Hachette UK and Bloomsbury delay office plans as Covid-19 cases rise

Hachette UK and Bloomsbury have changed their office return plans, with some staff not fully returning until October due to Covid-19 concerns.

Staff at Hachette now have the option of waiting until early October to transition to a new hybrid policy which includes three days in the office. The new way of working started being phased in from June and was expected to come fully into effect on 1st September.

“Carmelite House and our other offices reopened fully on 1st September as planned, and we are encouraging staff to move to the 3:2 hybrid working model now if they are ready,” a spokesperson said.

“However, we recognise that not everyone transitioned back to the office over the summer as planned for a variety of reasons, such as waiting for vaccinations, self-isolating because they were pinged by the NHS app, taking extra precautions to protect long-overdue holiday plans, or feeling nervous about the prevalence of the Delta variant. So, we are offering an optional extension to the transition period for any staff who wish to make use of it, whereby they work one day per week in the office during September and then move to three days per week in the office from 4th October.” 

Bloomsbury planned a full return from 7th September, with staff working two days a week in the office, but it has delayed this by almost six weeks. The return date will now be 18th October. 

Pearson is making a decision in October about employees’ return. A spokesperson told The Bookseller: “Pearson has a global employee base and Covid-19 cases continue to rise in many of our key markets, such as the UK, US, Brazil and India. We’re pausing the reopening of many of our corporate offices and will evaluate that again in October. 

Penguin Random House is still developing its future hybrid working policy but its offices are currently open to staff who wish to work there, with stringent safety measures. A PRH spokesperson said: “We reopened our offices on 19th July so they have been open for six weeks or so now, with attendance currently voluntary for staff. Initially we’ve set occupancy in our offices at 50% [maximum] to allow for two-metre social distancing, and will be phasing this to ensure everyone has a good experience. 

“Having conducted Covid risk assessments at each of our sites, we have implemented a number of safety measures, and review these on a weekly basis. These are quite extensive, but include things like ensuring social distancing throughout the office—e.g. desks spaced two metres apart, limiting the number of people who can use meeting rooms etc, introducing more stringent cleaning regimes, installing additional hand sanitising stations. Also, currently colleagues need to wear masks (unless exempt) while moving around the office, but not when seated at their desk.”

The mask-wearing policy is in contrast to PRH US, which requires employees to wear face coverings at all times in the office. 

Meanwhile Bonnier Books UK, which announced a move towards flexible working last September, will be confirming plans soon. A phased return at its new Bloomsbury-based office began back in July.

There will be no change to HarperCollins' plans for hybrid working starting this week with two days in the office.

After falling at the end of July, the average number of daily confirmed Covid-19 cases has recently increased again. There were a further 37,011 confirmed UK cases announced on 5th September, with the rise attributed to the Delta variant. Concern for the safety of employees has been cited by many companies who have decided not to travel to Frankfurt Book Fair this year.