AIBU in thinking they should get back to work?

Many office workers don't need to work in offices. The more who can stay at home keep infection in a confined space. Community transmission is reduced and allow those who do need to work outside the home to socially distance and breathe in less infected air.

Everybody has a choice to avoid busy shops and pubs.

It's not preferential treatment. It's pragmaticism and thinking about public health as part of a big picture.

People can "do their bit" by trying to reduce the pressure on the NHS by trying not to be infected.

Sarnia, every employer has a duty to ensure the safety of their employees at work. Therefore, I think anyone has a right to insist on working from home under present circumstances.

The backlog is inevitable, considering how many people will have been off sick, don't you think?

We can't expect people to put themselves (and others) at risk - just to catch up - that's insane!

Allsorts, your comments make no logical sense to me:

'they have as much chance of getting it when out in the very busy shops and pubs'

Many people are sensibly avoiding such busy places.

'if they are working from home, in most cases their mind isn’t on it'

Why do you think being at home makes that difference?

I found the reverse to be true, with far fewer interruptions and distractions at home.

Really no sympathy with these people who refuse to go back to work. Most of my family have worked all the way through this pandemic, front line workers, no time off sick at all. Office based public service, driver based, hospital based. Then I hear the Union is demanding praise for all the hard work the DVLA have done. Really. I think of all the front line workers , yes all, who have carried on doing their best to keep this country going. Sorry if gone off post, not sorry for the lack of support for DVLA.

I am classed as a keyworker, not NHS, life was much easier when all non essential staff were home based. So as someone who has spent the whole pandemic except the first lockdown, working with no social distancing, etc, I fully support working from home for those who can. The only inpact it has had on me is a positive one.

Lincslass Apart from envy that some people have better working conditions, is there any tangible reason people should be forced back to office working?

Lincslass, just because others have done/are doing it (for which I'm very grateful) doesn't mean that anyone should be forced to.

The work we do and our activities are a personal choice - along with the level of risk we're prepared to take. It's a free world.

If I'm young, fit and active, I may skydive, mountaineer and work for the NHS in a front line job, no problem. If I'm middle aged with asthma and HBP, though, I might prefer to walk, swim - and work from home. Our risk of serious consequences may be exactly the same.

I worked all through, didn't get any of the recognition that nhs workers got, but I'm perfectly happy for people to work at home if it's suitable for their job role.
Better work/life balance.
Money saving.
Eco friendly.
Potentially life saving if it reduces covid risks.

It's monumentally selfish to want people back at work "just because".

And for those of us who have to work outside the home it cuts the commute in half. Please stay wfh.

Wfh will also mean that public transport is less crowded, so less risk of infection there, and air pollution from cars is reduced.
Lincslass the people who had no choice about continuing to be in workplaces wouldn't be helped at all by others being made to stop working from home.
Your viewpoint is quite unpleasant and foolish, imo.

DVLA aside, I don't understand the resentment in principle of people who are working from home.

If they are getting the work done - and I'm sure their employers will let them know if they are not - what is the gripe? What is the logic?

Apart from Covid - isn't it inevitable that working patterns will change, considering how technology now enables people to work remotely?

Isn't it also a good thing to reduce the misery of rush hour - crowded transport and roads?

It's yet another example of divide and rule from the govt. The people working from home are more likely to be working at desks on a computer most of the time so they don't need to be in an office. By telling people that they should go back to work Johnson and Sunak are creating envy amongst those people who cannot stay at home.

I don't understand why someone would be envious, or if they are, why it matters, to be honest.

As Hetty58 says, there is personal choice involved. I realise that that is a bit simplistic, as not everyone has the job that they would necessarily have chosen in an ideal world, but the fact that someone else has a job that you (generic - not getting at anyone) would have liked, or is able to work in a way that would have suited you but your own working pattern doesn't allow, doesn't mean that that working pattern is wrong.

I suspect that one of the many things that will change as a result of the pandemic is that working hours and location will be something that people will factor into their priorities when deciding on which jobs to apply for, or careers to work towards.
We will move towards a much more flexible way of earning a living, which for some will mean regular hours at a fixed location, but for others will be something that they can fit around their personal or family lives and will be paid by results, rather than presenteeism.

