Return to the office is under strain, but all is not lost

It was, in hindsight, advice so mild as to be almost timid. On Friday, after discussing the recent spike in COVID-19 cases around the country and concerned that new variants and wintry conditions had increased the risk of more severe outbreaks, a group of state and federal health officers suggested employers should “consider the feasibility of some employees working from home and support employees to take leave when sick”.

Flinders Lane during lockdown in 2021.Credit:Getty Images

This did not seem unreasonable. Yet the response from industry groups to even hints that the Great Return To The Office should be checked has been thunderous.

The suggestion “undermines the really good effort that employers and employees have made since Omicron really hit us in January”, said Tim Piper, Victorian head of the Australian Industry Group.

Jennifer Westacott, chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, likewise warned work-from-home mandates would harm the economy, telling this masthead: “Whatever we do, we cannot retreat to Delta or early Omicron settings, which will stifle our recovery and cripple small business.”

Federal and state governments alike have made it abundantly clear they have no desire to mandate working-from-home orders. Federal Health Minister Mark Butler, for one, told the ABC, “We’re beyond … lockdowns and mandates and emergency payments.” As we have written previously, this is the right call. The time for blunt measures has passed.

But with the need for us to take personal responsibility for our health, without the strict rules of earlier in the pandemic, navigating “living with COVID” and other ailments this winter has only become more complex, for employers and employees.

Since lockdowns showed that some jobs could be done effectively from home, staff now reasonably ask why they should have to waste hours of each day commuting to an office.

Employers, on their part, say there are immeasurable benefits from gathering their staff in one place, which is why so many pay rent on expensive CBD real estate, much of which now lies empty on Mondays and Fridays.

It has been to our credit, then, that most companies have worked out some sort of trade-off around flexible or hybrid working, some more formally than others.

This loose accord will be tested in coming months. With active COVID cases around Australia now topping 300,000 and an alarming increase in hospitalisations in Victoria, businesses are likely to be increasingly impacted by staff illness and managing the risk of infection in their workplaces.

Some employers may decide to encourage staff to wear masks, the most obvious front-line defence. Some may widen their flexible work policy, once again reducing the number of staff in the office at any one time to minimise the chance of transmission.

Some may rethink their need for office space entirely, downsizing, hot-desking and working in a different way, permanently.

There is no universal solution to this problem. Plans must be made industry by industry to suit the needs of each business and managers must balance this with the needs of their staff to protect themselves and their families. Flexibility from both parties is key.

People also need the right information to make informed decisions. Authorities could be more forthcoming with health advice for both employers and workers to aid informed decision-making. In our rush to forget the darkest days of the pandemic, we also seem to have forgotten the importance of public communication, data and information sharing. The public should be alert to periods of high risk so they can adjust their behaviour accordingly.

Through sensible adjustments and appropriate precautions, we might avoid the need to abandon the Great Return To The Office.

Gay Alcorn sends a newsletter to subscribers each week. Sign up to receive her Note from the Editor.

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