MOM: Restrictions on Returning to Office to Work Might be Eased During Phase 3

We’ve come a long way since the early days of the circuit breaker.

With restrictions slowly being eased in every phase, we are finally close to phase three.

And, by the way, it starts on 28 Dec.

Still, one has to wonder, what does this mean for those of us accustomed to working from home?

Restrictions on Returning to Office to Work Might be Eased During Phase 3

According to Manpower Minister Josephine Teo on 15 Dec, some of the restrictions might be relaxed.

She mentioned that discussions are ongoing on how to loosen up current restrictions, The Straits Times reported.

Though, depending on your preference, this might be good or bad news.

Mrs Teo says that there’ll more announcements soon and asks for patience to “wait a little bit more.”

However, if the previous poll done in September was an indication, it may not be that exciting news for certain groups of people.

People Were Not Excited To Head Back To Office

On 23 Sept, it was announced that employers could call employees to head back to their offices, but employees can’t go back daily.

This could be initiated by the employee and agreed upon with the employer, or enforced by the employers themselves.

Over 7,100 people were interviewed on whether they were happy that they would possibly need to go back to working from an office.

The result? 62% of them didn’t really feel too hot about it.

Workers had staggered timings on when they would enter the office, which differs every time.

Some experts also mentioned that working at home and office half a day each might actually be counterproductive.

An associate professor from NUS also said that uncertainties of when people would have to go into office could cause more stress.

It’s also difficult to make other plans around an ever-shifting schedule.

Hopefully, the future system and ease of restrictions will be more of a boon than a hassle for office workers.

Other Goody Things In Phase 3

Returning to the office after months of working from home can be a pretty big toss-up for people.

Luckily, there are plenty of nice things that you can guarantee to look forward to in phase three.

One of the biggest ones is the easing of social gathering limits from five to eight people. This number also applies to inviting guests into a home.

Religious Organisations can increase their capacity for congregational and other worship services to up to 250 persons.

Each zone can have up to 50 people per congregational services.

You can read more facts about Phase 3 over here.

Still, PM Lee reminds us to not be complacent as the virus is still very much around.

More restrictions can be eased up or even tightened depending on how well we perform during the initial phase.

Featured Image: joyfull / Shutterstock.com