Flexi, hybrid, 3:2 — wake up to the new normal of office life

“Often there are times when I’ll end up working longer just to get a task done as I know there’s no rush to get out the door to head home. When the time comes it may also help with childcare, considering how high the costs can be.”

Several leading companies have said they will soon begin trialling a hybrid working model of 3:2 (three days in the office) or 2:3 (two days in the office). Among them are PwC, AIB and Permanent TSB.

William Fry, a law firm with offices in Dublin and Cork, plans to start piloting its system of 2:3 from October. Steph Atkinson, head of HR at the firm, said: “We want to test it with people and get their views and feedback so that at the end of the six-month trial period we’ll be in a position to finalise what the hybrid model will look like. We aim to accommodate the days that people want to work remotely on a team-by-team and client requirement basis.”

O’Beirne would also like to work with the hybrid model of 2:3. “I’ve no customer facing duties so I can perform my job the same regardless of location,” he said.

“Our employer hasn’t made a call on when we will start to return but they’ve said that when it happens they reckon it will be a hybrid for the majority. We already had the ability to work from home before the pandemic but they [the employer] were reluctant to make it a regular thing.

Marc O’Dwyer, vice-chairman of the Irish SME Association, said many companies will get as many people back to the office as they can by September

“They’re much more open to it now as productivity hasn’t been negatively impacted.”

Alice Hartigan, a financial administrator for a mental health charity in Dublin, said remote working had allowed her to relocate to Wexford as she couldn’t afford to buy a house in the capital. “My family are down here and it seemed like a good idea, although risky as we didn’t know what would happen with work,” she said.

“It actually all worked out for the best because myself and my husband were able to afford a house and bought our first home in Wexford town in March. Just this summer my workplace confirmed we would be able to remote work up to four days a week from home — this was a huge relief for me as I didn’t want to travel from Wexford to Dublin every day and thought I would have to leave my job.”

Hartigan added: “Remote working has given me big flexibility for my work-life balance. I spent the heatwave working from my garden, it was bliss and really improved my mental health. I actually am looking forward to the one day in the office, it gives me a space to meet my colleagues, socialise and have important meetings but I wouldn’t want to travel more than two days a week.”

Marc O’Dwyer, vice-chairman of the Irish SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) Association, said some of its members had already started bringing their staff back. “Some have started with a view to getting as many as they can back in by September,” he said.

“I just feel generally, companies in our situation will be bringing people back in some form. It’s just the nuances, the little nuances that you pick up while in the office that you wouldn’t pick up remotely.”

About 55 per cent of Irish professionals said hybrid working was not fit for purpose in a survey conducted by Robert Walters Ireland, a Dublin-based recruitment firm. More than half of the 1,000 people surveyed said the combination of working both in the office and at home had resulted in more intense working days.

Alice Hartigan, who works for a charity in Dublin, has been able to afford to buy a house in Wexford

BRYAN MEADE

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) said there was “a huge appetite” for remote and blended working arrangements among its members. Laura Bambrick, head of social policy and employment affairs, said: “When implemented in the right way, working from home or remotely from another location close to home, such as a digital hub, has many positives for workers and their families, businesses, communities and the environment.

“We all recognise flexible working must be balanced with the needs of the business and that no two businesses are alike. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all remote and blended work model. Arrangements will need to be agreed at the company level but what is common to all workplaces is the need to begin planning now, if they haven’t done so already.”

O’Dwyer, who is also chief executive of Big Red Cloud, a software company in Dublin, said some employees may be required to be in the office more than others. “That in itself might cause issues for the management of the company because some departments being asked to come in might be a little bit up in arms when they see their colleagues at different departments having a little bit more flexibility,” he said.

“It’s going to be a very sensitive situation in terms of dealing with some individuals. Some may be unhappy to take the vaccine, so are they then putting their colleagues in jeopardy; are they customer facing and they now can’t be customer facing; will they be requested to wear a mask all the time within the office; or will the company section different sections off for people who don’t want to get a vaccine? It’s not a simple situation.”

Marc Fitzgibbon, head of employment law at Lavelle Partners, a legal practice in Dublin, said employers may be entitled to ask staff to confirm their vaccination status under health and safety laws. “There’s a conflict between what the Data Commissioner said in relation to employees not having to disclose information about their medical condition, in other words not having to disclose whether they’re vaccinated or not vaccinated,” he said.

“The argument is that you can’t ask the question but on the other hand there’s a strong case to say that it’s reasonable and necessary and in the interests of health and safety that employers should be able to ask the question.”

He added: “Our advice to our clients is that regardless of the uncertainties they should be drafting and putting clear policies in place in relation to the return to employees returning to work.”

Fitzgibbon said some of his clients had employees who were working from home but in another country. “I’ve had one case where the employee is working from home in the Far East and the employee is insisting that they should be permitted to continue to work from home which throws up all sorts of legal and tax issues,” he said.

Adecco, a recruitment company with locations in Dublin, Limerick and Cork, said the majority of candidates were seeking a job with a mixture of both in office and remote working.

Niki Turner-Harding, its senior vice-president, said: “Throughout the pandemic, employees have adjusted and found ways of working to suit them so it’s important that organisations continue to place flexibility at the centre of business strategies. This will not only help to attract and retain talent but also create compelling and motivational workplaces.”

Breda O’Malley, leader of the employment law team at Hayes Solicitors in Dublin, said some employers felt under pressure to offer remote working. “Our advice to clients is, ‘look, we’re in a pandemic, we’re in exceptional circumstances, it’s not the time to make long-term business decisions — we need to let the dust settle’,” she said.

“However, businesses aren’t finding that they have the luxury of being able to just push out the decision because they’re concerned that they will lose employees, that employees will say, ‘Well, my friends and neighbours are getting flexibility so I’m going to go and leave your employment to go elsewhere’. Some employers are finding that if they don’t come through with a decision early, even if it’s premature for the business, they might risk losing good talent.”

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment said that the current advice was to continue to work from home and that the government would be giving further consideration to this and other remaining public health measures in due course.