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AIBU?

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Original poster

My manager is making me come in the office 4days a week

312 replies

Lavendar01 · 23/04/2025 07:43

Since beginning of my role (which was coming out of covid), I've been hybrid working 3days in the office and 2days wfh. I had my own office but had to give it up for other staff that were in full time. Manger agreed for me to wfh and come in once a week - worked perfect!

In my recent supervision manager said he wants me in 4days a week "business need" and that there will be a room available to share with a couple of other staff. I've gone in and that room isn't set up, currently its dusty with extra office furniture/ equipment, basically being used storage room for now. I made a point to my manager and said could I continue wfh until the room is sorted, he refused and said to set up in that room somewhere in the corner for now.

AIBU here thinking I am within my right to refuse to be there until I have a proper work station set up, as required for my role? Not to mention sitting in an empty room for 8 hours with no interaction effects my mental wellbeing

OP posts:
Horses7 · 23/04/2025 21:36

Welcome to the real world.

Greenartywitch · 23/04/2025 21:09

@NavyTurtle Oh how I hate it when people say... that's not my job
Get over yourself. Your workstation. You sort it. In my job the moment I walk in the door and get asked to do something, it's my job.''

Daft.

If you are employed as an office worker and one day your boss asks you to clean the staff toilets and shine his/her shoes you are going to do that? really?

Raise your standards.

Employees are not mindless slaves that have to blindly say yes to every requests.

It is the law as well for employers to provide a decent work environment that complies with the law and to do DES assessments.

scotstars · 23/04/2025 20:48

They are within their rights to tell you to return to the office - is the space offered actually set up as a workstation it's not clear if it is but just with some extra furniture being stored in it.
I really wouldn't use the interacting with your husband as an argument to wfh....

MellersSmellers · 23/04/2025 20:42

Yes, you need a compliant workstation under the DSE Regs (desk, adjustable chair, adjustable screen etc) and you also need a clean, ventilated space under the MHSW Regs. All employers responsibility to provide.
However, unless your contract says otherwise, sounds like they are within their rights to ask you to go in 4 days, whether you like it or not.

schtompy · 23/04/2025 20:37

whaa.. You are employed, the manager is your manager. You do as they ask.

Mumof2girls2121 · 23/04/2025 20:24

Do you not sit at home in an empty room with no interaction?

Nodlikeyouwerelistening · 23/04/2025 20:21

OP- you ARE an adult. You can easily get the room sorted out. You just don’t want to and want to use having to do a bit of housework and maybe send an email to IT to get some screens or whatever it is you need as an excuse to not work in the office again. I get it- change can be scary, but it really could be a sweet set-up as presumably you get first dibs on the best desk.

If you don’t like it you are welcome to find a fully remote job of course. You are not being held captive.

BloominNora · 23/04/2025 20:13

@LastRoIo I'm interested in what you said about studies showing WFH is less productive - have you got the links to that research? All the info I can find says that working from home at least as part of a hybrid model is more beneficial to both employer and employee.

The only ones I can find that say it lowers productivity were undertaken or reported by organisations that are known to have a bias against WFH and seem to have been undertaken between 2021 and 2023 when there was a real push by the UK and US governments to get people back in the office.

There was some research done by Stanford in 2023 which showed fully remote caused a dip in productivity, but their most recent study in 2024 showed hybrid working with WFH two days a week showed no difference in productivity and made for happier and healthier employees. 2023 CIPD research shows similar.

Genuinely interested in any credible studies which show the opposite.

@Lavendar01 - put a formal flexible working request in for more time working from home - maybe compromise on three days in the office or three one week and two the next. Your boss can only use one of eight statutory reasons to say no:

  • The burden of additional costs,
  • Detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand,
  • Inability to reorganise work among existing staff,
  • Inability to recruit additional staff,
  • Detrimental impact on quality,
  • Detrimental impact on performance,
  • Insufficiency of work during the periods the employee proposes to work
  • Planned structural changes.

You could address each of them in your application and if you come across as being sensible and willing to compromise then given how long your current arrangement has been in place, it will be quite difficult to say no!

You can also make a request up to twice a year, so if they do find a way of saying no, keep a record of how being in the office four days is not beneficial - it doesn't have to be negative - you just need to be able to demonstrate that there is no benefit (e.g. 90% of meetings are on teams, x number of days without speaking to anyone else etc, inability to be flexible with early or late calls due to commuting etc) and then re-apply in six months time.

NavyTurtle · 23/04/2025 20:10

'why are people suggesting OP cleans and sorts this room, thats not her job! She needs a DSE compliant workstation which her company should have no issue providing. This is a case of a bad manager asking her to come in with nothing ready.'

Oh how I hate it when people say... that's not my job
Get over yourself. Your workstation. You sort it. In my job the moment I walk in the door and get asked to do something, it's my job.

NavyTurtle · 23/04/2025 20:06

Most people set up their own work stations to how they like them. Stop being so awkward and get on with it.

Deuteragonist · 23/04/2025 20:00

How many of us are WFH since Covid and now miss having an office to go to?

