MAJOR companies are hauling staff back to the office as they put a stop to post-pandemic hybrid working.
From this month workers at Amazon will be forced to return to the office five days a week as the company clamps down on at-home work.
In a message to employees in September Amazon CEO Andy Jassay said the decision would ensure the company is “better set up to invent, collaborate, and be connected enough to each other”.
Previously regional leaders were allowed to determine how their teams worked.
Amazon is not the only employer to drag workers back to the office.
From January 1 Asda staff at its Leeds and Leicester offices must spend at least three days a week at their desks.
The “return to office mandate” is part of the supermarket’s plan to introduce “simplified ways of working”.
It comes after the company has struggled with falling sales.
It also announced a series of job cuts and plans to restructure.
Both companies are the latest in a wave of employers forcing staff back to face-to-face work.
Meanwhile, last month BT told employees they would need to return to the office three days a week.
A memo from chief executive Allison Kirkby said the company was instituting a “three together, two wherever” policy.
Office-based staff were told that they would be “accountable” for following the rules.
Data on when employees enter and leave the building will be used to track which staff are compliant.
Starling Bank also angered staff when its new chief executive demanded that thousands of workers return to its offices.
Chief executive Raman Bhatia ordered all hybrid staff to travel to work for a minimum of ten days each month.
MANDY Bhattal, employment team solicitor at Leigh Day, explains your refund rights.
There is currently no legal right to work from home, however, there are circumstances where it’s often preferable for employees to do so.
If your employer is insisting that you must return to the office, and you are an employee, even with a very short length of employment, you may want to consider making a flexible working request.
Employees are able to make up to two flexible working requests in a 12-month period.
While your employer isn’t obligated to approve your flexible working request, they must deal with it in a reasonable manner and consult with you before refusing the request.
They must notify you of the decision within two months, though this two-month period can be extended if you both agree.
If your employer fails to take these steps, you may be able to make a claim.
To be considered for flexible working, you must make a statutory application. This application must:
Thousands of the company’s staff were working from the office just one or two days a week.
Several members of staff handed in their resignation following the announcement.
Plus high street giant Santander has also asked 10,000 staff to return to the office 12 days a month – equivalent to 3 days a week.
The previous policy allowed staff to work two days a week at one of its sites.
The bank said the decision was “vital in supporting and developing our people, especially those at the earlier stages of their career”.
When you sign a contract to work for an employer you must comply with “reasonable management requests”, according to Citizens Advice.
This means your employer can ask you to return to your normal workplace if your original contract said that you would be office-based.
Many employers are now operating a flexible working model which lets employees spend some time at home and in the office.
If you are requested to return to the office then you can ask your employer if you can continue to work from home.
Although your employer does not have to agree to your request.
You can also make a flexible working request, which is a legal right all employees have.
You can request a change to:
This is known as making a statutory application.
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service has a flexible working template which you can use.
You can request flexible working from the first day of your job.
These can include job sharing, remote working or working form home, hybrid working, part-time, compressed hours, flexitime and staggered hours.
Your employer must deal with your request in a “reasonable manner”.
This can include assessing the advantages and disadvantages of the application, discussing possible alternatives to the request and offering an appeal process.
They must make a decision within two months of the request, or longer if agreed with you.
Your employer can refuse your application if they have a good business reason for doing so.
They can deny your application if one of the following reasons applies:
If your employer does not handle the request reasonably then you can take them to an employment tribunal.
You can do so if your request was not handled in a reasonable manner, your application was treated as withdrawn or your application was refused based on incorrect information.
You can also go to a tribunal if you were dismissed or treated poorly because of the flexible working request, for example, if you were refused a promotion or pay rise.
You cannot go to a tribunal just because your request was refused.
You should complain to the tribunal within three months of hearing your employer’s decision on your application or appeal, hearing your request was treated as withdrawn or by the date your employer should have responded.
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