Can staff be required to hot desk following the lead set by HSBC boss Noel Quinn?
The boss of the banking giant, HSBC, Noel Quinn, has announced that the bank will be scrapping designated office space for their top management and embracing hot-desking on an open-plan floor. Describing the old executive level on the 42nd floor of the Canary Wharf building as “a waste of real estate”, this bold move will reduce individual office space by 40%. Under-used office space costs businesses £10 billion a year in England and Wales alone.
As we enter a new post-pandemic world, many businesses may be looking to embrace the new model of flexible working, and the cost savings brought about by less permanent bottoms on seats, but is it something you can require of your staff? There are no regulations to say that you can’t introduce mandatory hot-desking, but you must ensure that the arrangements do not breach the employee’s terms, align with health and safety requirements, and there are considerations on maintaining staff morale which will always be relevant to any business.
Employment law considerations
The general position is that you cannot change an employee’s terms of employment without their consent. However, having a permanently assigned desk in a fixed location is arguably not a “term” of employment. Further, well drafted employment contracts will have specific flexibility clauses commonly in relation to where the employee works, which employers may be able to rely on when introducing the changes without reference to the employee.
Hot desk health and safety
Just as with a traditional desk set up, you must still carry out the same hazard and risk assessments for each desk. This also extends to the requirements of the Equality Act 2010, ensuring that each desk is suitable, or can be adapted, for those with both physical and mental health conditions. Whilst COVID-19 remains a viable threat and the recommendation that surfaces are regularly sanitised remains in place, you must also consider whether hot-desking may pose an increased threat of transmission of the virus and whether that can be managed in a way that does not erode costs savings.
Hot desking and staff morale
A 2012 study from Unison found that 90% of workers said that hot desks had a negative effect on morale and increased stress. However, a large part of this may have been to do with a lack of a structured hot desking system. A 2019 survey of hot-deskers found that 84% of respondents said they spent more than five minutes looking for a desk, 28% more than 15 minutes and 21% more than 30 minutes. However this was pre-pandemic when 80 per cent of the UK workforce still went into the office Monday to Friday with most of those having no ability to remote work. Throughout lockdown, businesses have had to implement remote systems fast and many workers have adjusted to home working and have grown to enjoy the flexibility it brings. On the back of a continued flexible working pattern, a hot-desking system can have many advantages for staff members. Having open, honest discussions with employees prior to implementing a hot desk system may help to reduce any potential opposition.
If you need some help implementing new changes to your staff’s current working arrangements, Nalders LLP have a dedicated team of employment law specialists on hand to advise you on employment contracts generally and on any employment or commercial arrangements, you are thinking of putting in place. Contact Dale Band, Gayle McDermott, Lee Middleton or Luke Smith to discuss further on 01872 241414.