Will the World be Returning to their Offices?

The past year and a half has seen the biggest shift in our working and private lives that we’ll probably see in our entire lifetimes. For many, that has included a drastic change to the environment we work in.

Whilst some places of work have remained open during the entirety of the pandemic, and others have begun to reopen with the easing of lockdown, there have been many businesses that have permanently closed the doors to their communal workplaces. As a result, some people have taken up shop in their home studies, dining room tables and sofas.

With the work-from-home guidance having lifted on the 19th of July, employers are able to ask all employees to return to work. This raises the question of whether office work will once again become the norm, or will we see a new wave of remote working continue past the pandemic.

According to the BBC, almost all 50 of the UK’s biggest employers don’t plan for workers to be back full-time. 43 of these businesses plan to adopt a hybrid model moving forward, allowing their employees to work flexibly between office spaces and their homes.

Positions vary widely in the finance sector, with Goldman Sachs expecting staff to return full time and the Bank of England wants staff to work one day a week in its offices from September.

Some employers may be pleased to bring their employees back to working in the office, seeing it as a ‘return to normal’ and opening the doors to the future they had previously planned pre-Brexit. However, when not working remotely they will still have to be mindful of the safety of their teams, even if the government guidance does not require them to.

Employees and their office managers will have to consider their position in terms of social distance measures and how best to implement them if they do decide to re-open their offices, without any external guidance. The results of these decisions may be met with mixed reactions from employees, which will also need to be considered.

Whilst there is currently no legal right for people to continue working from home, employees have the right not to be subjected to a detriment by refusing to attend the workplace if they reasonably believe there is a serious or imminent danger. This is in section 44 of the Employment Rights Act. Whether this will be reason enough to refuse returning to work or not is still uncertain, however, if the employer retains some safety measures and fewer staff are at the workplace due to hybrid working and holidays, it may be less likely.

The CIPD, a professional body for HR and people development, have recommended people do not rush to return to offices, with their Chief Executive, Peter Cheese stating: “Businesses shouldn’t rush to simply revert to how they used to work now we have experience and evidence that it can be done differently and with positive impacts on employee health and wellbeing, inclusion and productivity.’

Remember – if you’ve been forced to work from home during the pandemic, you might be able to claim tax relief for the additional household costs.