Returning to the office.

I've got to admit a few weeks ago I wasn't very sympathetic about people having to go back to the office for the first time in a long time as I've been unlucky enough to be working in an office throughout the pandemic.

Now the cases have really shot up more than I expected and just like the the Christmas wave it's now close to home. Plans are being cancelled with friends as some of them are testing positive.

At work another person has tested positive which now means exactly 50% of our team has now had Covid.

This time isn't like the others times where a lockdown was around the corner and you knew that cases would go down. This time who knows when cases will start to drop again...

If I was in your situation going back I would say a few things that I think have helped me so far.

- Don't chat for more than a few minutes outside of your core team.
- Eat lunch away from other people, ideally in your car.
- Buy a proper mask with FFP2 or higher protection
-Never ever touch your face at all unless you've literally just washed your hands a few minutes a go.

For the first time as well I've downloaded the NHS track and trace app. This might be frowned upon but for the first time I really don't want to be in the office seemingly waiting for covid to eventually get me. At least with the app there's a good chance with cases being so high that sooner rather than later you will get pinged and get to self isolate/work from home. I'm not a sicky person and haven't had a day off in over 5 years (8 years before that occasion) if you think I'm a calculated sciver.

I'd recommend everyone getting the app and before long the amount of people off work will hopefully make them rethink their policy.

So yeah good luck to those going back and I hope you can convince your bosses to let you work from home for longer.
 
crooky said:
I've got to admit a few weeks ago I wasn't very sympathetic about people having to go back to the office for the first time in a long time as I've been unlucky enough to be working in an office throughout the pandemic.

Now the cases have really shot up more than I expected and just like the the Christmas wave it's now close to home. Plans are being cancelled with friends as some of them are testing positive.

At work another person has tested positive which now means exactly 50% of our team has now had Covid.

This time isn't like the others times where a lockdown was around the corner and you knew that cases would go down. This time who knows when cases will start to drop again...

If I was in your situation going back I would say a few things that I think have helped me so far.

- Don't chat for more than a few minutes outside of your core team.
- Eat lunch away from other people, ideally in your car.
- Buy a proper mask with FFP2 or higher protection
-Never ever touch your face at all unless you've literally just washed your hands a few minutes a go.

For the first time as well I've downloaded the NHS track and trace app. This might be frowned upon but for the first time I really don't want to be in the office seemingly waiting for covid to eventually get me. At least with the app there's a good chance with cases being so high that sooner rather than later you will get pinged and get to self isolate/work from home. I'm not a sicky person and haven't had a day off in over 5 years (8 years before that occasion) if you think I'm a calculated sciver.

I'd recommend everyone getting the app and before long the amount of people off work will hopefully make them rethink their policy.

So yeah good luck to those going back and I hope you can convince your bosses to let you work from home for longer.
Click to expand...

my employer has had a few outbreaks including recently where 2 full teams had caught covid.

Resulting in the full office being closed for nearly 2 weeks.

I'm going to do what you suggest
 
Going in 1 day a week, which is perfect. but even the cost of £24 return stings a bit. didn't really notice how much travel was when i bought a yearly deducted from my salary.
 
im gonna be going back once or twice a month, this week will be my 1st time going back since early March 2020.
 
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BlueHammer85 said:
Going in 1 day a week, which is perfect. but even the cost of £24 return stings a bit. didn't really notice how much travel was when i bought a yearly deducted from my salary.
Click to expand...
My other half bought monthly ticket last week as back full time. Cost £140 from our station into town. She used to get train to London bridge and took about 25 mins. They cancelled all those but she didn't mind too much as went to Blackfriars and walked along river to Tooley street. Yesterday they cancelled half the Blackfriars trains due to lack of staff as they've been pinged and self isolating. So they are every hour rather than 30 mins. They won't let her use her ticket on tram to east Croydon and pick up London bridge train there as they say it's not a reasonable route. It's costing her just over £3 extra a day. Been arguing with them since weekend. They say she needs to go via Balham on Victoria train which is more than double travelling time
 
Been told our offices at Hampton court palace not fit for purpose. There was work taking place on chimneys when covid started. The windows had boards and meshing put on them to protect from masonry. I suspect people forgot about this and windows or doors had barely been opened for roughly 14 months. 5 rooms full of mould and damp. Looking for other office spaces in the building now
 
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