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

But i do agree that obvs some jobs just can't be done efficiently from home. And also that even for jobs that can be done remotely some people just don't suit it for whatever reason. Companies/managers should be able to work around that, and not invoke silly "all of you in the office" edicts just because they are simply unable to tell the 3 slackers out of 500 people, that they need to pull their socks up or be in the office permanently. (my hybrids have always been: work from where you like, taking care of client confidentiality/privacy issues. And being in the EU that means you can be on a balcony in your flat in Spain, or in your attic, or in a coworking space in another city while you visit friends)

@Brefugee yes same lol. My manager when he’s having an office day blocks out an hour to socially catch up with ex colleagues. This is on top of his lunch break. In my organisation we’re encouraged to do that as were told don’t just go in the office and sit alone then come back. We’re told to mingle and socialise for our mental well being. So tell me what’s the difference in looking after that when you’re wfh also. Honestly, a lot of posters so obviously do have a envy issue with people being able to wfh, no matter how much they try to cover it up 🙄

WFH is an absolute boon for parents involved in the school run. So much better than what i used to have which was working until god knows when and paying a fortune for a childminder to collect them, and then wrangling them into food, homework, etc etc after a long day at work.

Exactly. I would much rather work for an employer that trusts employees to do their work and manage their time rather than trying to catch people out on having an ordinary life. Today I will do the school run in the middle of the afternoon and be trusted to make the half hour up because I am an adult employee.

Same - i will stick on a wash while I'm waiting for my kettle to boil, hang it up between calls, put out the bins, bring in the bins, water the plants etc. I am always contactable by phone, and can always jump on a call wherever i am.

And because ad hoc things crop up all the time, i often find that working early in the morning and/or later into the evening lets me catch up with my other work. Nobody i know has an issue with anyone doing this (even the boss blocks out 3 sessions a week to go to the gym - anyone could do that) and if they did they would speak up about it during our regular review meetings. (weekly, hybrid, work well for us)

That’s the point of the benefits of wfh though. You attend your booked calls and then it’s up to you to make sure the work gets done according to set deadlines. So I work in project management and if there is time then I will do bits n bobs in between work. In the rare event I miss a call from a colleague I just call them back later. Most of us don’t work for an emergency service so there’s no awful consequences there. I then will work later into the afternoon or evening to make sure that everything is done. Some days I just work straight through the day with zero breaks especially when urgent work with a way tighter deadline comes in. I’m just grateful I work in an environment where adults are trusted to make these judgments for themselves. Bottom line is we all get regularly appraised on our work and that’s where the management should be focussed. You can’t take the mickey and regularly slack without it showing in your work. People just getting hysterical over this frequently with no actual experience of it themselves.

Nope, they have very high long term staff retention. My son's line manager has been there 20 years. His line manager has been there all his working life. WFH is a privilege not a right. The managers and colleagues are quite right to expect a colleague to actually be at their desk during working hours if they're not "booked out". It makes the organisation efficient and cuts out wasted time of trying to contact someone who should be there, but has "nipped out" to go shopping, or pick up the kids, or hang the washing out.

yeah - a huge company implementing company wide "school style" registration meetings isn't dealing with slackers at all.

I am very much in favour of meetings, tbh, and at one workplace we had a weekly wrap-up team meeting which involved about 10 minutes of actual work - discussing open issues, problems, summarising what we were working on etc - we spent the rest of the hour (people ducked out if they had other things to do) playing an online version of pictionary. It was brilliant team building.

tbh wfh i always worked more hours anyway, because it is better (for me) to have a regular getting up time, so it was up at 5:30, shower, dressed and then either breakfast, and log in to work, or off for the train and arrive to work an hour later.

I'm a huge fan of hybrid or remote working but on the question you asked - are you being unreasonable to stall coming in because you don't like being in a corner (?) - yes, you are.

You would not be unreasonable to question why there is a "business need" to be in the office after five years and to try to egotiate four days down to three or even two. Quite likely the "business need" is some senior manager who loves presenteeism.

But they aren't dealing with slackers?

Dealing with slackers would address productivity not presenteeism.

Sounds like a big ,soulless chew 'em up spit 'em out firm.

Even if there is a genuine business need (I doubt it), you should have proper work facilities. I bet if the company pulled their finger out it could be sorted out in a week or two.

Actually not true. The studies have conflicting results with some only comparing fully remote to in office work which for most wfh workers is not a like for like comparison since many are actually hybrid workers. Also, much of the reason eg for the Civil Sevice was pandering to the supposedly public outrage fuelled by dramatic tabloid headlines. It was a political move to increase the days in the office from 2 to 3 and hopefully get the voting public on board for the Tories. There was no actual evidence whatsoever that there was a need due to productivity. Managers were still appraising staff on quality of work, output, deadlines met etc. which hasn’t changed so ineffective workers still get shown the door. There’s no evidence to show more people have lost their jobs due to poor performance since we moved to hybrid working.

It's a very large employer, tens of thousands of staff, highly profitable, with very high staff satisfaction ratings. Most of the staff are happy with the system (my son certainly is) because they work hard and and don't want to be dragged down having to cover for colleagues who aren't pulling their weight. It's very much a "work hard, play hard" firm where staff are very well paid, but with no room for slackers. Also a great small team ethic - I think his "team" has only about six staff, including the immediate line manager - the firm is set up that way - literally hundreds/thousands of tiny "teams", so being able to work together and trust each other is fundamental for the team to meet it's targets and deadlines.

