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09 Apr 2021
by Dawn Lewis

REBA Inside Track: Future ways of working

One of the hottest topics right now is future ways of work and, in particular, the idea of a more hybrid working life.

 

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Businesses of all sizes, including large organisations, such as building society Nationwide, are now announcing that staff can choose whether to work at home or in the office. PwC recently confirmed greater flexibility for their staff, enabling them to start and finish their hours when they choose. PwC Chairman Kevin Ellis said: “We want our people to feel trusted and empowered”.

Hybrid home-office working is also under the microscope for many of REBA’s Professional Members.

A question was recently raised on rebaLINK – REBA’s online member-only networking and due diligence platform – about how organisations are implementing hybrid ways of working; whether it requires changes to employee contracts – and if hybrid workers should receive a work-from-home allowance. 

Some of REBA’s members came forward to say that they too were looking at implementing hybrid working arrangements, with one member saying that they are planning a model that involved colleagues working one or two days in the office and the rest at home, with no change to contract.

Another explained that they would enable employees to be based at home, but allocated to a named office location where they would work for an agreed number of days.

As for working from home allowances, this is very much an individual decision taken by the organisation. rebaLINK users have suggested that due to reduced commuting costs many employees are better off in a hybrid working situation, and therefore are not paying a work-from-home allowance. However, others have suggested that employees make use of HMRC’s £6 a week tax relief on working from home, while some have agreed to pay a small monthly allowance.

It's clear from rebaLINK that employers are taking very different approaches to the idea of hybrid ways of working – with decisions often dependent on the make-up of the workforce and the culture of the organisation. All REBA Professional Members can access rebaLINK via our website to read the full responses and find out how their peers are addressing this important topic.

Look out for more research and insight from REBA into this topic later this month. In the meantime, we’d love to hear from you if your organisation is planning to move to a hybrid working pattern.

The author is Dawn Lewis, content editor at REBA.

REBA Professional Members can access rebaLINK via our website. It is a confidential forum for industry peers to ask questions about policies, suppliers and wider reward practices both for the UK and internationally. It provides access to a collective body of industry professionals and their expert knowledge.