The Office Reimagined: Navigating the Post-Remote Work Era

According to recent CIPD research*, the use of hybrid work arrangements in the UK is declining, with more employers beginning to put pressure on staff to return to the office. This creates a challenge: many employees have become accustomed to homeworking since the pandemic, and a whole new generation of workers - those who started in the last five years - may never have experienced full-time office life. 

A swing back to the office 

Our own experience supports this trend. Increasingly we are being asked to work with clients who are consulting with staff about ways in which they can return to a more pre-COVID work set-up. 

During a recent conversation with a local professional, he described a situation many employers are facing. Pre-pandemic, even when his team worked from home occasionally, they still felt like a single, connected workforce. After years of remote working, however, he felt he no longer managed a team - but a dozen individuals working in isolation. 

This highlights the risk employers face if they cannot rebuild collaboration, shared purpose, and effective teamwork. 

Discontent and unequal treatment  

Add to the mix the CIPD also reports that nearly a third of all businesses have faced staff disgruntlement over how flexible working is applied, with many staff feeling that flexibility is offered unevenly, leading to perceptions of unfairness and eroding trust.  

Back in early 2020, the move to homeworking happened at speed, often without consultation. Many welcomed the change, while others struggled. People restructured their lives - some bought pets, others moved further from workplaces - all against the backdrop of a global health crisis. 

That initial flexibility was impressive and necessary. But today’s challenges are different. High costs, fluctuating interest rates, regulatory pressures, and shifting consumer behaviours mean that businesses must adapt again or risk failure. 

The push for office returns 

Today’s challenges are different but no less of a threat to many businesses who need to adapt or risk failure. Costs everywhere are sky-high. Credit is no longer cheap. The regulatory burden is only set to increase. Consumer behaviours have changed. With so many challenges businesses are seeking out marginal gains wherever possible.  

Collaboration, knowledge-sharing and innovation often happen more naturally when staff are together. Building team spirit, a shared culture and collective problem-solving is easier in person. 

But we must accept the fact that not every employee can (or wants to) give up the benefits they perceive from working from home. For some, personal circumstances have changed, making a full return to the office impractical.  

This creates a legal and cultural tension: on the one hand many employers are encouraging office returns, while on the other employees’ rights to request flexible working are being strengthened. Under the Employment Rights Bill it is proposed that employers will have to demonstrate a refusal to grant a flexible working request is not only based on a prescribed ground, but is a reasonable, evidence-based decision.  

The importance of knowing your “why” 

• Why is a return to the office needed? 

• Why does the business operate this way? 

• Why will this benefit both the organisation and its employees? 

• And crucially: what’s in it for staff?

Clarity of purpose makes consultation more meaningful and decisions more defensible. 

Consultation, transparency and consistency 

Just as if managing a disciplinary matter, long term sickness or a one-to-one personal review, consultation is key. Successful consultation requires: 

• Transparency – clear communication about the business rationale. 

• Honesty – explaining both challenges and opportunities. 

• Consistency – applying principles fairly across the workforce. 

‘Consistency’ does not mean doing the same thing for everyone, but it does mean identifying a principle and dealing with it fairly and reasonably in every case.   

In our next article, we’ll examine how flexible and hybrid working practices should be applied in 2025 to balance the needs of employees with those of the business. 

If you require legal advice on the issues discussed in this article, please contact our expert Employment Law team by calling 01206 574431 or by emailing enquiries@tsplegal.com.

*Flexible and hybrid working practices in 2025