Employees expected to organise regular ‘team days’ in the office

The Bank of England (BOE) will ask staff to come into office at least one day a week from September, as companies across the United Kingdom plot the return of workers following plans to relax guidance to stay at home.

BOE Chief Operating Officer Joanna Place, in a speech to staff, advised that they are expected to organise regular “team days” in the office. The return to office schedule was delayed beyond the government’s July 19 re-opening date to allow for more staff to be vaccinated and for the summer holidays.

According to Place, “my own personal view is that the pull of the office might be a bit bigger than we anticipate,” noting that the British Central Bank currently expects that staff will choose to work in the office around three to four days a week.

BOE drafting hybrid work policies

The BOE is among other employers in the financial sector drafting hybrid work policies combining work in the office and a work from home situation. Social distancing rules since the start of the pandemic in early 2020 made normal office-working life almost impossible.

With restrictions due to be scrapped, commercial banks including Standard Chartered Plc. have already declared their workers will be able to continue at least some home-working permanently.

The BOE, in an advisory, indicated the following:

• The bank will adapt their buildings to ease the shift to “hybrid” meetings with some staff at home and others in the office
• The return-to-work plan was still considered a trial, with a hybrid format potentially offering more difficulties than all staff working remotely
• Working from home had some positives, with virtual meetings removing “some of the perceived hierarchy” of a physical room with a limited number of tables and chair