Home and hybrid working is now a typical part of many office-based worker routines, whether fully remote, or working hybrid (splitting time between workplace and some remote form of working). This type of flexible working has been a hot topic since the start of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

And still the ‘return to office’ debate remains, particularly as the new Government has said it aims to support more into work, and grow the economy, with access to flexible working a large part of how this is to be achieved.  Indeed, the rules around flexible working changed in April 2024 and are intended to be bolstered under the Government proposed Employment Rights Bill when published in 2025/26.

We have seen many differing views and opinions. In the press for example, last year high street bank Santander informed its office-based employees that its recommendation of two to three days per week in the office would be replaced with a quota, requiring them to register 12 days a month in-office by the end of the year.

Citibank have also recently said they will continue with a hybrid model of work. This is despite opinions of high-profile individuals including Lord Sugar and Lord Stuart Rose (Asda chairman) publicly condemning remote working, with Lord Sugar saying that young people need to learn from their older colleagues and Lord Rose stating that working from home isn’t “proper work” and has “set the UK’s productivity back by 20 years.”

According to Office of National Statistics 28% of working adults were hybrid-working at the end of last year. The survey shows that 15 % of people are completely remote, 42% work from home for some of time with 34% not able to work remotely. Other recent surveys shows that whilst working totally from home figures has dropped, a new style of hybrid working has emerged with some form of home working being the norm.

So, what are the main considerations for employers when looking at where their employees spend their working hours?  Certainly, it’s worth considering the benefits and potential pitfalls.

Employees say they benefit from balancing their work-life and personal responsibilities and feel it promotes positive health and wellbeing, opening up more job opportunities.

Research shows that 46% of white collar workers said they are actively looking for a new role because they want to avoid the daily grind of the commute with cost and burnout being important factors in the decision making.

And for employers, the benefits of offering remote working, like hybrid working can mean they attract and keep employees, make employees more productive and improve diversity and inclusivity. Disabled workers have indicated that working from home allows them to better manage their condition and report maintained or improved productivity.

Considering the flip side the concerns might be issues like communication barriers creating learning and development issues and damage to team working and culture and increasing challenges around managing performance and productivity. This may especially the case where there is a new starter!

In addition, human beings are mostly social animals, some of us like the office environment, for others home working is best. For those working from home an employer factor is it can be harder to understanding where mental health support may be needed as with remote working it becomes harder to identify individual needs.

And then the legal considerations; a question Advo commonly get asked is: Can you order or mandate your employees to return to the office – And there is no simple answer to this, as it involves many variables. There are risks for employers of noncompliance and we would recommend having robust policies in place and contracts reviewed.

As always, do speak to Advo HR about any individual cases so we can advise you specifically.