manager and for now he's saying at home.

It's concerning that they are asking him to go back since a member of staff tested positive last week!!!!

Funnily enough DH and I were talking about this earlier, he's been wfh since a week before lockdown (and driving me nuts). We're surprised nothing has been said either? I'm guessing it's a case of common sense, as cases come down as long as you can make the office as COVID safe as possible then the office can reopen.. 🤷🏼‍♀️! Don't know is my answer, but I'm hoping DH will be back to the office sooner rather than later..

It said on the news yesterday that you should still work from home if you can.

My (large) firm are not even looking at changing until September. I know others of all sizes who are similar. I think for many companies, they are still seeing productivity happening while people wfh and it's a better strategy to keep it like that while we see the effects of other measures rather than having to spend a lot of time and effort figuring how they need to configure office space using guidance that may well change a couple of times over the next few months (and in fact already has)

Yes, they said yesterday to continue WFH as much as possible.

It's still work from home where possible because of this meaning fewer people on public transport and fewer cars on the road.

I thought he said explicitly to continue WFH where you can, in the Commons speech, I didn't watch the briefing.

I think the more people who work from home the safer it is for those who can’t, especially on public transport.

We've been told to carry on WFH until there is a vaccine.

its pretty shocking how many companies are asking staff to come in, when their jobs can easily be done from home

Shielding ends on 1st August, so I'd imagine it will then open the door for companies to ask/tell people to go in. My office has opened partially only for those who definitely can't work from home and is talking about September for anyone else

It is a bit strange the dichotomy between company attitudes, most companies I know have told people to expect to WFH until Spring next year. They are each setting up some sort of occasional attendance capability later in the year for people who desperately want to go in, but they don't particularly want the disruption of chopping and changing environments and managing the extra effort on re-setting up offices; sticking with WFH is actually easier.

My office is opening in July on 20% capacity, so 20 people in the entire building. Won’t be able to sit with your team. Only two people in meeting rooms. I cannot see the point! 🤷🏼‍♀️ It is voluntary though.. they’ve said while SD remains, it’ll only ever be able to be 50% capacity..

I'm disappointed in my husbands company.
There's no reason for him to go back other than some moaning old grump in the office who wants people in.

My husband has even said he's more productive at home that he is in the office!!

I'm not sure what a staff member being positive last week has to do with it. They wont be at work until clear and even if the office wasn't cleaned after a week there will be no infection risk.

In Scotland, their blueprint for out of lockdown says that WFH should still be the default.

But yes, employers could just do what they like anyway.

@helpfulperson

I'm not sure what a staff member being positive last week has to do with it. They wont be at work until clear and even if the office wasn't cleaned after a week there will be no infection risk.

The person has been working, they went home ill and tested positive!!

They've now sent all of that team home for two weeks.

The virus is still around. It's not risk free.

We have followed the rules and we continue to be very careful.

If DH has to go back to work and share an office with people, how do we know those people are being equally as careful.

In retrospect they should have brought in WFH if you can earlier. I imagine that if you can do your job from home then that should continue until we have a vaccine. From a business perspective why would you risk it spreading round your office and people getting sick when they could stay home. Also public transport is a big issue, lots of people have jobs that can't be done at home and so as many spaces as possible need to be kept free for them.