I know I'm lucky to be able to work from home. My hours are hugely extended though, in order to 'fit' my job into something I can do from home. I'm currently working 7 days a week, although not all day, every day. There was one horrible day last week when I worked until 1am.

I DO still regard myself as lucky.

I also work from home, and always have for at least part of the week.

I don't for a minute think that it is any easier than going into the workplace. I am mostly retired these days, but do a few hours a week from spring to autumn, and on the whole I can work them how I like, which suits me as I can take holiday when I want to, and cram a couple of weeks into a few days when that suits me better. The flexibility is great (which is why I do it), but the flipside is that it sometimes means that I am still working beyond 10.00pm, and that is routine for my full-time colleagues, as it was to me before I retired.

I don't know why it matters to people how anyone else organises their working pattern.

Changes in working practices were already happening before the pandemic. Many office workers don't have their own desk. They have a laptop and "hot desk", which means sharing desks with other people and trying to find a seat, which these days has H & S implications. I know people who were told to work at home for some time every week because there weren't desks to go around even before the pandemic. Provided there are good internet connections and the software is up to it, there's no reason why people shouldn't work anywhere on the planet. It doesn't suit everybody to work at home and it doesn't suit every office job, so the key is flexibility and companies will have to adapt practices. There are many advantages to working from home, not least in a pandemic that roads are less congested and there's more space on public transport for those who need to be in a fixed workplace. There's also the question of fewer pesky infected viral particles circling in the atmosphere. There are some issues to be considered, such as whether those required to travel should be paid more etc, but in principle, I don't see the problem.

My son is an engineer and mostly works from home, although occasionally he does site visits and goes into the office. At home there are no distractions (apart from the view from the window) and his outputs have remained stable throughout the pandemic.

My husband works from home (own business) and takes advantage of the daylight by taking exercise during the day and working early mornings and late evenings. As he usually suffers from SAD we’re already seeing the benefit of this new way of working.

Speaking of flexible working, my son now works a ‘nine day’ fortnight instead of a ‘five day’ week. He does a little extra time on his work days, but in exchange he has two days a month off.

Some people will never learn will they. Yes you are being unreasonable. You are being unreasonable in assuming that the problems with the DVLA are caused by working from home. How can you know that? They could be understaffed, have poor IT, it could be any of the things 11 years of Tory austerity has wished upon us.

grannyactivist

Speaking of flexible working, my son now works a ‘nine day’ fortnight instead of a ‘five day’ week. He does a little extra time on his work days, but in exchange he has two days a month off.

As I have said elsewhere, my son and his partners are looking at giving their staff unlimited holidays.

So many dinosaurs. The days of being measured by the hours you work only came in the way that we have it with the industrial revolution, so we managed fifteen or sixteen centuries without it. It is not as useful a measure these days as we are not standing putting items on a moving belt, etc., only to be replaced on the next shift by someone doing the same thing.

We still need some people to be at a place of work but even that will get less and less. If some of the young see the past as "a foreign country where they do things differently", then many of the old it seems, see the future that way. Many of them seem to think the only good way is the way they know. That would stop progress completely in its tracks.

Our GPs have been working partly from home for several years (well before Covid). They do all their telephone consultations from home. I suspect hospital consultants do the same.

FarNorth

Wfh will also mean that public transport is less crowded, so less risk of infection there, and air pollution from cars is reduced.
Lincslass the people who had no choice about continuing to be in workplaces wouldn't be helped at all by others being made to stop working from home.
Your viewpoint is quite unpleasant and foolish, imo.

Oh dear , you haven’t worked as a bus driver have you. Refusing to wear masks, so no matter one selfish person can cause havoc. Do you know how many bus drivers died from Covid. I think your attitude is just as unpleasant., and very rude.

Surely then, less crowded buses would reduce the risk to drivers?

Quite MissA. And less cars on the road equals fewer queues and less pollution too.