Hybrid working in the UK: Navigating the challenges of office attendance

Flexible and hybrid working remain firmly on the HR agenda in the UK. While many employers have increased office attendance expectations over the past year, remote and hybrid working continue to be a defining feature of working life for a significant proportion of the UK workforce.

In its response earlier this year to the House of Lords Committee's report, Is working from home working?, the UK Government reaffirmed its support for flexible working, including hybrid and remote working arrangements, and its commitment to providing employers with improved guidance and support. It stopped short, however, of announcing any significant new policy measures.

The Committee's report highlighted many of the challenges employers continue to face including balancing flexibility with operational needs, fostering collaboration and a strong organisational culture, measuring productivity, and supporting managers to lead dispersed teams effectively.

Against a backdrop of ongoing return-to-office initiatives across a range of sectors in the UK, and with significant reforms to the statutory flexible working regime expected in 2027, employers should carefully consider their approach to office attendance. We therefore highlight key practical, cultural and legal considerations for employers when considering office attendance requirements in the UK:

1. Making office attendance meaningful

Although many organisations have increased the number of mandatory office days, most continue to favour hybrid working models over a full-time return to the workplace. 

That said, employers are not simply focusing on attendance levels - but also on making time in the office more purposeful. Increasingly employers are coordinating working patterns, such as using ‘anchor days’ when teams attend the office on the same day(s) each week. Coordinating attendance in this way can help maximise the benefits of face-to-face collaboration, learning, knowledge sharing and team cohesion.

2. The FOMO factor

Free lunches, social events and workplace perks may generate short-term interest, but they rarely drive sustained attendance. A more influential factor is often the fear of missing out (FOMO). When senior leaders are visibly present and engaged in the office, others tend to follow. 

3. Measuring productivity

The relationship between office attendance and productivity is a subject of debate. While employers in some sectors can measure output to some degree, for example through billable hours or sales figures, it is often difficult to identify meaningful productivity measures. This has led employers to consider not only whether they have reliable data to measure productivity, but also whether traditional metrics remain appropriate or whether a greater focus on outcomes is needed.

4. The importance of effective line management

Strong line management remains one of the most important factors in driving performance, engagement and team cohesion, regardless of where employees work. A key focus should therefore be on equipping managers with the skills to lead effectively in a hybrid setting. 

5. Managing the legal risks

The legal and employee relations risks associated with increasing office attendance requirements in the UK can be significant. The idea that employees might argue they have acquired implied contractual rights from long-term hybrid working arrangements, regardless of what their contracts say, has caused understandable concern for employers. Navigating expectations around hybrid working alongside a legal framework that increasingly supports flexible working can be challenging, potentially leading to grievances, flexible working disputes and discrimination claims from employees resisting return-to-office requirements.

The potential for such disputes was highlighted by recent reports that the union representing TSB Bank staff was considering legal challenges on behalf of employees who, for health or personal reasons, are unable to comply with the bank's planned mandatory three-day office attendance policy from April 2027.

Against this backdrop, the legal landscape is expected to become more challenging from Autumn 2027, when flexible working reforms introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025 are intended to take effect.

Currently, employers in the UK must deal with statutory flexible working requests reasonably and consult with employees before refusing a request. 

The reforms will introduce a new requirement that employers may refuse a flexible working request only where it is reasonable to do so, together with a statutory consultation process that employers must follow before rejecting a request. The Government has indicated that the reforms are intended to increase the likelihood that flexible working requests are approved where they can reasonably be accommodated and to promote meaningful dialogue between employers and employees.

Employees may bring a claim if they consider a refusal was not reasonable. Where a claim succeeds, a Tribunal may:

• Order the employer to reconsider its decision
• Award compensation of up to eight weeks' pay (currently capped at £751 per week, up to £6,008)

Although the potential sanctions under the flexible working legislation are modest, the more significant risk is that requests for remote or hybrid working frequently overlap with issues such as disability, caring responsibilities and childcare commitments. In these circumstances, refusing a request may give rise not only to a statutory flexible working claim but also to disability and sex discrimination claims, where compensation is uncapped.