My day-job has about 200 people in the same position. Now, we only get to interact with each other by email or video calls. We used to moan like hell about having to get to work before 8am to get a car park space. But most of us miss that now. Being in the office meant human contact and a social life as well. Little things like having tea breaks or lunch together, in hindsight that meant a lot.

WFH has affected most of us, some people are clearly not suited to being isolated and have got mental health issues now. Sometimes we "joke" about being in solitary confinement five days a week. The colleagues we worry about most are the ones that are sound-only on the calls. It's a delicate subject. Should we joke about it? "Are you still in your pajamas?" Knowing that some people look dreadful.

Wildefish · 23/04/2025 19:48

BlondiePortz · 23/04/2025 07:51

So who do you work with at home?

I’m assuming at least at home she is in comfortable surroundings and doesn’t have to commute. What the point of travelling to the office to sit by herself. Just my thoughts.

Flavourful · 23/04/2025 19:29

I’d have said look I don’t mind coming back in to the office but I’m certainly not coming back to this! The office needs sorting before you return and I certainly wouldn’t want to be sitting in a store room.

Bellyblueboy · 23/04/2025 18:54

PooksBear · 23/04/2025 18:01

But she works in the office 3 days anyway!! Whats the problem 😆😆😆

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She has only been coming in 1 day - agreed with her manager.

Trishyb10 · 23/04/2025 18:49

Precious and priviliged springs to mind,get a grip

PooksBear · 23/04/2025 18:01

LivingDeadGirlUK · 23/04/2025 07:53

Yes OP its not acceptable for them to expect you to work without a proper workstation, they should be able to sort this out very quickly, your manager is being very crap here.

But she works in the office 3 days anyway!! Whats the problem 😆😆😆

PooksBear · 23/04/2025 17:59

Lavendar01 · 23/04/2025 07:43

Since beginning of my role (which was coming out of covid), I've been hybrid working 3days in the office and 2days wfh. I had my own office but had to give it up for other staff that were in full time. Manger agreed for me to wfh and come in once a week - worked perfect!

In my recent supervision manager said he wants me in 4days a week "business need" and that there will be a room available to share with a couple of other staff. I've gone in and that room isn't set up, currently its dusty with extra office furniture/ equipment, basically being used storage room for now. I made a point to my manager and said could I continue wfh until the room is sorted, he refused and said to set up in that room somewhere in the corner for now.

AIBU here thinking I am within my right to refuse to be there until I have a proper work station set up, as required for my role? Not to mention sitting in an empty room for 8 hours with no interaction effects my mental wellbeing

Surely you have somewhere satisfactory to work in the office 3 days a week? So surely one more day won't hurt?

MoominMai · 23/04/2025 17:39

SwornToSilence · 23/04/2025 17:33

this

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No - not ‘this’ 🙄 - actually maybe go read all OPs posts first where she explains.

SwornToSilence · 23/04/2025 17:33

SkiAndTravelTheWorldWithMyDog · 23/04/2025 07:48

Surely you are on your own with no interaction with others when you are working from home.

this

BlueSpikeyPearls · 23/04/2025 17:32

This looks like a case of quiet firing. They are trying to demoralize you by making your working circumstances worse in the hopes you'll quit on your own.

In either case, sounds like you are dealing with a bad manager. I would kick my job search into high gear.

Mondayblues2 · 23/04/2025 17:24

aylis · 23/04/2025 16:54

This thread is a really good example of people just not wanting other people to have nice things.

Yes, sadly

JHound · 23/04/2025 17:14

aylis · 23/04/2025 16:54

This thread is a really good example of people just not wanting other people to have nice things.

Ding ding ding JACKPOT!

The politics of bitterness and envy.

Justwhy2 · 23/04/2025 17:10

Unbeleevable · 23/04/2025 07:52

Personally I’d buy a couple of plants, take in a duster and just get on with it. Job hunt if you like.

I would also make sure all my dental appointments, medical appointments etc land on the extra day I’m in the office. And say to boss “I will need to leave at x because I have a dental checkup/smear test/contraceptive review at 2pm sorry only appointment I could get.”

That will help remind manager there’s a big advantage of wfh for employee flexibility and employee productivity.

I take it you are a public sector worker? OP might not be

BitOutOfPractice · 23/04/2025 17:04

Ayeayeaye25 · 23/04/2025 15:32

You would have a long wait at our place for that we do our own online DSE assessments.

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I agree. Not everyone works for a big corporation with oh departments.

Mulledjuice · 23/04/2025 16:59

Unbeleevable · 23/04/2025 07:52

Personally I’d buy a couple of plants, take in a duster and just get on with it. Job hunt if you like.

I would also make sure all my dental appointments, medical appointments etc land on the extra day I’m in the office. And say to boss “I will need to leave at x because I have a dental checkup/smear test/contraceptive review at 2pm sorry only appointment I could get.”

That will help remind manager there’s a big advantage of wfh for employee flexibility and employee productivity.

How will it achieve that??