Wednesday briefing: There’s a tug of war over the right to work from home – who will win?
An aerial view of a mother working from home on her laptop with her toddler next to her drawing on a paper pad.Photograph: Tom Werner/Getty Images
Good morning.
No one really knew how long remote working was going to be around when it was first introduced during the pandemic. But, four years on, many people across the UK (and elsewhere) are still doing their jobs remotely – and companies are struggling to get them back into the office. Employees have been insisting that work from home, in some capacity, should be here to stay – but, concerned about productivity and empty office space, that is not what a lot of employers want.
Companies have been significantly rolling back flexible working practices, with some even pushing for staff to come to the office five days a week as the employee-forward approach to working seems to have fizzled out. The latest example is an employment tribunal – the first of its kind – that rejected the case of a senior manager who sued the UK Financial Conduct Authority because she wanted to work from home all of the time. The case was closely watched by employers, and could give them confidence to strictly enforce return-to-office rules.
For today’s newsletter I spoke with Jane Croft, a journalist who specialises in business and legal issues, about the tug-of-war unfolding between companies and their employees. That’s right after the headlines.
Five big stories
General election 2024 | Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer tore into each other’s election promises during the first TV debate of the campaign. This explainer goes through the key areas that the prime minister and leader of the opposition clashed on. Earlier in the day, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage had a milkshake thrown over him in Clacton on his first day of campaigning in the constituency. A woman, 25, was later arrested on suspicion of assault.
India | Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party has lost its parliamentary majority, upending predictions of a landslide victory. The results have dealt an unexpected blow to the prime minister and forcing him to negotiate with coalition partners in order to return to power.
NHS | Major hospitals in London have been hit by a cyber-attack, which has seriously disrupted services including blood tests and transfusions. The ransomware attack was having a “major impact” on the care provided by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS trust, its chief executive told staff in a letter.
Education | Eight in 10 primary schoolteachers in England are spending their own money to buy items for pupils who are increasingly arriving at school hungry and without adequate clothing, according to research.
Israel-Gaza war | Joe Biden has said that there is “every reason” to draw the conclusion that Benjamin Netanyahu is prolonging the war in Gaza for his own political self-preservation.
In depth: ‘There’s quite a bit more stick than carrot now’
Initially, companies tried to lure workers back to the office by offering them perks. This is not exactly new territory for tech companies in particular, which are known for their lavish benefits. In 2022 Google tried to tempt its employees back to their desks with a big party that included a performance by pop star Lizzo. And then there were the happy hours, weekly events and group fitness classes. The message was clear: being in the office is fun. Another tech company, Salesforce, tried a different approach, appealing to its more humanitarian employees by offering to donate to local charities for each day workers came into the office. Silicon Valley companies are at the extreme end of the spectrum of back-to-work benefits, but a lot of companies were offering incentives including free coffee, lunch or commuter benefits. But in the end, none of the shiny objects or free goodies could compare to the comfort of rolling out of bed 10 minutes before the first meeting of the day. And, especially now that the economy has changed, companies have decided it is time to change tack.
“We’re at the next phase, where there is more scrutiny and monitoring and companies are willing to enforce stricter rules about remote working,” Jane says. Some law firms, for instance, have been checking employee attendance by tracking how many times a week their staff are swiping into the office, to ensure they are complying with the company’s flexible working split. Big banks have started sending “letters of education” to employees who do not show up, threatening disciplinary action if they continue to work from home. The new owner of Manchester United, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, was more blunt: if you do not want to come in, get another job. “There’s quite a bit more stick than carrot now,” says Jane.
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The tables have turned
During the pandemic there were significant labour shortages, which was difficult for businesses but favourable for workers. “Employees had quite a lot of power but because of the economic downturn employers have got the upper hand,” says Jane. “They can make demands – which includes asking staff to spend time in the office.”
There is also a sense that community and creativity can be lost when people work from home. To some extent this could be down to nostalgia rather than evidence, with senior execs becoming misty-eyed at the halcyon days of watercooler chats, but there are tangible downsides of having a majority of staff working from home most of the time. For younger employees, they could be missing out on “more supervision” or the kinds of visibility that can “help with career progression and promotion,” Jane says.
