#1787

Not even hungover, rare for a post-bank holiday Tuesday, and today is still dragging like mad.

#1788

My employer of 15,000 people worldwide has now decided that the default for office-based staff will be two days in the office a week. Usual fudge around discussing with your line manager for more or less.

Good start imo.

my counter-offer: zero days in the office

7 Likes
#1789

finally had it confirmed that my employer will not be looking at removing the london allowance

for one year

#1790

I was wondering this as I recently discovered in conversation that a colleague who is based in our London office (and presumably receiving London weighting) has moved to the north west. He’s still officially based in a London team so don’t know how the weighting will work though seems like an easy budget saving for employer to pull it and reassign him to one of our two office bases outside of London.

#1791

I’m in the office for first time since March 2020 today, to sort some crap out before they rearrange the office (we’ll be sharing the same space with more people from September, but hot desking/only in 2-3 days a week).

Have located the most important thing to retrieve from my desk drawer.

PXL_20210603_100835408
PXL_20210603_1008354082016×1512 695 KB

4 Likes
#1792

Delighted that a survey showed the whole company wants at least 50% WFH. They’re making some kind of policy around it atm but fingers crossed 2 days a week max!

4 Likes
#1793

My workplace is working on a new policy for WFH. The emphasis is on flexibility. The company will try to accommodate people who never want to come into the office to people who want mix it up to people who want come in five days a week.

What caught my attention is the company will give priority to people who want to work in the office full time for well-being reasons. That’s very forward thinking and progressive of management.

8 Likes
#1795

This strikes me as being an entirely reasonable request as an absolute minimum, if ‘everyone’ in the company has been WFH for these past few months. Certainly the opportunity to have had both jabs (plus two weeks). To start repopulating offices ahead of that point really is pushing things into a pointlessly unfair territory, imo.

I really cannot recommend this highly enough (if you’re fortunate to be able to make things work with the concomitant reduction in income).

3 Likes
#1797

Is a compressed week an option (sorry if I’ve asked that before)? I’ve been toying with asking for a 32 hour week over 4 days (our standard is 35 hours) which when I worked out the difference in take home it was about £150 less a month I think. When I weighed up the impact of having a day off each week, what that would mean for childcare through the school holidays, etc, it seemed like we could make it work. Decided against it for now as we remortgage next year and want to have the slightly higher salary when we apply but may look at it again from next September when my eldest starts high school assuming job still looks secure.

I also think social distancing is here to stay for a while yet, it’s been mentioned a few times by SAGE members and others that they expect it will be needed at least through the winter. We have a round of booster jabs to roll out and a winter to test the effectiveness of the vaccine before anyone can declare covid is on its way out. So rule of 6 might go on or after 21 June for example but I can imagine mask wearing and social distancing in enclosed spaces like offices might remain which means rethinking a return to the office for all.

#1798

For all the talk of how monumental a change it was for people to start working from home full time last year, it can’t be forgotten how much of a change would be for people to suddenly revert back to travelling into an office environment over a year later. That’s even without the fact that the virus is still very much circulating and the majority of people of working age won’t have received their second dose. If this isn’t handled very carefully by employers then a lot of them will be fully liable for the impact that it will have on the mental health of their employees.

5 Likes
#1800

The Telegraph (I know, sorry) is reporting that WFH advice may extend beyond 21 June (which is increasingly looking like it’s going to be shifted later, or at least a watered down lifting of restrictions) if that offers you any hope!

1 Like
#1801

Well this seems balanced…

Paul Swinney, director of policy and research at Centre for Cities

the shared office firm IWG

Jessica Bowles, director of strategy at commercial property developer Bruntwood

cafe owners and siblings James and Naomi Morris

Won’t somebody think of the commercial property developers :cry:

11 Likes
#1802

Quite nice to pop your top off whilst working on a boiling day

3 Likes
#1803

Still not got the bottle to attend a meeting like that even when it says my camera is off. Can’t trust it.

6 Likes
#1804

Had been waiting on something like this:

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/flexi-season.aspx

Season ticket for 8 days of travel out of 28, between two designated stations. Priced between an anytime day return and a normal 7 day season ticket.

1 Like
#1805

Great news…until.

Can you use a Flexi Season ticket on London underground or overground services?

No. Journeys within the London Zonal Fare Area are not available on a Flexi Season ticket. You can use Pay as you go on Oyster or Contactless for onward connections on Transport for London services.

#1806

Tape over camera?

#1807

Season tickets not the same thing as Travelcards. The flexi season was announced with the Great British Rail thing wasn’t it?

There’ll probably be something similar coming for the London network, but in all honesty the direction of travel even before the pandemic was to phase them out with ever more sophisticated capping on pay as you go ticketing.

#1808

Wasn’t sure if it was new, someone at work just highlighted it.

I’m in the boat of formerly having a zone 1-2 travel card, using it every day, but hopefully soon will be out of London commuting in two days a week, so this set up is just right for me. Not sure how many other people will be in the same boat.

#1809

Same, as long as my office doesn’t move from right by the train station, this should be really helpful for me :crossed_fingers:t2: