Workers who have battled into the office during the pandemic are resentful of those still working from home - and are being offered pay rises and perks to keep them happy, HR staff reveal

  • Feeling of staff being 'all in it together' has reduced over time, HR experts said 
  • Sense among 'front line' staff that colleagues were having 'lovely time' at home
  • The issue has led some companies to offer their in-house staff extra perks 

Workers who have been required to go into the office during the coronavirus lockdown feel resentful towards their colleagues who continue to work from home, HR staff revealed today.  

Some employees feel aggrieved at the money and time spent on commuting to their workplace when their co-workers are able to remain at home. 

The issue has led some companies to offer their in-house staff perks including extra paid leave and bonuses. 

Some disgruntled workers have launched grievance procedures against their employers.  

Some staff working in offices are feeling increasingly resentful of their colleagues who are staying at home, HR experts have said. Pictured: An empty Reuters Square in Canary Wharf yesterday

Some staff working in offices are feeling increasingly resentful of their colleagues who are staying at home, HR experts have said. Pictured: An empty Reuters Square in Canary Wharf yesterday

'At the beginning the feeling was that we are all in this together but over time that has reduced,' Katie Jacobs, of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, told MailOnline. 

'Some people might feel they have been on the front line for months now while their colleagues are having a lovely time working from home.

'But employers should not force or mandate people to come back. They need to show that it's a safe working environment and develop an honest and open conversation with their staff.' 

She also recommended 'perks' such as extra holiday for people who had commuted into work.  

Research by BrightHR, a company which provides HR support to small and medium businesses, found that there is an 'us and them' division emerging in companies which have some staff members at home and some in the office. 

BrightHR CEO Alan Price told the Telegraph that most small business were not yet ordering all their staff to return to the office due to social distancing rules and childcare concerns, although he said there could be a 'watershed' moment in September when children go back to school. 

Speaking to the newspaper, Katie Jacobs said the workplace had become 'fractured' by different experiences of the pandemic. 

Ms Jacobs estimated that just 20 to 30 per cent of the UK workforce will be expected to return to the office by autumn or the end of the year. 

New government guidance which came into effect on August 1 meant that employers can now ask staff to return to the office under the condition that social distancing rules must be maintained. 

Other HR experts said there was also growing tension between some employers and their staff over whether people had to go into work.   

Natalie Ellis, from Your Virtual HR, told MailOnline: ''I'm getting that a lot from clients. Employers like to see their teams and have an office environment, so we are seeing a conflict between them and their staff who want to remain at home.  

'Flexible working has been in the pipeline for many years, but what we're finding is that there are employees that don't want to return to work because they're getting used to a different way of life.' 

Almost five in six office employees are still staying at home despite the Government's drive to get staff to return to their workplaces.

A Daily Mail audit of 30 of Britain's biggest firms, representing 320,000 employees, found that just 17 per cent of office-based staff would travel to work this week.

Boris Johnson had heralded Monday as the day 'work from home' guidance ends and Britain should return to the office.

The issue has led some companies to offer their in-house staff perks including extra paid leave and bonuses. File photo

The issue has led some companies to offer their in-house staff perks including extra paid leave and bonuses. File photo 

He said Britons could go back to the workplace at the 'discretion' of their employers and would no longer be advised to stay away from public transport.

But many businesses are not planning for most workers to return to offices until at least towards the end of the year, while the likes of Facebook and bank RBS said staff will not go back until 2021.

Just one firm surveyed, investment bank JP Morgan, had set a target for a substantial return to the office today – just 2,400 of its 19,000 staff.

On Radio 4's Today Programme the chief executive of British Land, who of the largest commercial landlord's in the country, said that some businesses may not return to the office until early next year.

Chris Grigg said: 'I don't think we are going to see an instantaneous return and I think we are going to see a big variety. We are talking to some people who want most, if not all of their people back but in September, which seems to be a key time.

'But others are going to wait longer I think, throughout the rest of the year and in some cases into early next.'

He added that public transport and kids and schooling were factors impacting the return of staff to offices.

Mr Grigg added: 'That issue of how to look after your children with both partners working is something which I think employers have to be sensitive to.'

The approach taken by white-collar workers is in stark contrast to building sites, warehouses, shops and restaurants where staff have been at their workplace for weeks.

Liverpool Street Station in the City of London on Monday morning, which would have usually been packed with commuters going into work

Liverpool Street Station in the City of London on Monday morning, which would have usually been packed with commuters going into work 

The Government has been criticised for failing to hammer home its back-to-work message.

Kevin Ellis, chairman of accountancy giant PwC, which has 22,000 staff in Britain, said he believed his employees would only spend three or four days per week at work even after the pandemic.

It had 5,000 staff in its offices last week and he hoped to reach 11,000 by the end of this week.

The Mail contacted 60 of Britain's biggest firms and half provided a response. Of the 320,000 workers, there are just over 53,000 going into the office.

Three companies said their employees would not return to work until 2021, while a further nine had not confirmed a date.

Barclays boss Jes Staley, who still has 60,000 staff working at home, said the return to the office would happen 'over time'. Aerospace firm Airbus said staff would return from the middle of this month.

Four firms, including Vodafone, will return from September, Microsoft will bring staff back from November and the London Stock Exchange will bring 30 per cent back in December.

WH Smith and catering company Compass said their offices were open, but the decision on whether to return is voluntary.

Unilever will ask staff to return from September in a 'hybrid' system where people come into the office only a few days a week. BT said it would only ask staff to return 'when we are confident it is safe'.

The Mail's findings come as a report published today said London's pubs, shops and restaurants alone had lost £2.3billion in lunch and after-work trade between March and June.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research calculated the cost of lockdown to 'ghost town' London's hospitality sector at £25million per day. 

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