Return to Office Checklist

Owned by the HR lead with the executive sponsor. Enter the date the new attendance pattern starts on the first task: every due date counts back from it in working days, and the 90-day review counts forward. Choose where the affected staff work, and the UK or US tasks appear.

• Set up the change: your organisation, the pattern, where staff work, the start date and the people — your organisation, the attendance pattern you plan, whether the staff it affects work in the UK, the US or both, the date it starts and the people who run each part; later tasks are assigned from these fields and every due date counts from the start date
• Write down the decision and the business reasons — what is changing (how many days or what share of time in the office, for which teams), why, the evidence behind it and what the change should achieve, so staff hear real reasons and the 90-day review has something to measure against
• List the teams, sites and people affected — each team, the site it works from, its current pattern (fully remote, hybrid or office-based) and its headcount, including anyone hired as home-based
• Agree the timetable, the owners and how staff will be consulted — the dates for each phase counted back from the start date, who owns each part, and how staff take part: a recognised trade union, an employee forum, team sessions or all three

Check what each group has already been promised before you announce anything. The answer to the last task decides whether individual consultation and written notice of new terms appear later.

• Check what contracts and offer letters say about the place of work — for each group, the place of work in the contract, offer letter or written statement, any contract that names home as the place of work, and any clause that lets you decide where people work
• Find the flexible working arrangements already agreed — statutory flexible working requests granted, informal home or hybrid agreements, trials still running and adjustments or accommodations that include working from home, so the new policy does not undo them by accident
• Check the current hybrid working policy and any collective agreement — whether the current home or hybrid working policy is part of the contract, what it promises and how much notice it says you give of a change, and any agreement with a trade union about working arrangements
• Decide whether the change needs contract changes — whether the new pattern fits within what contracts and the current policy already allow, or changes the terms of some or all staff; where it does, individual consultation, written agreement and written notice of the new terms appear later
• List the state and local laws for each US work location (US) — for each US state and city where the affected staff work, the laws that touch the change, so the policy, notices and any monitoring meet them

Owned by the facilities lead, with IT. Plan for the busiest day, not the average one. If attendance will be recorded from badge, booking or log-in data, a data protection task appears.

• Work out desk and room demand for each day — the number of people expected in each site on each day against the desks, meeting rooms and quiet spaces you have, and the peak day
• Check the space, fire safety and welfare for the numbers expected — the fire risk assessment and evacuation plan, first aid cover, toilets, kitchens and ventilation for the number of people expected on the busiest day
• Set up desk booking and team days — how people book a desk, which days each team is in together, team neighbourhoods and what happens on a day with no desk free
• Ready the IT at desks and in meeting rooms — docks and monitors at every bookable desk, Wi-Fi and network capacity for the busiest day, video equipment in meeting rooms so hybrid meetings work, and printing
• Restore building access, passes and parking — a working pass for everyone who will attend, including people who joined while working remotely, lockers, parking, cycle storage and the visitor process
• Decide how attendance will be recorded — whether attendance is recorded at all, and if so how: by managers, by staff themselves, or from badge, desk booking or network log-in data
• Check the use of attendance data with your data protection lead — the purpose, what data is used and for how long, who sees it, what staff are told, and whether an impact assessment is needed before it starts

Owned by the HR lead. Share the proposal and the reasons, listen, and change the plan where the feedback shows you should. When contract terms change, each affected person is consulted and their agreement recorded; if anyone has not agreed, a task appears to decide what happens next.

• Brief staff representatives and open consultation — the proposal, the reasons, the timetable and how views will be taken, shared first with any recognised trade union or employee forum
• Tell affected staff about the proposal and how to respond — the proposal, the reasons, how and by when to give views or raise a concern, and where the questions and answers will be kept
• Hold team sessions and log the concerns raised — a session for each team or site, with every concern and question logged with the answer given
• Consult each person whose contract terms change (when terms change) — a meeting with each person whose terms change, to explain the reasons, hear their circumstances and any alternative they suggest, before the terms are settled
• Record each person’s agreement in writing (when terms change) — for each person whose terms change, whether they agreed, on what date and to what terms, kept with their file
• Decide what happens for anyone who has not agreed — for each person, whether you keep their current terms, offer something different or take advice on other options; dismissal is a last resort that needs legal advice first
• Change the proposal where consultation shows it should — what changed in the pattern, the exceptions or the timetable because of what people said, and why other suggestions were not taken up

Owned by the HR lead. Decide who the policy does not apply to and handle every individual request on its own merits, before the policy is signed off. Requests that arrive later go through the same steps.

