WFH warning as bosses face $4,034 in damages over office trends: ‘Against my will’

Australian bosses have been warned to be strategic about implementing a return-to-work mandate or risk sending staff running for the hills. The tide is slowly turning against the work-from-home (WFH) lifestyle that many have enjoyed for several years.

The private and public sectors have recently announced major changes, requiring employees to return to the office either part-time or even five days a week. But Randstad Australia executive general manager Angela Anasis said so Yahoo Finance that employers should be careful.

“I feel like the genie is out of the bottle,” she said, referring to companies forcing Australians to return.

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“After four years of remote and hybrid work, civil servants feel they have earned the right to work from home and many have made life decisions such as: “Buying a pet or moving further away from the office is based on the assumption that this flexibility is available.”

“Therefore, it is no surprise that they fear that this right will be taken away from them without adequate justification.

“Given that people are willing to quit their jobs if forced to return to the office, employers should think carefully about how to incentivize attendance, focusing on the carrot rather than the stick .”

Randstad recently crunched some numbers and found that many employed Aussies (52 percent) view working from home as a fundamental right and fear it will be unfairly taken away.

The New South Wales Government, Amazon, Tab Corp, Dell and Flight Center are some of the big names that have recently announced big changes to WFH privileges.

But this mandate to return to office can backfire massively

Randstad found that 24 percent of Australians would actively look for a new hybrid role if they had to return to working full-time in the office, while 6 percent would quit without another job lined up.

The story continues

That’s exactly what happened with Rachel*.

The senior account manager enjoyed her fully remote job at a PR agency after joining last year. But shortly after Christmas, employees received instructions to come back to the office from the beginning of 2024.

“It was a big adjustment from going from working from home to being told I had to be in the office three days a week without notice to organize my dog ​​or something like that,” she said Yahoo Finance.

But what was even more frustrating was the reality of actually being in the office.

Rachel said it was a small team and there wasn’t even a fridge to store her food, which meant she had to spend an unnecessary amount of money on lunches every week.

“I didn’t have a desk or a computer chair or any of the amenities that you would expect when you go into an office,” she explained.

“I asked myself, ‘Why am I here?’ I’m sitting at a dining table like my own at home. I can’t even put lunch in this fridge. They were just very boring and I just wasn’t feeling it.

“It felt like I was only there because I was forced into it against my will.”

Two months after returning to the office, Rachel began looking for a new job.

So how can you bring employees back without them quitting?

Randstad has found that workplaces that want to bring people back to the office need to be prepared to make it worth it for employees.

“When it comes to finding talent and retaining the best talent, I think it’s going to be very difficult for them to attract people if they don’t offer some level of flexibility,” Anasis explained Yahoo Finance.

An overwhelming 79 percent of respondents said offering employees better office benefits was the trick to getting them to return.

The survey found that introducing these perks, which include free lunches, free transportation or parking, or even a free gym membership, would cost bosses or companies about $4,034 per employee.

Anasis said the cost of living crisis has meant that returning to the office can be a huge burden for some workers and these small perks can go a long way to keeping everyone happy.

Another 24 percent of respondents said a “significant” raise was the only factor that would persuade them to return to working in the office full-time.

“I think it’s always a good conversation for employees and employers to really start a dialogue like that and see if there are ways to support that,” Anasis said. “But if employers can lead the way, they have an advantage because they communicate this proactively.”

Funnily enough, even though Rachel’s new job has a hybrid work policy, she now comes in three days a week because the mood is much better.

“It’s just a much better setup,” she explained Yahoo Finance.

“It feels a lot more professional and you just want to go there because you feel like it’s more collaborative.”

She said there are many professional benefits to coming to the office, but having those benefits here and there is a game-changer.

*Name changed at the request of the employee

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