Addressing The Balance – Worker Wellness And Hybrid Working

Learn how start addressing the balance between worker wellness & hybrid working mode in-person & remote components to get employees benefits

By Claudio Pires
Updated on January 16, 2025
Addressing The Balance – Worker Wellness And Hybrid Working

Remote working has provided many benefits to workers, but, according to employers, stripped many others. Learn how we can start addressing the balance between worker wellness and hybrid working mode that combines in-person and remote components to get benefits for the employees.

This is now such an issue that, according to Forbes, 47% of employers are reconsidering remote working options, citing issues over ongoing employee wellness stemming from their hybrid or remote working. There are three main tracts to this:

  1. Confusion over employee workplace responsibility
  2. The balancing act of work/life balance,
  3. The matter of employee mental health and rising experiences of isolation.

The first is the easiest to address, or at least in terms of how much control the employer has.

Employee monitoring

One issue with remote working is that the employer has more trouble keeping tabs on their employee.

As SHRM highlights, this has already caused problems with monitoring tax arrangements, with out-of-state workers potentially causing problems for payroll. For employees, there are challenges over issues such as compensation and disability claims balancing worker wellness in hybrid working.

There is a greater chance of employees having disability claims rejected by the government at home, and there is less control from the employer in terms of support, monetary or in terms of paperwork in-person and remote components for employees.

The answer comes in a closer HR framework. Businesses must tie together what the employer is aware of and what the employee can provide.

Clarity and communication will ensure that all of the facts are on the table and the remote working environment works for all parties.

Redressing work and life: Worker wellness and hybrid working

While remote work has allowed workers to reclaim a lot of their commute time, many are losing time due to a constrained work/life balance. It’s easier to log on earlier, and log out later; and, with living spaces shared with working spaces, many workers feel like they’re ‘always on’ in-person and remote components for employees.

As difficult as the commute was for many, the physical nature of the office makes it easy to have a clear break after the working day is done, as CNBC highlights. Moving forward, workers must be empowered to switch off once the day is out.

When they finish their hours, they log off, regardless of what might be hard ahead of time.

Fighting isolation: Worker wellness and hybrid working

According to research cited by The Atlantic, full remote work makes workers less happy. Up to 70% of workers found the lines between work and life too significantly blurred. Isolation also set in. Hybrid working is, arguably, the answer to that.

It helps to create a greater connection to the employer and provides a greater opportunity to check in. It also ensures that isolation can’t set in for the employer in the long run.

Finding that balance is the challenge for employers. Every single business is different – an acceptable hybrid percentage for one will be different for another.

Establishing that level will be a labor of love, but an effective one for the proper running of the business – and the health of employees.

What we need to know about hybrid working that combines in-person and remote components

This is obvious, but for those unfamiliar with the concept, the first and most important step is to acknowledge is that to operate in a hybrid workplace successfully, we must recognize that replicating the practices of the office while adapting them to the remote environment is not a sustainable solution.

New issues necessitate new approaches, and to remain in today’s environment requires adapting and creating processes relevant to our present needs.

However, it’s essential to understand the hybrid workplace model first.

A hybrid is a compound that includes different parts. The hybrid workplace model is the hybrid of traditional office space and telecommuting.

One well-known distinction of this nature is that employees can choose when and where they want to work. In theory, the concept seems to have the perfect composition. However, what is the cause of the difficulty in implementing it?

When the COVID-19 virus struck us last year, companies began practicing remote work for the first time, this greatly increased the number of companies that practiced it for the first time.

They implemented quick fixes that seemed to solve the issue until they could no longer do so. Many people had to alter their routines in order to adapt to working from home, they were not even ready for it.

Now, as companies begin to re-open their offices, employees are entering a new phase. Some people choose to work in an office traditionally, while others prefer to work from home.

The study on Work Trends for 2021 found that 45% of those surveyed who were remote workers said they intended to move away this year because they could now do so from home.

Now, people who work remotely have the option of hybrid working, which eliminates the need to move in order to expand their career. The talent market is redefining its boundaries.

Claudio Pires

Claudio Pires is the co-founder of Visualmodo, a renowned company in web development and design. With over 15 years of experience, Claudio has honed his skills in content creation, web development support, and senior web designer. A trilingual expert fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, he brings a global perspective to his work. Beyond his professional endeavors, Claudio is an active YouTuber, sharing his insights and expertise with a broader audience. Based in Brazil, Claudio continues to push the boundaries of web design and digital content, making him a pivotal figure in the industry.