Return to the office – what it means for us.

This is a difficult time we are going through and communication is a vital part of this process. We have been in constant communication with our employees to see how we are doing and if they have any needs or concerns. We do this through the managers as well as internal surveys. In August 2020 and again in May 2021 we sent out Return to work and check in survey to all employees to get feedback from them on how effectively we have handled work-related issues during the pandemic. The survey requested feedback on a number of issues including Coronavirus associated health and safety measures, support from line managers, challenges of working from home and from the office, what further support the company can provide and finally how they felt about returning to the office. We had a participation rate of 84% and really good feedback on how we handled work-related issues during the pandemic (86%) as well as in relation to Health and safety measures (88%).

Following the lifting of the restrictions, we are introducing hybrid working where employees can request working part of the week from home and part of the week from the office. Based on the survey results 86% of employees are likely to request a hybrid working pattern following the return to the office.

Currently the senior managers are reviewing the hybrid working model and working with the departmental managers to arrange the details.

We have encouraged employees to gradually start to return to the office from 19th July and currently we have a maximum of 20 people in the office at any point in time based on an agreed schedule.

Regular risk assessment is going to be carried out by Chris Stops Associates, Health and Safety Consultants and June Wiltshire our Office manager. Like a lot of businesses, we will continue to have special coronavirus measures in place including

• social distancing
• limited number of people in confined spaces
• hand sanitisers and wipes are available throughout the office
• workstations and office areas cleaned every day
• employees have been asked to clean high touch areas after every use
• employees are encourage to wear masks if they feel the need for that
• all employees are encouraged to test themselves before they are going to the office using the lateral flow quick test
• if any employees have any coronavirus symptoms they will work from home and follow the NHS guidance.

We have introduced a vaccine policy where we encourage our employees to take up the opportunity to have the vaccine when it is offered to them by making an informed decision. Further to this we encourage all staff to use the NHS Covid-19 app and to self-isolate and work from home if they get pinged.

For the safety of our visitors and our staff, prior to any visits to the office we ask clients and contacts to complete a Covid-19 questionnaire and return it to us a maximum of 72 hours before attending our offices. Further to this we will send them our Covid-19 policy which lists out the precaution we are taking in relation to Covid-19 for our visitors.

If you have any queries about our return to office, please contact us.