UK – new government guidelines; work from home if you can

The UK Government changed it’s advice yesterday, urging workers “to work from home if you can” – despite encouraging employees to return to their workplaces, through August, if they could do so safetly.  The U-turn is in response to a rapid increase in Covid cases, and was accompanied by a number of other measures intended to reduce socialisation and curb the spread of the virus.

However, whilst some workplaces went to great lengths to improve safety measures in their work environments – with sneeze screens, signage, anti-microbial furniture and enhanced deep-cleaning schedules, many employers chose not to bring employees back into work over the summer – aware that potential changes in Government regulation would create unnecessary disruption, when employees were working very productively at home already.

Many large corporates have already told their staff they don’t anticipate being able to bring staff back to the office until Autumn 2021, and there are indications that the office environments they will return to may be vastly different, with businesses reviewing their Real Estate strategies in light of Covid, and questioning the opportunity to create more permanent flexibility in their workforces work location.

We will be spotlighting real estate strategies in light of Covid in an upcoming expert webinar – sign up to our newsletter to ensure you don’t miss out