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Workers fight back
Even as redundancies and layoffs become more common, workers have been continuing to resist returning to the office, even going as far as “changing the terms and conditions in their contracts to keep themselves better protected,” Jane says. When employees at the Official of National Statistics were ordered to come in for a minimum of two days a week, they refused to comply, instead voting in favour of strikes.
Sometimes the fight is more clandestine than an outright strike or refusal. Employees in some companies have been “coffee-badging”, Jane says, which is where an employee will come to the office, swipe themselves in, have a coffee (hence the name) or go to a meeting, and then quietly scurry off.
For a lot of people, making sure that flexibility becomes a right as opposed to a privilege is not just about comfort – for those with caring responsibilities, for instance, it can make life much more manageable. This will probably not stop companies from continuing to push their workers back to their desks – and those workers, in turn, from putting up a fight. “People are clinging on to remote working in any way they can,” says Jane.
What else we’ve been reading
As part of a new series on those suffering the effects of long Covid, Sam Wollaston sensitively tells the story of Lucy Keighley (above), who has lost “her health, her business, her livelihood … but somehow she has managed to hang on to humour”. Hannah J Davies, deputy editor, newsletters
The highly anticipated show Queenie was touted as the Black Bridget Jones. Leila Latif lays out why it falls short. Nimo
Festivals are fun – but they’re also expensive. Consumer affairs correspondent Sarah Marsh has some tips for doing them on the cheap, from renting a tent to getting your hi-vis on for some shifts as a steward. Hannah
Tim Burrows is as ever thoughtful in his piece about Clacton, the Essex town that Nigel Farage has his eyes set on. Nimo
“I love that we’re having a lesbian pop renaissance”: I enjoyed this piece about the rise of sapphic chart hits. Hannah
Sport
Tennis | Defending champion Novak Djokovic (above) has withdrawn from the French Open due to a knee injury. The men’s world No 1 suffered the injury during his five-set comeback win over Francisco Cerúndolo on Monday.
Football | Manchester City has launched a full legal assault against the Premier League, with the four-in-a-row champions challenging everything from sponsorship rules to the means by which decisions are taken by the competition.
Cricket | Scotland’s hopes of a T20 World Cup upset against England were ruined with the match abandoned. Scotland reached 90-0 off 10 overs before play was halted by rain.
The front pages
You can see the main front pages in a separate roundup today – our usual handy summary follows. “Leaders clash on migration, tax and NHS in ill-tempered debate” says the Guardian while the i has “2024 election ignites during angry TV clash”. “Labour accused on tax as Sunak comes out fighting” – that’s the Times, and the Daily Telegraph picks up the theme: “Starmer on the ropes over tax”. “Kapow!” – where did that come from Daily Express? – it continues “Feisty Rishi floors Starmer over £2000 tax rise”. The Daily Mail feels pugilistic too: “Fiery Rishi comes out swinging – and lands big blows”. “Shaky start for Farage” – the nascent Reform candidate gets banana milkshaked on the front of the Metro. The Daily Mirror stays out of it, covering a D-day reunion at Normandy: “These are all good men”. Election news from another land in the Financial Times: “Indian voters deliver shock to Modi after ruling BJP fails to win majority”.
Today in Focus
Donald Trump is now a convicted criminal. Do voters care?
The hush-money trial ended with a historic verdict against a former president. Can Joe Biden capitalise on it? David Smith and Alice Herman report
Cartoon of the day | Martin Rowson
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
“One day you’re at home watching Love Is Blind and the next you’re being told by the government to pack an emergency bag,” Kate McCusker is told in her piece about the surprising optimism of young Lithuanians. While their country’s proximity to the threat of Putin’s Russia ensures anxiety pervades its society, something unexpected has happened to the country’s young people. They are … happy. This year’s World Happiness Report has Lithuania top of the pile when it comes to the under-30s (while the UK is 32nd). And it is not surprising. Free university education, a thriving economy and a pumping nightclub scene all go a long way to ensuring that the future feels bright – geopolitical factors notwithstanding.
Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday
Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
