Working from home put on hold as more people return to the office
For some it's been over a year of bliss not having to battle traffic, paying for parking or specialty coffee. But that's all about to change as more workers head back to the office.
The lesson learned from a year or more of working from home is that in many cases, it works pretty well.
"In many environments they've been working very well virtually," said Laura Williams with Williams HR Law. "In fact in many environments productivity has been up working virtually remotely.
"For employers who are thinking of a full return or even a hybrid," Williams added, "it's going to be important when you're communicating the return to work strategy and plan, why we need to reconstitute as we're intended, really important for employees to get their minds around that to buy in."
MOOD WRISTBANDS
Keri Smith is the chief of staff at Altaml, an artificial intelligence tech company with offices in Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary. She says staff started coming back to work earlier this month working three days in the office and two from home.
"I would say safety is the number one priority and we're being accommodating to any individual to make sure that their experience back in the office is as comfortable as possible," said Smith.
She said many employees were hired during the pandemic and this is their first chance at meeting each other face to face. That's created an air of excitement and the company is trying to capitalize on that by encouraging fun games with prizes at the office.
Staff also have the option to wear coloured wrist bands so their colleagues can see how they're feeling at a glance. Red means the individual isn't comfortable in close proximity to others.
"If they'd like to be more distanced in a meeting situation, be more distanced," said Smith. "Yellow means I'm not sure how I feel today and green that means you're feeling really comfortable, high fives, fist bumps, all of that is fair game."
Williams said some staff are choosing to resign likely because their values have changed and they now want more family time.
"Priority has shifted and employers have to be mindful of how they communicate their way forward to stay attractive, so they can get the right talent to keep it," said Williams.
CREATING SEPARATION
Carter Perrier works for an oil and gas company in downtown Calgary. He lives close to the office and found it hard to keep work apart from home when he worked virtually.
"For me personally, I found there's a great mental aspect of separating where I live and where I work," said Perrier. "So having a 'once I leave this building, I'm not doing work anymore' (attitude) has been for me a big mental relief and has certainly cut back on the hours I'm working."
Karen Anderson has returned to her downtown office for three days a week and is glad to be back.
"The company doesn't require us to tell whether we've been vaccinated or not," said Anderson. "It doesn't require people to be vaccinated so it's basically personal choice, I know that 75 percent of Albertans have been vaccinated so I'm feeling very safe and happy."
Williams said it's difficult for companies to require staff to be vaccinated but that depends on the industry or business.
"Do you really need to ensure that individuals are vaccinated or can you achieve the health and safety obligations that you have as an employer, through the use of PPE?" said Williams. "In most cases PPE will get you there and instituting a mandatory vaccination policy can create some factions within your working environment."
Williams says if employees are unclear about what the return to work looks like at their company they should be asking their employer now so they're prepared for when they have to head back to the office again.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
It could take years to catch up on child vaccinations in Ontario post-pandemic
Ontario is still playing catch up on routine vaccinations that many children missed during the pandemic and public health officials are warning that it could take years to solve the problem.