The companies in London restricting staff from working from home

Some London-based employers are limiting or ending flexible work arrangements that allow employees to work from home. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies began implementing remote work and retained flexible work policies. However, now some companies, like Amazon, are requiring employees to return to the office five days a week. Employees have reportedly complained about the policy anonymously online.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stated in a letter to employees in September that office work helps "innovate, collaborate, and connect sufficiently to best serve our customers and the business." The policy was originally scheduled to begin when employees returned to work in January. However, an insider told the BBC that they could not enforce the five-day-a-week rule due to a current lack of desk space. Amazon disputes this, saying that all employees have returned to full-time office work.

Amazon is not the only company requiring employees to return to the office. The Metropolitan Police in London has also introduced a new hybrid work policy, requiring civilian staff to work in the office at least three days a week. Intelligence analyst Anna Bruce-Hou, who has been working from home three days a week since the pandemic, is one of more than 5,000 employees affected by the policy. She is also one of 2,400 members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) who have begun taking industrial action to protest the policy. She told BBC London that working an extra day in the office each week "will negatively impact my ability to do my job." She also said, "There are four desks for seven people in my office, and even with reduced office attendance now, I still struggle to find a desk."

The Metropolitan Police stated that the policy, which went into effect on Monday, "does not end working from home," and that they recognize some employees may have valid reasons for not complying with the policy due to reasonable adjustments or approved existing flexible working arrangements. "Our plans will provide consistency across the Met and ensure we are able to serve the community. We urge our staff and unions not to take further action," a spokesperson said. They also added that those working from home more than two days a week could be in breach of their contracts and could have their pay docked.

Over the past year, many large London-based employers have reviewed their work policies and have limited or banned working from home. Global communications agency WPP announced on Tuesday that it would tighten its rules and require employees to work in the office four days a week starting in April. CEO Mark Read stated in a letter to employees that "data from across WPP agencies shows that higher office attendance is correlated with stronger employee engagement, higher client survey scores, and better financial performance." He also added that "many of our clients are moving in this direction and expect the teams working with them to do so too."

It has been reported that some other large London employers have also required some employees to return to the office five days a week, but some companies told the BBC that return-to-office policies only apply to certain teams. The question of how and whether to force employees to spend more time in the office is being debated by companies across London. David Palmer, an employment lawyer at the law firm Addleshaw Goddard, told the BBC that he has seen a growing number of businesses considering forcing employees back to the office in the past six months. "There's no law that prohibits a blanket policy requiring employees to be in the office five days a week, but reasonable adjustments for disabled people and consideration of the risk of indirect discrimination are things that need to be considered," he said.

Mr. Palmer added that the main consideration for companies should be "the attraction and retention of talent," which will "vary from business to business." Companies looking to bring employees back to the office more permanently are now considering the best ways to ensure employee attendance. A survey of 150 financial services companies by KPMG in September of last year found that bosses were considering a range of methods to track office attendance. Companies said they would consider using monitoring equipment, such as cameras in offices or even sensors under desks, to ensure employees are at work. However, some companies are using incentives to encourage employees to return to the workplace.

Just Eat for Business requires employees to work in the office three days a week and provides a free monthly food allowance. Managing Director Matt Ephgrave said the idea was "very cost-effective" for the company. He said, "We are all human, so it creates an opportunity where you can sit down and talk to people you might not otherwise talk to." The Centre for London, a research center, conducted a study in September of last year on Londoners returning to the office. The report stated, "Office workers in central London have been returning to the office since last year. The number of days worked in the office by full-time employees has increased from 2.2 days in the spring of 2023 to 2.7 days in the summer of 2024." However, the report said that the rate of office return in London is "slow by global standards."

A survey of 400 employers in London by real estate consultancy Bidwells in April of last year found that commuting to work was one of the main reasons people were reluctant to go to the office. Mark Callender, who was involved in the study, said that among those surveyed, "We're seeing most people going into the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. But only half the people are going in on Mondays, and even less, around 40%, on Fridays." He added, "This is largely related to commute times, with more than a third of people in London saying that they commute for more than an hour."