Last month, a British cabinet minister warned that excessive working from home will stunt the growth of young professionals. Of course, as per Newton’s theory, this was immediately countered with a tsunami of claims that remote work boosted productivity, mental health, and an endless raft of other positives.

With a new case being brought before the Fair Work Commission, many employers are still unsure what their obligations are and rights around working from home (WFH) as the washup from the Covid era lingers.

Some want all their employees at their desk at 9am, attending meetings in person and operating as a focused team, while others see WFH as a valuable option creating happier workers increasing productivity and output. But problems emerge when there is a disconnect between the two leading to potential areas of conflict.

As employers are switching to dual models mixing remote and onsite work, they are meeting some resistance from workers who would rather stay home.

However, working from home is not an automatic right. Rather, it is part of a negotiation process, and as employer you do have the right to set parameters around WFH or even outright deny WFH requests.

However, some problems have emerged as workers have become used to WFH and do not want to come back. To ease the transition back to the office, company leaders can do a few things to keep the process as smooth as possible.

Make the case for returning to the office

Lay out your cards. Research has shown employees respond better if they are given a reasonable explanation as to why they should return to the office. Identify how much office time versus WFH time is required and explain why. This could be minimum of three core days a week in the office. Explain why, and seek their position on such an arrangement.

Other tactics might include explaining why time spent together is beneficial and promotes better productivity. Stress the benefits of teamwork, personal proximity, and workplace camaraderie.

Listen

There are going to be a broad range of reasons employees want to WFH and it is important employers take these on board. These include childcare, aging parents or avoiding a long commute.  You need to understand why employees are requesting to WFH before any potential negotiations or concessions to take place and be prepared to factor these into discussions. As was highlighted in the recent Fair Work case, you need to look at the individual factors on a case by case basis – your cannot have a blanket rule and apply that across the board.

Focus on carrots, not sticks  

Research shows employees who are coerced back to the office were more disgruntled than those who were lured. Generally, employees will respond better to incentives and reasoned arguments than threats.

Possible strategies might include social events, compressed working weeks, or gym membership. The rule of thumb is reward, not punish.

Review contracts

At some point, there may be a need play a little harder. Although enforcing contractual obligations might be a last resort, it may be necessary. However, there can still be room for negotiation. Even if a contract mandates working at the office, if the employee has become accustomed to WFH, as an employer you can agree to be flexible and negotiate a day or two at home, with the remainder of the week at the office.

While this process may feel time-consuming, reviewing contracts and signalling future iterations or contract renewal can give employers some leverage. Again, negotiation is always preferable to coercion.

Keep communicating

Finally, keep communicating with your employees and adapt your work practices. Being nimble is the key. If you want to retain talent, work with it. Balance your needs with those of your team. Keep talking – dialogue is key and promoting open communication channels is better than top-down directives.

While you might want everyone in the office five days a week, it is also important to understand that this may not happen overnight – or at all. Ultimately employees have the right to request flexible work arrangements including WFH,

The best solution is to negotiate, navigate and adapt to this continuously fluid situation and see this is an opportunity rather than a threat.