Ruff Justice? Puppy Yoga, Escape Rooms and the post-pandemic workplace

It's not an understatement to say that the concept of an ideal office environment has undergone a radical rethink over the course of the last couple of years.

The pandemic has arguably seen a more acute examination of health and safety, and well-being in the workplace by both employers and employees than for some time.

Although the last Covid restrictions in the UK were removed by the Government in February of this year (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-sets-out-plan-for-living-with-covid), the business of determining how to deal with the consequences - and the potential legal fallout - is likely to be with us for some time to come.

Among the most pressing issues for a lot of employers is how to encourage staff to return to offices after an extended period - part of it enforced, of course - of working from home.

I should point out that the staff have been able to request flexible working for almost two decades.

Under the law as it stands, employees who've worked continuously for their employer for more than 26 weeks are entitled to request a change to their terms of employment to allow them to carry out the duties for which they're paid in just this way (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1398/made).

Yet data published this May by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed how attitudes to how we all work had perhaps been shifted by lockdown.

The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey revealed that since taking a previous sounding of employees in a variety of industries in 2021, the proportion of individuals wanting to spend more time working from home than in the office had increased (https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/ishybridworkingheretostay/2022-05-23).

Only eight per cent were considering a permanent return to their places of work.

Many employers contend that jeopardises efforts to ensure productive training, development and integration of staff as well as supporting the mental health of those whom they employ.

We also shouldn't overlook the fact that businesses often invest large sums of money finding and fitting out office space. To have it unused by all but a fraction of their workforces could easily be regarded as inefficient.

Some are pursuing ever more inventive ways of enticing staff away from their homes and back to their office desks.

One recent report in The Times suggested that employers are providing a diverse range of incentives, including ice cream, escape rooms, language lessons and 'puppy yoga' - traditional yoga in the company of presumably cute and compliant canines (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/85fbabdc-fafd-11ec-ab20-2fd534744dd7?shareToken=6e22516766cf32c01878452c16c74815).

Such methods may be creative and make working in the office more appealing for some people but do they run the risk of making more problems for employers than they solve?

A prescriptive list of benefits might perhaps fail to take into account why certain sections of the workforce are reluctant to go back to the office, given that the factors keeping employees at home may not be the same for all.

In addition, providing employees with the likes of a massage, street food stall or language lesson requires prior consideration of factors such as insurance policies, health and safety and even taxation as well as the terms of a lease or rules of the office building.

Furthermore, might something originally intended as a short-term measure foster long-term expectations of the same or similar facilities and - if offered over a prolonged period of time - give rise to claims of contractual entitlement?

There is no doubt that a very real tension exists in some cases and it's easy to see why those employers are so eager to effect a lasting resolution.

However, trying one's best to find a positive outcome should involve caution, clarity and proper evaluation lest it turns into a negative.

Effective dialogue with staff to determine and then address issues of concern are more likely to establish effective outcomes than a "one-size fits all" policy.

Equally, taking the advice of a specialist lawyer can help businesses embark on such work understanding how they might best achieve success.

That is important because Covid-19 and its impacts do not appear to be vanishing.

The latest information from the ONS shows that the number of infections in the UK was 30 per cent higher in the last week of last month than the week before (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveypilot/1july2022).

Those numbers coincided with the British Council for Offices recommending that companies allocate even more space to office-based staff (https://architecturetoday.co.uk/bco-recommends-lower-density-offices/).

I believe that continued change in the fine detail of circumstances should not hold up the process of employers and employees exploring possible solutions together which do not have four-legs.