New 6 month work from home rules

What are you doing?

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The lockdown work from home was a really unproductive period for us, mainly due to a large bottleneck with my time being slashed in half with childcare responsibilities. 

I've heard that lots of companies are just going to ignore the advise, I was wondering what you guys were planning on doing  

Our current thinking is that each person will be in a staggered 3 days. 

Replies (31)

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By tom123
25th Sep 2020 09:17

Been working in the office (adjacent to factory) since March, so no changes here, apart from some screens and layout etc.

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Egg
By EGG
25th Sep 2020 09:43

I think it is a case of trying to be sensible. We are lucky in so far as we each have our own offices so only shared spaces are kitchen and bathrooms.

Masks worn when not in own office and regular hand washing/sanitisation.

Each workplace will be different. My wife works in a massive open plan space with back to back desks etc. obviously more needs to be done in that situation with most working at home and staggered office days to limit numbers.

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By SteveHa
25th Sep 2020 10:09

I'm lucky inasmuch as it only takes me half an hour to get to the office if I need to, and my employers are quite comfortable with people working from home or in the office as they choose. They really are going all out to make the office as safe as possible, too (including structural alterations to implement a one way system through the corridors).

My problem is that right now I'm also subject to local enhanced restrictions, so having the option is definitely a bonus.

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By Cheshire
25th Sep 2020 11:29

Sitting on a beach with a laptop

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Replying to Cheshire:
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By legerman
25th Sep 2020 19:28

Cheshire wrote:

Sitting on a beach with a laptop

I had a feeling you would be :-)

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Replying to Cheshire:
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By Paul Crowley
25th Sep 2020 20:07

Sand could be a problem
Are you sanitising sand?

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By John Isabel
25th Sep 2020 12:22

I'm in. Staff who had been brought back in are still in. Staff who were due to come back shortly - that has been put on hold.

We may send some of the ones we brought back in, back home. For the time being we havent ignored it as such - more that we have delayed any action and are waiting to see what peoples expectations/desires/needs are.

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paddle steamer
By DJKL
25th Sep 2020 13:02

I am still at home with far too much paperwork for the space, maybe a tidy up is in order.

The company which shares our offices are currently in but that is their call re risk assessments etc, to me if Government advice is to not to go into offices where that is possible and one does continue to use an office , mixing with other households ,then one's risk assessments really need to be very robust to ensure one avoids future issues with ambulance chasing solicitors-

"Did you employer insist you went to the office or you would have lost your job, despite government guidance? Did you or anyone in your immediate family suffer from Covid 19? Call Ambulance Chasers are Us, no win no fee (always read the small print etc)"

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By JD
28th Sep 2020 14:24

I did not think that such common sense statements were allowed ''WFH is unproductive'' adds to cost and delays the output to the client.

For a whole series of reasons, I have continued to work from the office, with staff having come back to the office; with suitable measures in place; at the end of July. Productivity and mood of all improved on return.

If WFH is so good, why is the service from banks, opening bank accounts or getting a response from HMRC so bad.

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Replying to JD:
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By bendybod
29th Sep 2020 10:27

Absolutely - and any bad service is "due to Covid-19". I think WFH is maybe ok if you work alone or one or two staff and maybe large organisations are more used to some of their staff working at least some of the time from home already but I think for the majority of organisations in the middle, particularly for those who had no time to plan such a major change in working practices in March on top of a major change in the advice needed for clients, few could say it has been an entirely positive experience for them, the staff or the clients.

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By Paul Crowley
25th Sep 2020 20:08

Everyone finally back in office
Old listed building, so everyone has a room to themselves.
Back to reality. Red dwarf

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Replying to Paul Crowley:
paddle steamer
By DJKL
29th Sep 2020 10:44

"We have normality. I repeat, we have normality. Anything you still can't cope with is therefore your own problem."

HHGTTG

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Replying to DJKL:
Chris Caspell CTA TEP
By ccaspell
29th Sep 2020 14:28

I think that is improbable...though it may not be infinitely improbable :-)

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Replying to ccaspell:
paddle steamer
By DJKL
29th Sep 2020 15:15

Am just popping downstairs for a really strong cup of tea.

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Replying to Paul Crowley:
By SteveHa
29th Sep 2020 11:39

Yes, but to go to the office, you need to go outside, and it's cold outside, there's no kind of atmosphere. (Also Red Dwarf).

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Replying to SteveHa:
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By Dib
29th Sep 2020 13:21

But you are unlikely to catch anything if "you're all alone (more or less)"!

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Replying to Paul Crowley:
paddle steamer
By DJKL
29th Sep 2020 11:50

"Tumble outta bed and I stumble to the kitchen
Pour myself a cup of ambition
And yawnin', stretchin', try to come to life
Jump in the shower and the blood starts pumpin'
Out on the streets, the traffic starts jumpin'
With folks like me on the job from 9 to 5

Workin' 9 to 5, what a way to make a livin'
Barely gettin' by, it's all takin' and no givin'
They just use your mind and they never give you credit
It's enough to drive you crazy if you let it"

Dolly Parton

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By bendybod
29th Sep 2020 10:24

I have about 10 staff. We had just about got to pretty much everyone being back in the office. One has gone back to working full time from home for health reasons; three are working some of the time from home.
I gave everyone the option basically - I made it clear that I felt that it was beneficial for us all to be in the office but stated that if anyone felt that they needed to follow the guidance to work from home then they should talk to me.
If anything changes and it becomes a legal requirement then obviously I would comply but we're at relatively low levels of the virus so I believe that we're better off following common sense procedures such as some others have mentioned such as face coverings at other people's desks etc and learning to live with the virus responsibly for as long as we can.

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By Mrs_G
29th Sep 2020 13:13

Looks like I'm in the minority - all WFH and planning to do so now until at least February 2021.

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By flightdeck
29th Sep 2020 13:22

The advice is not "you must stay at home full stop". We have been instructed to assess our own situation. Sheesh, give hiding behind the back of the sofa a rest.

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By flightdeck
29th Sep 2020 13:22

The advice is not "you must stay at home full stop". We have been instructed to assess our own situation. Sheesh, give hiding behind the back of the sofa a rest.

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Replying to flightdeck:
paddle steamer
By DJKL
29th Sep 2020 13:31

Of course up here we have the following guidance,

"Working at home
Remote working should remain the default position for those who can do so. Where that is not possible businesses and organisations are encouraged to manage travel demand through staggered start times and flexible working patterns.

All employers and employees should discuss their working arrangements, and employers should take every possible step to facilitate their employees working from home, including providing suitable IT and equipment to enable remote working."

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-phase-3-staying-s...

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Replying to DJKL:
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By bendybod
30th Sep 2020 11:18

My response would be that, in a time when cash flow is key, it is not possible to provide all staff with the necessary IT equipment and maintain GDPR compliance. Therefore, along with my H&S obligation to protect their mental health, full time home working is not practical to facilitate.

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Replying to bendybod:
paddle steamer
By DJKL
30th Sep 2020 15:26

Fine, just so long as all steps, risk assessments etc are properly documented in case there are issues in future.

Frankly right now I do not have the spare time to document everything required for our office like appraisals covering staff methods of travel to/from work, individual family health risk assessments if required etc, so given operating from the office is not essential we are not (though as I said, the business with whom we share the office is operating from it so the assessments required are currently their problem not mine).

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Replying to bendybod:
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By Paul Crowley
03rd Oct 2020 13:05

Data type stuff is my big issue.
Seriously big penalties

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Replying to flightdeck:
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By Mrs_G
30th Sep 2020 14:24

We have assessed our own situation. The internet, telephones and computers work in exactly the same way as they did between March and August. They didn't suddenly stop working two or three days a week. Surprising, I know, but them's the facts. So for us there is no reason to argue that we can't work from home efficiently, neither do we have put "extra" tech in place.
As for mental health, each and every person preferred to stay at home rather than risk going back to work.
So I am doing what I believe to be right for our own circumstances.
Suggesting that we are hiding behind the sofa is simply rude. No need for it.

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By I'msorryIhaven'taclue
30th Sep 2020 15:06

Pre lockdown: Office block, busy industrial estate, multi-firm occupation, crowded rooms, over-active site manager, unsanitized common areas, unclean toilets, closed canteen, neighbours included 3 domiciliary care firms. Result: misery.

Post lockdown: Detached building, isolated farmyard, no other firms, room to swing as many cats as you please, "site manager" too busy on his tractor to bother about us, integral toilet and canteen, neighbours include a herd of cows and some sheep. Result: splendid isolation.

Oddly enough the new office costs less than the old. I guess they're cheaper in the sticks because ordinarily nobody wants them.

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Morph
By kevinringer
02nd Oct 2020 17:10

Here in Wales the Government advice has been to continue to work from home since March. Now with 2/3 of Wales in local lockdown that has changed from advice to a requirement which can be enforced in law. We're not all working from home: out here in the sticks some people don't receive post let along tinternet so they have to work in the office and because so many are working from home the office spacing is covid-secure. The home working is going well. Whether it will as we approach January I can't say.

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Replying to kevinringer:
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By I'msorryIhaven'taclue
02nd Oct 2020 21:19

Wales, and for that matter Scotland, seem to be streets ahead of Boris & his entourage so far as locking down properly is concerned. I have a brother in Caerdydd who works for the WAG, and he's been pretty much locked down from the outset. He dutifully avoids all excursions beyond his washing line, sneaks out to his nearby Asda once a week during its earliest hours, and has invested in an app that moves his mouse now and again to stimulate the illusion that he is manning his station.

But, according to his own admission, the prolonged spell of home-working is sending him doodle-alley. You'll have to hope that your lot aren't talking to Wilson, the volleyball, come January.

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Replying to I'msorryIhaven'taclue:
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By John Isabel
02nd Oct 2020 21:50

I'msorryIhaven'taclue wrote:

Wales, and for that matter Scotland, seem to be streets ahead of Boris & his entourage so far as locking down properly is concerned.

To be fair it’s easy for my kids to stay at home. If they don’t do their paper rounds, they still get food, shelter, and a bit of pocket money, from me.

If I don’t go to work, nobody give me a handout. Not only do I end up in the [***] but so do the kids.

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Replying to I'msorryIhaven'taclue:
Morph
By kevinringer
03rd Oct 2020 12:57

I'msorryIhaven'taclue wrote:

You'll have to hope that your lot aren't talking to Wilson, the volleyball, come January.

They won't want to because I'm considering making him practice manager when we get back to normal.
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