Are you starting to go back to office if you’ve been wfh?

[Littlemiss74]

I’ve been wfh since end March. I had a shielding letter and my employer has been great saying I could stay at home even when shielding was paused. Most other staff were still wfh too anyway but now they are starting to return to office. We’ve been told there can’t be more than 50% staff on site at once so people are going to do a split between home & office.

My boss has asked if I could perhaps come in at the end of the month to see all the safety measures in place with a view to returning. She knows I have been anxious. I am part time so don’t think she would expect me to go in there every day. She said it would be good if I could go in some of the time so we can have team meetings and project planning time together.

At the moment I feel ok about returning but I am anxious about the winter months when there always people in work coughing & sneezing. I take immunosuppressants so need to be careful. I want to show willing and I am slightly conscious that ‘out of sight, out of mind’ may occur if I’m away too much longer.

Just wondering what stages other people are at in returning to the office, how often do you go in a week and what are the covid restrictions in place? Also if you were shielding how do you feel about returning and the winter months?

I appreciate there are many people who will be vulnerable who will have continued working throughout.

Are any of you in Scotland? Obviously not sure what you all do but here non-essential offices aren’t allowed to open back up yet so that includes quite a lot I imagine.

I absolutely love WFH so I’ll be really sad when we go back. I work so much better at home on my own rather than there being 2/3 different conversations going on around me!

Just wondering the reasons for this.

Pandemic.

My office can only take 1/3 of staff with social distancing. 1-2-1 meetings can be accommodated and small team meetings (up to 6) but nothing more.

On that basis it’s easier for most people to work from home most of the time. But I am making sure it’s opened up to give people who really struggled to work at home the chance to go in at least twice a week from October. They already have some ability to do that, but more limited at the moment.

The problem for us is that the things we most want to go back to the office for are also the hardest to achieve under social distancing – socialising, catching up with colleagues, team meetings, external visitors and so on

Ours is open and covid secure but no compulsion to attend. I popped in for the first time this week. It highlighted how pointless office working is while social distancing is required - couldn’t have a conversation with a colleague without shouting across an expanse of desks which will be too disruptive if staff return in any kind of numbers. Couldn’t ask a colleague to pop over to my screen and check how I’d worded something. Couldn’t share a bit of gossip about management because we couldn’t get close enough to whisper Wasted over three hours of the working day commuting there and back. I think they’ll keep it to optional til Christmas and then try to get us back in numbers in the new year.

Wish I could I was made to work from home since around mother’s day company made announcement two weeks ago saying we won’t be returning to office as moving out building permanently. About 500 staff affected. Have to work from home until after xmas then maybe returning some staff to alternative site which means longer commute more travel costs harder to arrange school drop offs to fit in etc but not everyone our department of 30 have only 7 desks at new site (which means we can’t all be working everyday like before no plan as to who works in office who at home yet) expecting large amount of redundancies to be honest but management keeping quiet

@Littlemiss74

Goodness so many people saying they are being told to stay wfh. Just wondering the reasons for this. Offices that require travel on public transport maybe? Or offices where space doesn’t allow for social distancing?

We're in Scotland. I think the approach here is more cautious (and sensible?).

@Littlemiss74 the government are still telling people in the ex-shielding group to carry on working from home wherever possible. Therefore that is what you should do.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19

Thanks for that @Egghead68 it’s tricky as I work in HR and so my manager wants us all to ‘be seen’ as she wants us to lead the return to the office. Some people (without health concerns) are reluctant to return and I think she feels if her own team aren’t visible then she can’t say anything to them.
I don’t really have a problem with going back 2 days as like I said I think it will be good formmy mental health and I know that they are extremely professional and will have all the safety measures in place. My only concern is if people start getting colds and coming in with them - this will make me anxious.
I think what I will do is go in when she has asked and have a good open & chat with her about it all and say I am happy to come in a couple of days a week for meetings & project work & then 2 days at home. I think that is a good compromise and shows that I am willing.

The culture of my company is very much face to face. They are not used to people working from home at all and I don’t think they would want that to become a permanent thing but are probably ok to the idea of half & half.

Interesting the government has dialed back it's big 'back to the office' campaign, there was talk last week (DM admittedly) that Whitty was v unhappy, and in France it is in part offices reopening driving the spike in cases.

