Office reopening and flex working after lockdown

[bakinglady79]

Hello

I was wondering if you lovely people could help me. I'm doing some research as my company (software) is trying to figure out when it's appropriate to open our offices again, and also trying to figure out a "new way of working" following the Covid lockdown, incorporating the needs/wants of our employees as well as our customers and the overall business. Prior to lockdown, our Company was a typical 9-5:30 Monday to Friday, work from the office unless you're Sales or you work directly with clients, type of organisation. Lockdown has shown that most employees can work effectively whilst working remotely, so the Company wants to see how it's best to incorporate this going forwards once things move into the "new normal".

I'd like to understand from you, what sort of new ways of flexible working your company is putting in / considering putting in (together with what sector you're in). And if your offices are still closed, could you please let me know when your employer is projecting to reopen it/them?

Thanks so much for your help!

None. Unless the government puts us in a lockdown- but then I am a teacher!

Long term our organisation has said hole working at least a couple of days a week will be optional for our team - local government worker.

*home
😂

Small office here. This month we are doing staggered opening, with teams coming in alternative weeks (so I have two in my team and we are working opposite weeks) to keep numbers down. This is for August and September and from Oct we're expecting back to normal. We have used some space used previously for storage to make more office space and moved desks around so we are more socially distant from each other. Masks and hand sanitiser are available if you want it and there's one way round the office. Meeting rooms are restricted to low numbers.

Big global company. Offices starting to reopen for those who really need them but message is strongly to continue WFH for the foreseeable. Company has always been very supportive of WFH anyway so I think

Sorry! I think people will continue to WFH more than they did before even when offices are fully open again.

We're also mooting staggered returns (one week on, one week off) for normal office staff.
Flexible workers expected to stay away unless collecting stuff / due at a meeting.
Also considering our position with our landlord. May not need such a large office.

Global company. No sign of office re-opening any time soon. We're near Greater Manchester and a lot of staff live there. When it does re-open it will be at 50% capacity and there will be some sort of rota for going in.

I've always been able to WFH in my current job, most of my colleagues want to get back to work because of the social aspects. We've been told we can now go in if we want, some people are, some people aren't (childcare issues mainly) Suspect there will be more WFH for a long time.

DH's work are WFH for the rest of the year. They are software engineers and all prefer it but everyone has room at home and some people have long commutes. DH is putting on weight though because he's not cycling to work!

I think flexibility is key, some young employees will be working in their bedroom and will need the social aspects of work. Older people with families might have the room for a home office but conversely want separation between work and family. Most people will want a bit of both. How will you support home workers, will you buy equipment for them to WFH and will you help them with expenses like heating?

Working from home until next month and 25% of staff will be in each week to allow distancing. So we have been given a timetable to tell you which week you are on the office and the rest of the time it’s home.

My company has done the same and we have just participated in a 'new way of working' consultation. I can't tell you what it will look like but the focus was very much on post covid and to know what that will look like. They accept that the business functions well with people at home but they are keen to understand how to balance office presence for those that want it and investigate ways to maintain business culture when we are most likely going to be more remote. It covered all kinds of things about how the office layout might look plus things like how we can work better with technology to stay connected etc.

You might want to bear stuff in mind that if you agree to WFH full time with contracts and Ts&Cs changing to reflect the job location as their home. So if at some point they move to Scotland/Spain/Australia the company will have to pay travel expenses to the office/whatever location you're asking them to come to.

WFH
No supervision of children under 11
Desk and adjustable chair both with H&S checks
Dedicated working space to be available (no other people allowed in room during v working hours)
Screens and keyboard
Dedicated phone line
Separate broadband connection
Weekly wfh allowance
Annual stationary pack sent out including stamps to send signed documents
No London weighting

I forgot
Printer ink and shredder provided, they also sent a confidential shredding company annually who shredded on site and removed all shredding

With 1 company mileage started from homd but with the other from their nearest building which gave some very random payments

Ours is a large organisation, so much of the answer is "depends on your team". Some teams want bums on seats, and are working towards having staff back in the office, on a rota to start with but eventually everybody back in. Some teams used to have a lot of WFH anyway, so are seeing very little difference. As for my team, we've worked out a pattern for the future whereby we meet in the office on just one day of the week, and have a choice of office or WFH on other days to suit personal needs. We're hoping that teams who sit near us will do similarly, choosing a different day of the week for their 'office' day.

My workplace won’t be opening until at least September more like October and so far all we know is it will be half and half at a time with the office closed one day for a deep clean. That will probably depend on how numbers etc look at the times whether my employer will actually go down that route.

I am hoping and praying that we may still be allowed at least some WFH.