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?

@Feminist10101 Because it’s been delegated to team level. Other team leaders have taken a more sensible approach.

Depends if you need to use public transport. If you can walk/drive and office is covid secure then I can see why employers want you in, some people don't work productively from home and employers don't want to single them out

@Feminist10101 it is the employers decision but the employee will usually have an idea if it is possible or not. If they are set up for home working it is possible, might be harder but it is possible.

Lots of jobs can be done from home. Lots can't even tho they may be office based. Our local council offices have been closed since March. It doesn't really affect me, but dmum has struggled massively to get paperwork and information into them. Oh and it was a pain when we had to register fils death and sort his council property out. Not everyone or everything can be done via phone/emails and it's also very difficult to actually speak to anyone.

I understand why people want to wfh, but I am sure if every job could and should be wfh then companies wouldn't spend millions of pounds renting office space, heating it, furnishing it etc.

[quote Sally872]@Feminist10101 it is the employers decision but the employee will usually have an idea if it is possible or not. If they are set up for home working it is possible, might be harder but it is possible.[/quote]
A lot of employees seem to think doing “a bit of work” at their kitchen table is working from home, and want that to continue. Early on in the pandemic that may have been manageable but not in the long term.

Ours have said the same - "we're Covid secure, so everyone keep piling into the office" They take your temp on the way in and sanitiser is everywhere.

I don't agree with it personally, but am only part time, low risk, and quite enjoy the change of scenery (and the job!) so won't be kicking up a fuss.

@feminist10101 if it is physically possible employer should make it happen. Ensuring staff get their work done is a separate issue, many work harder at home. Also while children are at school working from home is much more managable.

@Sally872
Employers have the right to protect productivity so if the work takes twice as long at home it is entirely right that employers insist on people being at work. Equally saying that everyone who can physically work from home should fundamentally misunderstands the mental health needs of many employees to get out of the health and the physical impact of working from a sofa or bed long term in terms of RSIs and issues caused by bad posture.

Quite. Plus not all NHS systems (for example) can/should be accessed from home for data security reasons. This means that in order for some to work from home all the time because they want to or believe it is their right, others have to attend work full time. It’s hugely unfair and the longer it goes on the harder the battle is for managers and employers.

Thank you for all your replies-it seems that the business take up for WFH has been much lower this time round.

Unfortunately in spite of our ‘Covid secure offices’ 4 very senior members of staff have now been diagnosed with Covid. They all work on the same floor and the office has had to close for deep cleaning 🤦🏻‍♀️

It's mitigation. The phrase itself is jargonese!

Sit by an open window if possible.

@SallySeven

It's mitigation. The phrase itself is jargonese!

Absolutely. Our place seems to think they’ve managed to eradicate the virus from our offices completely by making them ‘Covid Secure’!

‘Covid-secure’ is a pile of shit. No one is checking up on employers or workplaces to make sure the risk assessment policies are actually being followed. They are all dependent on co-workers following the procedures too like social distancing, wiping down shared appliances, etc. In practice this rarely happens (I have been back in my workplace since July) and therefore the workplace is not secure. So all nonsense!

@Notnownotneverever

‘Covid-secure’ is a pile of shit. No one is checking up on employers or workplaces to make sure the risk assessment policies are actually being followed. They are all dependent on co-workers following the procedures too like social distancing, wiping down shared appliances, etc. In practice this rarely happens (I have been back in my workplace since July) and therefore the workplace is not secure. So all nonsense!

Conversely I’ve been working in the office throughout and everyone has adhered to the rules, nobody has caught Covid and it feels pretty secure.

The test would be if there was an outbreak linked to a workplace or someone sued for catching it at work and HSE investigated.

And the fun continues. 4 subcontractors confirmed positive on my site with 12 self-isolating awaiting results. No deep clean and we’re all still at work...