Work saying Covid secure offices are ok

[QsGal]

I’m posting out of curiosity mostly.

My workplace have said that because our office is Covid secure then we shouldn’t be working from home. Following that logic through, all workplaces should have been Covid secure before people returned, therefore all workers should continue going in?

Has anyone’s workplace said similar?

@FusionChefGeoff
They have been quite clear that it isn't as simple as physically being able to do your job from home.
If you would suffer either physically or mentally from continued working from home you should be able to go into the office as normal. Equally if you can do the work but not at the same productivity or to the same standards employers are allowed to insist you go into work.

@StatisticalSense did you read the rest of my post?? I agree as I also said:

*If the company can prove via a risk assessment eg for mental health you can't work from home then you can be in the office.

If the company can prove some other way that you can't do your job ie. fall in productivity / loss of sales etc then you can be in the office.*

So yes, if you will suffer physically or mentally the risk assessment would show you can't work from home.

And if your productivity / standards dropped, that would also be counted as 'can't do your job' from home..

@StarCat2020

Covid secure does not equal safe.

I don't buy into the concept of safe, but I agree with the principle of what you said. I am not sure that some hand sanitizer, a few cleaning wipes and signs everywhere is actually that great at stopping spread. Especially when there is air conditioning blowing full blast.

We've got the opposite problem, offices closed and staff being told to work from home with no IT or support....

The message from the Chief Exec is quite clear, everyone needs to return to the office on a rota basis as we are very Covid secure.

People are not happy.

Can you work from home? If so you should be home working and work should support/encourage you. If it is not possible to work from home then covid-secure (as much as possible) office is where you should be.

The lack of anyone in an office getting Covid doesn’t say anything about whether that office is Covid- secure, it just means no-one in that office has been infected and brought it into the office.

You’ll only know if your office is really Covid-secure after one person in the office has tested positive. If it spreads to other staff it wasn’t Covid-secure.

Our office was meant to be Covid secure...since we went back two weeks ago, about 50% of the team has become ill with coughs, colds etc. No one has been diagnosed with Covid but then no one can actually get a test! Whatever it is, it shows that the germs are passing about freely!

We have 2 staff in the office full time who have chosen to go in as they are struggling to work at home due to lack of space and distractions. Two more are going in a couple of day’s a week and want to continue. We have 7 who are working from home and want to continue. I have no issues with this to be honest.

We started trickling back in for the odd day a week but now we're back to wfh for the foreseeable, probably spring next year.

@BunsyGirl

Our office was meant to be Covid secure...since we went back two weeks ago, about 50% of the team has become ill with coughs, colds etc. No one has been diagnosed with Covid but then no one can actually get a test! Whatever it is, it shows that the germs are passing about freely!

Do any of those staff have children in schools?

It’s cough and cold season. You should not be seeking tests unless you have one or more of the specific symptoms listed under Covid - and not all coughs count.

Just had a staff member threaten to quit and claim constructive dismissal because her manager has had the audacity to ask her to come to work. Carry on, love. Carry on.

I don't know what's so unclear....if you can work from home you should and employers should support it.

I am not sure that some hand sanitizer, a few cleaning wipes and signs everywhere is actually that great at stopping spread. Especially when there is air conditioning blowing full blast.

Aircon should not be being used. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yes ours are taking this stance NHS admin.

@SeaMayweed

I don't know what's so unclear....if you can work from home you should and employers should support it.

That is not the guidance in all parts of the UK.

I think it depends on how your manager interprets the rules. A tiny percentage of our team's duties require the odd scanned doc which can't be done at home, the rest can be and has been implemented for some staff who aren't able to be socially distant due to small offices.

The rest of us have been told no.

I thought the guidance in Scotland and Wales had stayed "work at home if you can" throughout, and it has just gone back to that in England. I've not looked at NI - is that out of step?

So if you can work from home, you should, but of course there will be people who can't because of family set-up or just not wanting to be on their own all the time, so it won't be as inflexible as it was during lockdown.

And it’s for employers to determine whether you can work from home, not just employees. Lots of reasons they may need to change the arrangements. But that’s not what people think the rules are.

We’re tending to see the part in-part out arrangement working best.

Large corporate office, hundreds in at once, still being told to come in.

And now masks are compulsory too.

@Feminist10101 A number of people have had a temperature so, yes, they should have tests.

Most people have no kids or have grown up kids. Not many with school age kids in the team.

My point was that if colds and coughs are passing about so easily, it’s not Covid secure! For a start, not all desks are 2 m apart and some people sit facing each other with only a half screen in between them which does not cover their face!

@Feminist10101
I also thought that like Scotland wfh where possible was still encouraged in Wales. Yesterday Mark Drakeford's statement included "Some of these actions, such as the need for people to work from home wherever possible, are already in force in Wales and have been since late March."

[quote BunsyGirl]@Feminist10101 A number of people have had a temperature so, yes, they should have tests.

Most people have no kids or have grown up kids. Not many with school age kids in the team.

My point was that if colds and coughs are passing about so easily, it’s not Covid secure! For a start, not all desks are 2 m apart and some people sit facing each other with only a half screen in between them which does not cover their face![/quote]
That’s definitely not within guidelines. How on earth is that allowed to happen?!

[quote SeaMayweed]@Feminist10101
I also thought that like Scotland wfh where possible was still encouraged in Wales. Yesterday Mark Drakeford's statement included "Some of these actions, such as the need for people to work from home wherever possible, are already in force in Wales and have been since late March."[/quote]
Yes. But it’s not actually employees who get to decide whether they work from home. Employers can require staff to attend work. It’s not a blanket requirement.

COVID safe means lower risk not no rush. Work from home if you can means work from home if you can. If you can they should let you.