Staff at the University of Copenhagen can come to work again 15 June

Starting Monday 15 June, daily life can begin to return for more staff at the University of Copenhagen.

After three months of working from home with Zoom meetings, public-sector employees on the main island of Zealand can once again turn up physically at work from next week. Public-sector employees in Western Denmark returned to work 27 May.

This is according to a release from the Ministry of Justice.

The University of Copenhagen can now reopen after running ‘on empty’ for several months. Only employees with critical functions and researchers whose activities require physical attendance had stayed at the university.

»Public sector employees are the foundation of Danish society, and I think that many of us are looking forward to turning up physically again in the workplace,« says Minister of Justice Nick Hækkerup (Social Democrat) in the press release.

The Ministry encourages, at the same time, workplaces to maintain work at home »if relevant« and to use staggered working hours.

What this means in practice is described in more detail in a set of guidelines for the reopening of public offices by the Ministry of Justice. It says that employers need to ensure that »some employees continue to work at home for some time yet.«

The guidelines include distancing requirements between employees in offices, and limited ‘physical external meetings’. Not, in other words, a complete reversion to the state of affairs before the crisis.

The University of Copenhagen has commented on the news article on its official Twitter profile:

»Fantastic announcement. We are looking forward to everyone [employees at the University of Copenhagen] once again being able to turn up physically on campus,« it states.