I think businesses are sensible to be cautious, the last thing we need is to go in to have to come back out again as outbreaks happen.

The main difference between the UK (where there has been no exponential rise in cases again yet) and France and Spain (where there has) is that very few of us here have returned to the office.

To be encouraging people to return to the office at the same time as schools and then universities are going back is just asking for an explosion in the r number. Much more sensible to do one thing at a time and monitor the effects.

it’s tricky as I work in HR

I would have thought an HR department should be seen to be following the government advice (which is for ex-shielding people to be working from home wherever possible).

My office is open and they are encouraging people to return but on a voluntary basis. Im pregnant so won’t be going in until after mat leave - I see no point in braving public transport or paying for taxis (office in the City of London) when I’ve been working effectively at home for months. I trust the office to have good safety measures in place, it’s the commute I worry about.

No not going back yet. will be amazed if we get back this year

Oh gosh really @Egghead68 I didn’t know that was one of the reasons that France’s cases have increased. That’s a bit worrying. Surely that will be the case here though soon if Boris is saying we should all be getting back to work now?

I have read the guidelines for returning to work for shielders and it says it is ok to do so as long as the workplace is covid secure. Yesterday we had an employee briefing (by zoom) and the senior manager presenting said they are now expecting people to come back on a part time basis to the office. He stated ‘it is perfectly safe to be here’ and I know they have been very thorough getting it covid safe. But still seems a bit odd to me that if you have been quite successfully working from home for 6 months in a non-management role, why would they want people to return as we approach the winter months and cough & cold season (especially people who had been shielding?)

To be fair, now the kids are back at school I’m going to be at higher risk of catching it anyway so
perhaps I just need to get on with it, go back to office 2 days a week and hope for the best?

He simply cannot accurately say it is perfectly safe. It might be low risk but he cannot give you that reassurance. If someone unwittingly enters a shared workspace with the virus there is a chance you'll get it.

Apart from anything else people will not follow procedures perfectly.

With schools opening the return of colds etc is going to have people forever having to take precautions until they get a test result or just assuming their symptoms are not covid and not bothering. It's going to be a mess and the more people return to offices the more of a mess it will be.

@wafflyversatile I agree I did think that when he said it’s perfectly safe, I thought well what if someone has no symptoms!
I also think it’s going to get tricky with kids getting colds, being sent home etc. I’ll have to wfh then anyway.

It would so much easier if Boris had not said ‘ok to all go back to work‘ ffs!!! Why did he say this anyway with winter coming? Do you think he’ll change his mind (again)?

I've just been told I 'have' to go back in on Monday full time as they've decided my WFH situation isn't ideal (lack of space etc) and apparently the quality of my work is sliding due to only being able to use a small laptop (not allowed to connect anything to own equipment) and having to switch between multiple documents. Not happy as DH was shielding and everybody else in the office has been told they don't have to. Though they have the benefit of big houses and plenty of room!

That seems very unfair @Lightuptheroom

I do wonder if there’s an element of control about it all. Some managers I think just find it hard to completely trust their staff to be working as hard as they would be in the office under their supervision. Personally I have found it great as I can be more flexible and finish work off later or come back to something/take calls etc as I don’t need to be watching the clock to leave office for school run.

The virus is airborne so there is no such thing as Covid secure unless there are no shared spaces whatsoever (including corridors).

@Egghead68

The virus is airborne so there is no such thing as Covid secure unless there are no shared spaces whatsoever (including corridors).

I didn’t think airborne transmission had been established

Great🙄 I know there are people far more reluctant than me to return and they are not clased as vulnerable. I wonder how they will deal with them, it’s interesting times.

DH is going in one day a week.

My office is technically open & can only fit 50 staff, so we are using a desk booking system. There is no pressure whatsoever to go in & by all accounts, everyone feels very safe once in the office.

I commute by train and am also 26 weeks pregnant so not planning to go back in & my boss is actively discouraging it. I have an excellent wfh set up though (separate office, excellent WiFi, second screen etc) and I have been told, once back from mat leave in 2022, that I can pick when I would want to be in the office, if at all.

My job cannot be outsourced abroad, so feel as confident as you ever can be, that my role is pretty secure and wfh is going to be my new normal!

Pretty much it has and the WHO have finally admitted it. Happy to post the research if you like.