Back to work - or not?

Has the work from home guidance set a precedent when making a flexible working request?

Insisting on a return to the office may result in a raft of flexible working requests

Government guidance has now reverted to ditching the pyjamas and donning more formal attire and work from the office again. I note in today’s press people have not flooded back to work overnight. In London there were modest increases in the use of public transport, so it’s fair to assume this is being replicated countrywide.

Productivity is said to be above pre pandemic levels, employment rates are at a record high, so it would appear working from home has not had a drastically detrimental effect on most businesses.

Of course, many business, particularly those in the service and hospitality sectors, rely on workers working away from their homes. Whilst it may be beneficial to many workers to continue to work from home, employers may not feel the same and are looking to change their temporary working practices and bring people back to the workplace.

However, that may not be as simple as merely issuing an instruction to return on Monday morning and revert to previous working practices. It may be that employers are deluged with a raft of flexible working requests which will need to be addressed objectively.

Businesses which have continued to function more or less without any dip in productivity may find it difficult to come up with a bona fide reason why any such request should be refused.

Other than requiring 26 weeks continuous employment, all employees have the right