Returning to offices? Tie vac status to days at the office

[Marthe48]

My daughter will be returning to the office next month. Her employer is allowing employees to come a % of time, and work from home a %. Anyone not vaccinated must have a Covid-19 test weekly and show proof they are well. There will be social distancing and masking.

I suggested that people who are vaccinated get a higher % of distance hours, a reward for being vaxxed. She thought that was a good idea.

I understand that many employees never left their work place or had the option to work from home. But some of the work force does, and this might encourage a few more people among those employees to get vaxxed.

[SheltieLover]

1. Great idea, but why are employers forcing employees back?

Makes no sense to me in situations where working remotely is an option.

Why not largely repurpose those office spaces?

[RegularJam]

2. In industries where work away can easily be monitored...

We will see more work from home. The trend had already started before Covid. Most jobs are not that easy to monitor remotely and it also takes away from many overlapping activities necessary to keep efficiency.

It’s going to be about cost analysis. Working from home when it makes sense was a trend already well underway.

[Marthe48]

4. My final employment was from home

I never met my boss, but he loved my work. It was the best paying job I ever had. While it was high pressure, I enjoyed most aspects of it and had no trouble keeping up with the workload, innovation and troubleshooting as needed. I retired in 2009, after 9 years.

I'm a big fan of remote employment and I hope that more and more people can have the option.

[RegularJam]

7. Job specific.

As can be seen by your employment companies have been looking into it for a long time.

Business owners are human. Like everyone else many are resistant to change. What happened with Covid will increase some work from home moving forward but it’s going to be very position specific.

[Marthe48]

3. I agree with that

My daughter is anxious about what to expect. She can do her work online, complete with meetings

[lark]

6. Control, training and socialisation are the 2 main answers.

In the division where I used to work, everyone has to come in 2 days a week and those are the days to meet with the Manager or Trainer and get questions answered, face to face, and have team trainings. After 2 years employment, they can work from home full time unless there's a significant system conversion going on and they still have to come for the bi-weekly meetings/training sessions. I think this is a nice balance for this customer service area. Some other areas are making everyone return, because the Manager wants them there so she can keep an eye on things. Some people are just control freaks and/or extroverts.

[Johnny2X2X]

5. 1 in 6 US workers are still WFH

That's a massive number, I think most industries that are currently WFH will not go full return to office.

We're going to blended options, they want to make Tuesday through Thursday as in the office as a baseline. I am going to go WFH Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, in the office Tuesday and Thursday. Best of both worlds. Get the benefits of WFH (Less fatigue, car expense savings, food savings) and still get to be in a full office to see my colleagues and collaborate.

[Ms. Toad]

8. I've been back in the office since August.

Being able to work from home is not a reward, as far as I'm concerned; being able to worked unmasked is.

Unfortunately, as of June 2 masks are required only for the unvaccinated - AND we are not allowed to ask about vaccination status.

A bigger incentive to get vaccinated than staying at home would be to actually require masks for the unvaccinated - AND to require proof of vaccination. When they see their vaccinated colleagues going around mask-free, they may be enticed to join the crowd.

Right now we have the worst of both worlds. We are rewarding liars - and increasing the risk for everyone else.

[Marthe48]

9. I had read 2 polls suggesting many people prefer home

My daughter would rather work from home. Her commute isn't long, but it's a challenge.

When I worked from home, it was a good choice for me. I had my mom living with us, and cared for her. I worked 4 to midnight, 5 days a week. There wasn't really a work place for my company, I think just 2 small offices with the network equipment. Except for the Operation managers, everyone worked from home. I was in operations, but reported big problems to the people in those offices.

I hope you get the preferences you want. It makes you feel valued

[David__77]

11. I prefer the flexibility to do what I want when I want.

I can understand how people would answer a survey that they wish to work from home even if they not so sure- the message is wanting flexibility in many cases, I think.

[Initech]

12. After reading my work's TOS for working at home...

I decided that I'm much better off at the office. There's too much surveillance involved in working at home for my taste and I feel like I'm much better off at the office.

[CentralMass]

13. The same level of surveillance exists in both cases.

[Ms. Toad]

14. I teach - and have been back in the classroom for 10 months now.

Teaching from home is a royal pain, although teaching hybrid classes (simultaneous audience both at home and in the classroom) is even more of a pain in many ways. Especially when the technology does not permit the at home students to hear the students in the classroom.

What concerns me is the trend to pretend that maskholes will somehow suddenly become altruistic and put their masks because they are not vaccinated. So I really want enforced mandatory masking. I'm fine with allowing people who have proven they are vaccinated not wearing masks - but there needs to be proof to remove the mask, not the honor code that we have proven through three successive hills of new infections (over 600,000 dead, and countless with permanent, debilitating remnants) doesn't work.

[David__77]

10. It seems counterintuitive to me to require unvaccinated people to be more present.

Not saying it’s “wrong”- it just seems off to me.