Top Tips For Returning To The Office During The Pandemic

Laura Beales 2 minute read

For many companies, getting back in the office to connect with teams safely in person is becoming a top priority. Here we give some top tips for those returning…

Before doing anything you should consider the following (source CIPD):

• Is it essential? Per government guidance employees should be working from home if they can. However, as an employer, you need to recognise that this is not always possible. You should be supporting those for whom a workplace is essential for their productivity or wellbeing. If re-opening the office is not the right thing for your team right now, you could always support your team with access to Tally Workspace for those who need it.
• Is it mutually agreed? Speak to your employees, before forcing anything on people. Your staff may have a lot of anxiety about returning to the office.
• Is it safe? Below we give you some top tips on how to make sure your office is safe. We recommend you do a specific coronavirus risk assessment and regularly review your company policies in line with government guidance.

If you still want to re-open the office, we recommend you consider the following tips to keep your team safe:

• Hand cleaning: You need hand sanitiser everywhere, people are much more likely to clean their hands if there are constant reminders to do so.
• Space and signage: This shouldn’t be a guessing game for your team. Clearly mark out routes around the office and socially distanced desk spaces. The clearer the rules are the more likely people are to stick to them.
• Face Masks: Just as you would in hospitality venues, staff should wear face masks when travelling around the office.
• Increased cleaning and sanitising: A deep clean should now be done every evening. Ideally cleaning teams shouldn’t be coming into contact with your staff so your staff need to make sure they are cleaning up after themselves.
• Sit in the same space: Moving desks during the day should be a thing of the past. Find your space and stay there.
• Limit access to shared spaces: The capacity of your meeting room, kitchen etc. needs to be adjusted to allow social distancing.
• Logging in: You need to log who is in every day so that if covid is identified within the workspace you can quickly contact those who it could impact. We would recommend encouraging employees to have the NHS app switched on.
• Policies: Make sure all of your policies are updated in line with government guidance and shared with the team. These will also need to be regularly reviewed as the situation changes.

& last but by no means least… Encourage staff to stay home if they have symptoms!