As NZ government pushes return to work, HR should review employment agreements, says Shaun Brookes of Buddle Findlay
The New Zealand government wants its workers back at their desks, with an edict delivered from the very top.
“Updated guidance for the public service will make clear that working from home is not an entitlement and must be agreed and monitored,” Public Service Minister Nicola Willis said in a statement on 23 September.
The Wellington Chamber of Commerce was quick to agree. “Today’s announcement is welcome news for Wellington businesses and will have a positive impact on our city,” said CEO Simon Arcus.
As more employers call staff back to an office environment, it’s important for HR to be prepared.
Employment agreements and hybrid workers
The first obvious step, Buddle Findlay special counsel Shaun Brookes told HRD, is to review existing employment agreements, collective agreements and workplace policies to check what they say about where the employee is expected to work.
“COVID-19 changed everything, so despite what might be in their agreements, people were expected or encouraged to work from home, and often employment agreements weren’t changed to reflect that,” he said.
“If the employment agreement doesn’t provide that the employee can work from home, then ultimately it’s the employer’s decision.”
However, HR managers should expect applications for exclusion.
“It’s open to an employee to apply to their employer for flexible working, and that can include working from home,” Brookes said.
Under the Employment Relations Act 2000, an employee can apply to work from home or work flexible days or hours.
“The employer has to consider that application, and then they are able to either accept or decline, but they can only decline that application on a set number of criteria,” he said.
Consult workers on return-to-office policies
There is a right way and wrong way to call workers back to work, he said, where “consultation consistent with the good faith obligations employers and employees have toward each other” is better than a mandate from on high, in the style of Elon Musk.
“The employer should sit down and listen to the employees’ concerns if they are reluctant to come back to work – and try to accommodate them where possible,” Brookes said.
Employers who give their staff plenty of warning that they’d like to get people back into the office and ask how that could work best might hear simple requests, such as varied schedules that coincide with the school run.
“They might be little things to the employer, so they can accommodate, but they might actually be quite big stumbling blocks for the employee,” Brookes said. “Having those conversations allows for fresh ideas.”
On the other hand, an employer might decide it wants its workforce back five days a week. That decision might be grounded on productivity, although Brookes said many organisations were surprised by buoyant productivity levels with remote workers.
Setting expectations for younger workers
It has been more than four-and-a-half years since COVID-19 dropped its cloak over the globe. In that time, four years’ worth of school leavers have joined the workforce.
Clear communication with this younger cohort will see them integrate neatly into office life, Brookes said.
“It’s about making expectations clear at the outset and being upfront about what the job involves and where that work is going to primarily take place – and if there are flexible arrangements available, what those are,” he said, pointing out that the conversation can include the process for applying for a hybrid work arrangement.
For employers, the trick to attracting workers back is to make the office a great place to work.
“We spend a lot of our lives at the workplace, and if it’s an enjoyable place to be, then people will want to come into the office,” he said.
