Covid-19 lockdown check-in

[Syt]

Do they provide masks and gloves?

Available at the reception.

[Tamas]

My company was planning to (mostly) return to office mid-September, but as I understand they struggled to make sensible arrangements. So with the uncertainty of restrictions and their timelines, and in general feeling that the world of work might have changed for good, they have decided to go all in and turn into a remote working company, with office spaces that they keep to be converted into hot-desk based meeting places, as opposed to where you have to show up daily.

Considering the length of my commute I am very happy about this. It is going to be an interesting experiment as it is a fairly big company.

[DGuller]

Our office updated the Covid guidelines. People in the office "should" keep a distance of 2 meters at all times (up from 1.50 m), and it's "highly recommended" to wear masks and disposable gloves in all communal areas (hallways, meeting rooms, restrooms, kitchen) and during face to face meetings.

Of course nobody follows it, but I guess the company is covered.

I mean, the rule that only one person should be in the kitchen at any time lasted for a hot minute at best.

I didn't realize that there were people who didn't give up on the glove nonsense by May.  This is a classic case of flooding people with so many rules that the few sensible ones are going to drown in noncompliance.

[Grey Fox]

My company was planning to (mostly) return to office mid-September, but as I understand they struggled to make sensible arrangements. So with the uncertainty of restrictions and their timelines, and in general feeling that the world of work might have changed for good, they have decided to go all in and turn into a remote working company, with office spaces that they keep to be converted into hot-desk based meeting places, as opposed to where you have to show up daily.

Considering the length of my commute I am very happy about this. It is going to be an interesting experiment as it is a fairly big company.

Interesting. I wonder how it will look in 5 years time.

My work is currently scheduled to bring us all back full time on Septembre 14. Idiots.

[merithyn]

My company has moved us to after the new year, and they did a survey to see how people want to move forward. Most people want WFH full-time in perpetuity. My manager has already said that it's an option for anyone on our team that wants to do that.

[viper37]

Of course nobody follows it, but I guess the company is covered.

legally, it's usually not enough to give rules, a company has to make sure they are followed to be covered.  With a paper trail to prove it.

[Iormlund]

Yes. It's the company that has to police health and safety risks, unless Austria does things very differently (and I'd imagine there's a EU directive about it).

[Sheilbh]

Yes. It's the company that has to police health and safety risks, unless Austria does things very differently (and I'd imagine there's a EU directive about it).

And the company that you'd probably sue for negligence if things went bad, no?

[Iormlund]

Yes. It's the company that has to police health and safety risks, unless Austria does things very differently (and I'd imagine there's a EU directive about it).

And the company that you'd probably sue for negligence if things went bad, no?

Yes. IIRC in Spain the boss can be held criminally responsible if the company is not following the rules.

Usually companies hire external auditors & inspectors to catch cases of non-compliance, which leads to fines and other administrative penalties for the worker (I imagine it's also probably the easiest way to get rid of an employee, which is usually extremely hard here).

In our case we do COVID management in-house, since we've got an existing structure already set up. Most of the monitoring is done by shift supervisors, some dedicated exclusively to the task. Engineering (that's me) set up layouts and adapt processes. HS&E and HR document shit.

[Syt]

Yes. It's the company that has to police health and safety risks, unless Austria does things very differently (and I'd imagine there's a EU directive about it).

I honestly have no idea, but I know we're not unique in how we handle it. I think a lot of it comes down to the government offering recommendations but not making them legal requirements.

[merithyn]

Am I the only one exhausted all the time?

I get sleep, usually around 7-8 hours every night. I have a routine, I walk regularly, and it's sunshiney and beautiful outside. And still, I'm ready to nap at literally a moment's notice. Right now, I'm struggling to stay awake long enough to finish up some work before I log for the weekend. Like, I may have to lay down for an hour or so before I can even consider working on it. This has been the same every day this week.

Like I told Seedy, life feels heavy, and I'm tired of carrying it around.

Just me?

[Sheilbh]

Not entirely. But the biggest issues with return to work for me will be that my, now typical, mid-afternoon might be frowned on in an office environment

[Tamas]

Nope, as much as I actually often enjoyed the 2*1 hour drive each day, being rid of the commute and waking up later made me more fresh.

What is a bit of a constant struggle though is reminding myself to have some physical activity.

[Zanza]

I was at Ikea today to buy an electrically height adjustable desk for home office work. I arrived 10 minutes before they opened and there was already like 100 people waiting, which grew to 200 until they opened. They had ushers and everything. I was out again after about twenty minutes. Not an enjoyable shopping experience. And the hotdog station is closed.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Am I the only one exhausted all the time?

I get sleep, usually around 7-8 hours every night. I have a routine, I walk regularly, and it's sunshiney and beautiful outside. And still, I'm ready to nap at literally a moment's notice. Right now, I'm struggling to stay awake long enough to finish up some work before I log for the weekend. Like, I may have to lay down for an hour or so before I can even consider working on it. This has been the same every day this week.

Like I told Seedy, life feels heavy, and I'm tired of carrying it around.

Just me?

Not just you.  Every day for the last few months has just been "day," except Fridays, when I get to go to work.  I've been taking naps to kill time and to stop being so tired all the time, but it screws up my sleep schedule, so here I am at 430am on Saturday doing the same thing I do at 430am on nearly every other day:  staring all red-eyed at a computer monitor. 

E: Hi again Languish, btw.  Been a couple years.