Difficult Covid 19 related situation at work.

[2020meh]

I'm in a team of 6 although one of those only transferred to our department immediately before lockdown and us all being told to take what we needed home with us and get set up to work from home for the foreseeable future. Yes, some service users have to wait a little longer but that's the situation with most things at the moment and there's no risk to anyone arising from that. If someone needs to refer to any paperwork held by another team member we just call/message/scan & e-mail.

The new team member didn't have time to learn the software or the "interaction with service user" protocols so they're actually furloughed (on full pay !) and the rest of us are now in the swing of things working from home although our measured output is down because there should be 6 of us at full capacity if we are to hit our targets.

Not meeting targets affects the line manager's performance related pay and the ultimate bosses’ profit/income too. For the team it'll just mean we won't be given our discretionary extra 2 days of paid leave but we’ve all agreed we aren't bothered about it this year due to the pandemic. E-mail received today tells us that we're all expected to be in the workplace again once some repair work currently being undertaken is completed on 8th June as "it's imperative that the 6th person is fully trained up as soon as possible" (end of June at the latest apparently) and also to "ascertain if they're suitable for the role" as if not they'll be transferred back to their old department and we'll be assigned someone else.

We work 10 hour shifts. 2 of the 6 staff are exempted from returning because of serious health issues and they'll continue at home. This leaves 4 of us being expected to work 2 to a room for 10 hours at a time. We can arrange to be 2m apart but doing anything other than sitting at our work stations will take us within 2 m of others and then there's the issue of sharing hardware, interacting closely with the person transferred in to get them up to speed, sharing the usual facilities with up to 3 other people each day.

Are we BU to feel this is going against government guidelines (if you can work from home, you should do so) ? Whilst sitting at workstations we'd be 2m apart but as soon as we have to move around we won't and with long days a max of 2m apart in the same room surely represents a cross infection risk by the end of the 10 hour shift (If someone had a meal rich in garlic the night before, the rest of us know about it well before the end of shift !). We'll also be on edge having to remember to wipe anything communal before/after use and each of us hoping that we're truly covid free rather than asymptomatic so not infecting each other.

H & S / H.R. is not an option for an independent/confidential assessment of the working conditions due to personal/family connections with the manager standing to benefit financially from us getting back up to a team of 6 thereby increasing measured output level.

If it is not possible to train the new staff member from home, it is essential for them and the trainer to go to work. That doesn't mean the whole team though.
How many people will be involved in this training, and how long will it be until the new starter can work independently from home?

Yes. In that situation we would say one person plus the new starter should be trained in thr office.

We'd have done it already though, not waited this long.

Line manager is adamant proper training can't be given from home and we do agree on that point. The new person will also need supervising too for some time to ensure quality of her work/her suitability for the role is assessed early enough to cut our losses and recruit again.

Even without the new person, we are concerned about the long shifts in a room with each other. Is it actually safe ? If 2m is the guideline or even if the government reduced it to 1.5m, it seems to be for passing encounters or outdoors not 10 hours a day in an average sized room with another person. We know that we''ll be doing this to provide financial bonus for line manager who will predominantly remain working from home herself (but there's no way we can object on that basis !)

Getting us back in the workplace seems like a bit of a stepping stone move too as we suspect line manager will then want us to do F2F meetings with service users. instead of video calls, to start using the re-furbished meeting room due to be finished on 8th June as she pushed her bosses hard to pay to have the work done whilst the premises were empty.

Yes, we could go for one person and the currently furloughed new starter but the e-mail is clear that it's all of us back in. Plus it is a permanent recall to work for all of us, not just for a training period.

Would it be unacceptable to insist on knowing whether the new person's spouse/adult kids living with her are key workers as this will naturally increase the risk to the trainer.

We just feel there's no proper risk assessment being done here, just a pushing of the envelope for financial gain higher up the chain.

You have agreed that the department isn't meeting it's targets at the minute and that training of the necessary sixth person can only take place in the office. The business shouldn't continue to pay someone for nothing when there is an option to get them trained to work and there is work to do.

The guidelines are that you should work at home if you can, but if not your work should ensure that social distancing and necessary adjustments are in place to do it safely.

So if you're concerned about correct adjustments or more people being in the office than necessary then speak to your union if you have one or HR department if not, but I think it's reasonable that the manager is trying to get the person that the company is paying for able to work.

@rookiemere and others.

The person's previous department are paying her furlough pay so it's not costing our department anything and just 20% salary top up from her old department. She's on trial and will return to her old department if it doesn't work out.

If you can work 2m apart when at your desk then it is fine. Yes if you move around the office then you will lose this but surely it would be for a brief period eg couple minutes at copier?