Going Back To The Grind

Here’s what you need to know if you’re being asked to return to your workplace as the lockdown eases

- Gezzy S Sibisi

For weeks you’ve been doing what millions of South Africans have been forced to do: work from home.

In the beginning of lockdown, it wasn’t easy juggling your job and homeschooling your kids, but in time you fell into a rhythm. You used a corner of your house as a home office, buckled down and did what you needed to do.

But now all of a sudden your boss has told you he wants you back in the office. You can’t understand it: you’ve been getting your work done so why are you being forced to go back now?

In his address to the nation last month President Cyril Ramaphosa appealed to businesses to allow staff who can work from home to continue to do so to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

There are strict rules related to people returning to work but for some employers, that’s what’s on the cards instead of a more permanent work-from-home setup.

But even though your boss is doing what legally needs to be done and going to great lengths to keep you and your colleagues a reasonable distance apart, you still feel scared. What if you get infected with the dreaded virus?

Here’s what you need to know.

CAN YOU REFUSE TO GO BACK TO WORK?

The short answer is no. Despite the fact that government is encouraging a work-from-home policy, if you’re instructed by your boss to return to the office you have to go, says Gillian Lumb, employment practice director at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr.