Benefits Canada Interview: Employers mandating 5-day RTO should consider impact on women employees: experts
/This article was originally published in Benefits Canada – written by Lauren Bailey.
When mandating that employees return to the office, employers need to consider the impact it may have on workers and give them the opportunity to adjust appropriately.
Last month, in an internal memo, Dell Inc. told its sales team they would be expected to work onsite going forward, giving employees just two-days’ notice of the change. The move was a stark reversal of its earlier policy, which allowed for a hybrid schedule that included three days in office.
Janet Candido, founder and principal of Candido Consulting Group, says the way the organization rolled out the mandate showed a lack of consideration for the fact that many employees who are caregivers would have to make childcare arrangements in order to be able to work in the office full time. She noted that many childcare providers don’t have open spots, making it challenging for employees to find a place for their children with such little notice.
“Dell’s answer to that was, ‘Well, then you’re going to have to use your personal vacation time. . . .’ It’s a total lack of understanding of what parents have to go through.”
Rumeet Billan, chief executive officer of Women of Influence, notes the drop-off and pick-up times for her eight-year-old son are non negotiables. “Having to make this [working arrangement change] so quickly [and] without notice can leave people feeling very uncertain, uncomfortable and stressed.”
The bulk of childcare and elder care duties still fall on women, so policies like these may prompt women to quit, says Candido, noting these mandates can be construed by some people as anti-women.
“Women who cannot continue to work at Dell, for example, will have to . . . find another job elsewhere. The problem is that there aren’t a lot of jobs in the tech sector. . . . This has also been referred to as a form of ‘quiet firing.’ I’m not sure that [it’s] specifically targeting women [workers], but that’s who it’s affecting mostly.”
As well, she notes many employees can’t function well in a one-size-fits-all office environment, including people who identify as neurodivergent. “That’s why I think that the solution really is hybrid, where people come into the office two or three days a week. . . . Employers need to be flexible. I think we’re past the days where everybody had to come in at 9 a.m. and worked until 5 p.m. If we want to have diversity in the workplace, then we have to adjust our policies to make it easier for a range of employees.”
Women of Influence has adopted a hybrid working schedule and recently implemented a four-day workweek. Billan believes the traditional nine-to-five work hours need to be re-examined, noting the structure doesn’t fit with many people’s lifestyle and personal obligations. Companies that initiate such mandates need to consider their intentions, she adds, noting if it’s to build culture and collaboration, that depends largely on management, not location. If management is skeptical that employees are actually getting the work done, then there may be a trust management issue.
“Employers need to consider whether collaboration was really happening onsite in the first place,” she says, noting in the past, team meetings were often dominated by a few voices, while many others remained quiet, fearful of negative feedback or consequences. “You can collaborate online. It’s up to . . . the person that’s leading the meeting to facilitate avenues for people to be able to collaborate. But here’s the thing, . . . not everyone is going to contribute anyways. . . . So it’s up to us to decide how we’re going to facilitate the conversation and the collaboration. Location isn’t the issue, it’s how we facilitate it.”
