Government guidance on working from home

[ColourfulElmerElephant]

Surely this is going to have to continue until Easter next year? I don’t see how we can be predicted to come out of the roadmap in June (at the earliest), whilst being told it’s a foregone conclusion there will be another wave, yet be encouraged back to the office.

What are your employers doing? I’m hoping mine will say those who want/need to will be prioritised to return first but most I work with are unlikely to be fully vaccinated until the last group is done.

School staff, supermarket staff, restaurant workers, hotel staff. Unvaccinated too. But you know....

I'm office staff in education. I was Wfh but am expected back soon.

I'm 48, no vaccine and work in a small office with no SD measures.

Just got to get on with it as so many others have.

Plan is to eventually go back half the time in the office, the other half from home. Won’t be until July at the earliest though, and will be pushed back according to government guidelines at the time.

We will never return all at once as we’re moving to a tiny office.

Why is it always back to the office?

I know no one who works in an office.

I mean, I accept some people do, but it’s really strange how one very specific type of workplace is now used to mean “back to the workplace” Surely the majority of people don’t work in an office?

I thought I saw a couple of days ago that the government were going to discuss getting back to the workplace quite soon, can't remember where or it could have been on TV

Surely the majority of people don’t work in an office?

The only people who can work from home do though.

Everyone else is already either working at their place of work, or not working any more, hopefully with some furlough money at least.

@LouNatics

Why is it always back to the office?

I know no one who works in an office.

I mean, I accept some people do, but it’s really strange how one very specific type of workplace is now used to mean “back to the workplace” Surely the majority of people don’t work in an office?

Everyone I know who works from home has a theoretical office that they work in, even if pre-pandemic they only ever used it for official purposes/annual meeting.

All those not working from home are the ones who don’t work in an office and need to go to their place of work or else they are currently furloughed or unemployed.

There's loads of non vaccinated people already back working face to face.

My company are back voluntarily this month & then ‘re-opening’ in July unless the govmt issue a firm WFH only mandate again. It will be with SD though so only 40% of our office can be in at any one time & 50% in our head office. So certainly won’t be normal. But our contracts are all being changed to flexible workers permanently. We can do up to 3 days in the office, choose less or permanently WFH.

PP, you honestly know no-one who works in the private sector in an office? I find this highly unlikely. A huge portion of the workforce work in offices in major towns & cities.. they certainly aren’t a minority!

@HercwasanEnemyofEducation

There's loads of non vaccinated people already back working face to face.

Yes, I appreciate that, but the government official guidance is to working from home if you can. I was questioning about when the official guidance will change, not what individual employers are already choosing to do.

Why next Easter?

@Waxonwaxoff0

Why next Easter?

Because yesterday’s SAGE report said about reasonably sure of having the virus under control this time next year. I assume that’s based on getting the winter out of the way, everyone being vaccinated and the most vulnerable having had boosters.

I reckon low-covid-risk-certificates are being brought in for a medium-long time, at least 9 months. Maybe more like 18m+ from now. I don't see the "WFH if you can" advice being dropped before LCRCs are dropped.

What about those who are vaccinated? Our job is not possible to be fully done WFH so we have limped along with a skeleton of willing staff in on a rota while some others WFH. We are now in a strange position where those who are vaccinated are not keen to return whereas those who are not are unvaccinated continue go in. The unwillingness to return has mostly nothing to do with health concerns and more to do with enjoying the benefits of being at home.

Our work has said we can come in if a business or personal reason, personal reasons including needing a break from working at home. Most people are starting to come back in a day or so a week. I certainly want to for my own mental health and the fact working on screens all the time just isn’t the same!

I also think that not all businesses are set up to function long term with most staff WFH. Some are just muddling through in crisis mode and some are using it as an excuse for cost cutting and poor service. It's not acceptable to have to wait on hold for almost an hour or to take days/ weeks for an answer to something routine 'because our people are working at home'. If you are going to allow staff to WFH beyond this crisis then as a business invest in technology to make it work as good as them being in the office because at some point the excuses for poor service will have to stop.

Hybrid working after 21st June or at the point most of the restrictions are lifted. I expect limited numbers because of lifts and stairs until all are offered the vaccine.

My feeling is that over the winter things such as wearing face coverings, screens at tills and perhaps restricted numbers in some indoor situations may occur.

@lljkk

I reckon low-covid-risk-certificates are being brought in for a medium-long time, at least 9 months. Maybe more like 18m+ from now. I don't see the "WFH if you can" advice being dropped before LCRCs are dropped.

I do think they will be in for a while. I wonder if they will fall in line.

I also wonder whether some employers will think we can’t really wfh anymore, having done what they could for the last year to get by, so will get employees in. Others may continue for a longer duration.

I don't see any reason to ever end 'work from home if you can'. Because if you can, then why not just do it? Save money, time and environmental damage, save overheads for employers, better work/life balance etc etc. Any employers ordering everyone back like cattle will find that their best talent leave for better employers.

I for one cannot wait to be back in the office. I find WFH so difficult. However, my employer won’t let us into the building without permission!

I’ve been working at the office all the way through, thankfully. Only a small number of us at the start but we’ve been back at full capacity since last summer. I’d have gone crazy working from home full time, especially as I live alone. I’ve WFH in previous roles and enjoyed it, but 1-2 days a week is enough for me.

I think most companies will adopt a hybrid approach going forward, weighted towards WFH now but slowly to 3-4 days in, 1-2 days WFH. I do think that people should be wary about pushing for full time home working, especially if you live down south where the wages are higher. I can see those companies recruiting more heavily from areas with a lower average wage. Why pay a premium to hire someone who lives in London, when people living further north can do the same work for less money? Or they may even look to move work abroad.

We’ve been forced back this week. Some full time some 3 days in 2 days off. HR have claimed it’s for mental health reasons, but it’s actually because senior management believe that if you aren’t in the office you’re not working (despite the fact everything has carried on during WFH with the online side making record profits).

I asked about my heavily pregnant employee and was told unless she has an underlying condition and a GPs note to say as such she still needs to come in.

We've been given the option to go back to the office so I jumped at the chance. Everyone will be expected to go back when the work from home guidance changes as productivity has gone down the drain.

I work in a large public sector body with about 2000-2500 people in a building, 100 in each room. I can’t see us going back in until next Easter. There’s no way they would have us back if we needed to mask/sanitise/social distance as why bother increase the risk as we’ve all shown we can wfh.
They are also going to use this time to “rationalise the office” so I won’t even have a desk to go back to anyway...