More than one-third of no-shows face no consequences
Employers appear to be more lenient when it comes to people coming back to the office, according to a report from Stanford University and The University of Chicago.
Being in the office fewer days than requested sees no consequences for 35.1 per cent of workers.
However, some are given a verbal reprimand (18.5 per cent), a negative performance review (14 per cent), a reduction in pay or bonus (16.5 per cent), a threat of termination (15.6 per cent) and termination (12.4 per cent), finds their survey consisting of 82,885 workers, including 58,138 who can work from home from July 2020 to June 2022.
Still, workers are expected to finish their work on time.
While 17 per cent are not reprimanded for not meeting this requirement, 32.9 per cent are given a verbal reprimand. Around a quarter of workers also face termination (28 per cent), a threat of termination (26.8 per cent) and a negative performance review (26 per cent).
Some 15.8 per cent face pay or bonus deductions for not completing work on time.
If an employee refuses to return to the office, there are both legal and HR considerations, say two employment law experts.
Greater freedom
After the pandemic ends, employers plan to give these workers the freedom to work 2.3 days at home, according to the report from Stanford University and The University of Chicago.
This is more than double the 1.6 work-from-home days post-pandemic that employers were willing to give workers back in January 2021, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 28731 “Why working from home will stick”.
While more than half of companies say they want employees back in the office full time, they may have a problem: Turnover.
For all workers, employers are willing to give them about 1.6 days of working from home, a significant improvement from the less than 1.1 days they were willing to give back in January 2021, based on the survey from Stanford University and The University of Chicago
This indicates that workers are getting closer and closer to getting the deal they want. Currently, workers want to work from home about 2.6 days per week. The gap between employees’ desire and employers’ plan in this regard has never been smaller since the start of the survey.
More than two years since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted work practices, 74 per cent of Canadian workers are already back to their pre-pandemic routines. Nearly six in 10 (57 per cent) are back in the office while fewer are working from home (13 per cent) or in a hybrid work model (four per cent), just like they did before the health crisis, according to an Ipsos survey.