• Set the exceptions and how people ask for one — the roles, contracts and circumstances the pattern does not apply to, how someone asks for an exception, who decides and how quickly
• Answer statutory flexible working requests within two months (UK) — each statutory request logged on the day it arrives, discussed with the employee before any refusal, and decided, with any appeal, within two months unless the employee agrees to longer
• Make reasonable adjustments for disabled staff (UK) — for each disabled person the pattern puts at a disadvantage, the adjustments considered and agreed, which can include some or all days at home, with occupational health advice where it helps
• Handle accommodation requests under the ADA and the PWFA (US) — each request handled through the interactive process: the limitation, the essential functions of the job, the options and the accommodation agreed or the reason for refusal, recorded
• Check the policy’s effect on people with protected characteristics — who the pattern could disadvantage, such as carers, disabled staff, pregnant staff or people with religious observance, what you found and what you changed

The executive sponsor signs off the final policy, the exceptions, the workplace plan and the start date before anything is announced. The checklist halts at the sign-off: nothing after it can be completed until it is done.

• Prepare the sign-off pack — the final policy, what consultation changed, the exceptions, the outcome of requests and adjustments, the impact check, the workplace and IT plan, and the start date
• Put right what the sponsor turned down, then ask again — the changes the sponsor asked for, made and sent back; the sponsor then changes the decision to Approved and completes the sign-off. If the start date has to move, change it on the first task and every due date moves with it
• Sign off the policy, exceptions and start date — the sponsor’s decision that the policy, exceptions and workplace plan are ready and the start date stands, so the policy can be announced

Managers hear the final policy first, then everyone. Where contract terms change, each person gets the new terms in writing.

• Brief managers on the policy and how to apply it — the policy, the reasons, the exceptions, how to handle requests and adjustments, and how to deal with concerns fairly and consistently
• Publish the policy and the questions and answers — the final policy, the start date, what changed after consultation, how to ask for an exception or make a request, and the questions and answers, sent to everyone affected
• Give each person whose terms change the new terms in writing (when terms change) — a letter or updated written statement for each person whose terms change, with the new place of work, the date it applies and any other change agreed
• Update US offer letter templates, remote work agreements and the handbook (US) — the handbook section on where people work, the offer letter template for new hires and any remote work agreement form, with employees’ acknowledgements where your process asks for them
• Remind staff a week before and share the practical details — how to book a desk, passes, parking, team days, IT at desks and who to ask on the first days

Owned by the facilities lead. Walk the space before the start date, then deal with problems quickly in the first weeks.

• Check desks, IT and access are ready — a walk-through of each site: desks and docks, meeting room video, passes, signage and the booking system working
• Run the first week and log the issues — a welcome on the first days, a named contact on each site and every issue logged with an owner until it is fixed
• Check in with managers after the first two weeks — how the pattern is working in each team, any problems with space or IT, and any new requests or concerns

Review the change against the reasons you gave for it, about 90 days after the start date, and decide what to keep, change or drop.

• Gather attendance, space use and feedback — attendance and space use in aggregate, a short staff survey or team feedback, and the issues log
• Review the change against its business reasons — each measure written down at the start, what the evidence shows and what has not worked
• Check every request, exception and adjustment was handled on time — the flexible working, exception, adjustment and accommodation logs: each answered, on time and recorded, with any appeal
• Agree changes to the policy and the date of the next review — what stays, what changes and the next review date, agreed by the sponsor; a further change to contract terms starts a new run of this checklist