Hybrid Working | addressing issues around office attendance
With the pandemic forcing a widescale work-from-home experiment, 83% of organisations have since adopted hybrid work models.
However, as this trend continues and employees become more accustomed to this newfound flexibility, organisations are encountering a raft of new challenges, as employees test the limits of what’s acceptable within a hybrid working framework. Namely, what should employers do when expectations around office attendance begin to slip?
13 June, 12.00 - 1.00 pm
What's on the agenda?
Hosted by Principal Employment Law Adviser and Solicitor, Amarjit Raj, and Trainee Solicitor, Katie Proctor, this free, 60-minute session will explore the issue of attendance in a hybrid working context.
Our experts will answer common queries, address specific scenarios, and help you reset expectations so that you can minimise issues and get hybrid working arrangements back on track. They will cover:
- Setting expectations: Learn what your contracts and policies need to include to ensure managers and employee understand your position regarding home versus office attendance and prevent issues.
- The role of managers: Learn how to differentiate between general push back to office attendance and protected reasons so that managers can have effective conversations and take appropriate, decisive action.
- Practical tips for promoting office attendance: Learn how to promote the benefits of hybrid working, set expectations, and establish protocols for dealing with non-attendance and rescheduling office days.
- Addressing reluctance to attend the office: Learn how to respond to common non-attendance reasons such as mental health, neurodiversity, sickness, or simply a preference for working from home.
- Understanding different kinds of leave: Learn how to navigate unplanned absences (including family emergencies and childcare issues) and the other types of leave that might be available, for example carer’s leave, parental leave, and compassionate leave.
From family emergencies to minor ailments and office anxiety, maintaining attendance on scheduled office days is proving to be a challenge for many organisations in 2024, as ‘excuses’ for needing to work from home begin to pile up. Some employees may simply prefer to work remotely, perhaps leaning into these reasons to stay at home.
In many cases, issues stem from a lack of expectation setting. Without clear policies and managers enforcing them, employees may take it upon themselves to pick and choose when they attend the office, leading to inconsistent attendance and undermining the hybrid work model. Left unchecked, this can cause confusion, reduce accountability, and ultimately impact overall productivity and team cohesion.
Have a question?
If you have a specific query you would like our hosts to answer, submit it when signing up – we’ll address as many as we can at the end of the session.
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