The pandemic has resulted in a large number of employees working from home. Those who have experienced this may enjoy working from home and find themselves more productive and motivated. Or, they may be longing to go back to the office.

Either way, many companies are wanting their staff back in the office. This can be for reasons of collaboration, increased monitoring of employees, and easier onboarding and training of new and entry level staff, among other things.

If you find yourself required to go back to work, you need to ensure it will be safe and should ask management what they’re doing to ensure safety and reduce the risk of transmission.

If unsure of what to expect, keep the following in mind when determining if it’s safe to return to the office.

What Does My Boss/Company Have to Do to Keep Me Safe?

Before you return to your office, you’ll likely want to know what policies and procedures are being put in place to keep yourself and your co-workers safe.

To get an idea of what your company should be doing, the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention have put out guidelines for employers planning to reopen offices. They also have a guide for employees returning to the office with tips on how to best protect yourself and those you work with.

Always be sure to check state guidelines too (especially if you're an employer.) These are changing frequently and are different across the country.

Employers will need to provide employees with information on newly implemented health policies before they return. If your company doesn’t provide these, ask for an outline or ask some specific questions.

Some questions you’ll want to get answered and responses you should expect to receive include:

How Will The Office Layout Be Changed to Reduce Transmission?

One of the major changes to your office that you’re likely to notice is the layout. Ask your employer how they have altered the office design to help with distancing.

Some things to expect are more space between employees, for example by having a greater distance between desks. There may also be marked paths to follow as we have seen in stores to avoid coming into close contact with others walking around the office.

How Is Physical Distancing Being Implemented?

A main concern will be how physical distancing can be maintained, both within your own office and in the office building.

In the Office

As mentioned, within the office desks should be spaced further apart than before to encourage distancing. You should also expect your boss to implement measures to avoid employees congregating in areas all at once. This includes only allowing one or two people in shared areas like kitchens at once.

To encourage this even more, you should hope to see staggered breaks, even if employees aren’t working staggered start and stop times.

You should also ask the procedure for if meetings need to be held. Your company should provide a meeting space with room for distancing or request continued use of video call, even if all employees involved are in office.

In the Office Building

While your company won’t have too much say in how the building manages distancing, they will be able to discuss measures with building management so make sure to ask about this too.
Some things building managers may implement include lining up to or leave the building and having a restricted number of people in the elevators and stairwells at once.

How Will The Office Be Sanitized?

Offices have lots of surfaces that can hold germs. Your company should be implementing cleaning protocols to ensure these surfaces are disinfected frequently.

They should especially be considering how to clean areas that are shared such as the kitchen and meeting rooms. They also need to be sanitizing things such as printers or coffee machines that may be touched by many people as well as door handles, elevator buttons, etc.

Ideally, you’ll find that your company is sanitizing the office daily and asking employees to wipe down anything they touch. They should also be encouraging frequent hand washing or use of hand sanitizer after use of shared areas. Hand sanitizer and antibacterial hand soap should be provided by your employer.

As many disposable materials as possible should be used as well. For example, disposable towels should be used in the kitchen and bathroom and for cleaning surfaces as opposed to fabric towels and cloths that may have been used previously.

Will We Need to Wear Masks?

The wearing of masks in office spaces is up to the company (although do check state guidelines.) The CDC recommends the wearing of masks if six feet of distance cannot be maintained.

It’s, therefore, best practice to implement mask wearing in the office in that case at a minimum. Employees should be allowed to wear masks at any other times though even if not required by the company.

If your company does implement consistent mask wearing, this shouldn’t be seen as an excuse to slack on other protective measures. They should also take measures to ensure everyone is wearing their mask correctly and everyone is using a mask when requested.

What Are The Current Sick Policies?

You may find that your employer has changed policy relating to sick days. Some companies previously gave generous sick days while others limited them.

Many employees, however, previously felt the need to come in when sick (to complete projects, not miss out, and/or not lose pay.) This consequently resulted in many employees coming in when feeling under the weather.

For many who contract Covid, they will have minimal symptoms so may feel well enough to come in so as to not miss work or lose pay. Employers are therefore needing to provide incentive to keep unwell employees at home.

To understand the new policies, ask in-depth questions. This can include how your employer will get employees who feel unwell to stay home and what will happen (and how can you track) if an employee is living with or taking care of someone who exhibits symptoms.

How is Management Keeping Up To Date with the Status of the Virus?

The pandemic environment is constantly changing and while it may be appropriate to return to offices now, this could not be the case in the future. You’ll want to understand how your employer is keeping up to date with the virus and if they are following state and national guidelines.

You should also be asking what will happen in the case of another lockdown and if there is a situation in which they would close the office again even if not legally required.

For example, some companies might close the office completely for two weeks if an employee has symptoms or tests positive for Covid-19.

Will Staggered Office Schedules Help Reduce the Spread of Coronavirus?

Something you may see your employer implementing to help with distancing is a staggered schedule. A staggered office schedule is when employees work a set number of hours a day/week but have different start, break, and end times.

Some companies may also consider staggering the days that employees are in the office. For example, half the employees would work in the office on Monday and Tuesday and the other half would work Wednesday and Thursday. Then nobody or just those that need to come in most work in the office on Friday with everyone else working remotely.

Staggered office schedules have been promoted as a good way to help reduce the spread of coronavirus while still allowing employees to return to the office.

How Staggered Office Schedules Can Help Reduce The Spread of Coronavirus

The purpose of staggered schedules is to reduce the number of people in an area at once therefore reducing the chance of virus transmission.

Some benefits of staggered schedules include:

Fewer people being in individual offices at once.
Fewer people entering and leaving office buildings at once (for example, less people will be in shared spaces like elevators.)
Fewer people using public transport at once.
Fewer people in nearby shops and restaurants at once. By taking different lunch breaks and arriving at different times, previous “rush hours” such as early morning, lunchtime, and end of day will be eliminated.
Possibility of needing less distancing measures to be put in place.
Helping employees feel safer in the office, surrounding area, and during their commute.

Employees should be allowed to wear masks even if not required by the company.

Implementing Staggered Schedules

If you plan to implement staggered work schedules in order to bring your employees back into the office, you’ll need to consult with your staff first.

You’ll need to discuss this approach with them and collaborate to create a schedule that works for everyone. For example, employees with children may not be able to collect their kids or take care of them after school if they’re made to work later than before. Other employees may miss out on a hobby or other activity or it may affect important social schedules such as spending time after work with a partner or friends.

This is important to consider as not being able to do these things due to new schedules can impact mental health, have financial implications (such as paying for child care), and create a feeling of negativity toward the company all of which can affect employee sentiment and retention.

On top of keeping up employee sentiment, your staff will likely have hours laid out in their contract, both the number of hours to work per week and the times they agreed to work them. Changing their hours without consultation would be a breach of contract which could result in legal action being taken.

If staggered schedules are managed well, it could have the opposite effect and boost employee sentiment. Some employees may appreciate a later start and finish while some may request to come in earlier than before the pandemic and leave earlier for various personal reasons.

Making a flexible schedule that everyone is happy with can offer many benefits on top of the health implications and in fact help with retention and employee engagement.

How to Know That Your Office is Safe to Return To