It sounds like micromanaging and I would hate that with a passion.

That just shows a complete lack of trust in your staff though, and values presenteeism over productivity.

I could sit at my laptop reading this flipping site all day and be 'present'

WFH / Hybrid should give the opportunity to do the school run and make time up later, maybe have a 30 mins lunch instead of an hour, or work an hour later.

I'd have something to say about ' registration' meetings as well. It's such lazy management - if they suspect poor performance they should address it properly.

But I don’t know if OP is currently fulfilling her contract - either does she. She hasn’t reviewed it and might actaually have to be in the office 100% if she is complying strictly with the requirements

working to rule also means sticking rigidly - for example if using a certain technology isn’t stipulated you don’t have to.

i think she should continue to do good work to the best of her ability and decide if the conditions aren’t to her liking move on

Working to rule is literally fulfilling your contractual obligations. In the UK at least, you can’t give someone a bad reference for fulfilling their contractual obligations.

People will always talk about you however you show up at work, you shouldn’t waste time worrying about what others think and say, your work will speak for itself.

Why write such a long post when you haven't even read all of the IP's posts?

I work in the charity sector and my employer wouldn't dream of requesting that anyone changes their work pattern without actively facilitating a sufficient workspace for them. We dust our own desks, we don't set up our own workstations in storage rooms.

Gosh, those of you objecting to dusting and setting up your own workspace have clearly never worked in the charity sector...

Do you think your boss wants to get rid of you? You are coming across as quite difficult.

I'd just clear it up, suck it up, make it a nice office with plants etc. (ask for a DSE assessment) and see if they are willing to have a conversation about flexibility once you've shown willing - particularly if you are still working on your own. Or look for another job.

@LivingDeadGirlUK I suggested cleaning the desk because i wfh and I clean my desk there… plus why not? It sends a message of cooperation to the manager, and drives a bit of a point if I’m there in rubber gloves with a bucket, spray and wipe!

Also the unusual activity will almost certainly draw in some colleagues for a chat - which was the point of going on, right?

some nice chats … “oh just call me Mrs Mop” / “spring cleaning, my favourite thing to do” / “I didn’t want to feel like the office version of Harry Potter shut in a cupboard so I decided to work a bit of magic!”

Will make manager look a bit shitty and will make OP look saintly.

Of course you're not being unreasonable. Your employer has a duty to provide an adequate work space.

What does your contract say? If it’s Business address or anywhere they reasonably require then it’s up to them.
As for room/desk I’d set up if you can safely. I can’t imagine manager expecting you to move furniture. If you can’t access your desk safety then speak to him and follow up with email. It sounds more not to your taste not unsafe though.

Nail on the head. My son's firm have started twice daily Teams meetings usually at 9.15 and 3.15 which are compulsory unless you've booked time off holidays, sick or study leave or formal flexitime. Basically for "touching base" between the line managers and their staff and for everyone to give brief updates to their team as to what they're working on, progress, timescales to finish tasks, etc. He says it's actually very helpful as they all have to speak so it's "gel-ling" the team and giving them an opportunity to ask for/offer help if a team member is getting behind. The meetings typically last 15 minutes or less, as they're all in very small teams, so it doesn't really take any time out of the working day.

But, realistically, it was introduced as a modern version of a school "registration" to ensure the workers are actually on their laptops at those times and not on the school run, or started late, finished early.

Some days, the managers randomly change the times of the morning or afternoon Teams meeting, ostensibly because they have other "meetings", but they all know it's to stop people taking the piss at other times too! Some days the morning one is put back to 11am, and the afternoon one brought forward to 2pm or put back to 4.30 pm, all at short notice!

Sad that it's come to that, but too many staff take the piss. Give an inch and they take a mile. Their WFH policy is very clear that they're expected to be "working" during their normal/agreed working hours, so they're fully entitled to randomly hold meetings as the staff should be at their laptops working anyway, as I say, unless they've formally booked off the time.

Apparently there was lots of miffed WFH staff when the daily meetings were first announced!!

The idea of booking dentist / doctor / boiler repair / whatever in work time just to stick it to the man just shows why businesses are keen to get people back in.

the last two places i worked have been hybrid and you chose how often you went in (or me 2-3 days per week depending on my schedule). Which was great for me because my commute is always long because i live in the sticks (my choice, and i accept a commute but when it's not necessary, i choose not to. eg when there is a train strike)

Both companies emphasise on their websites, in any literature and in interviews that they are hybrid in order to improve work/life balance. They both (different industries) gave examples of things like dental appointments, which are hard to get and even harder if you are restricted to certain times or having to take a day off. they also gave examples of if you felt bad in the morning but better in the afternoon you could easily get in at least half a day, rather than taking a whole sick day or commuting for 2 hours for 4 hours work. etc etc.

One company was huge, one small. But they trusted their employees. Anyone they thought wasn't pulling their weight were spoken to, and i know of at least one who had to work 5 days office for 6 months (then he quit so, meh).

Some jobs/employees are more suited to hybrid than others.

But also: i would not be setting up my office. As an employee i expect to be able to arrive, plug in my laptop and start working. Not start cleaning, or perch at an unsuitable shelf surrounded by dusty boxes.

ETA: in principle i am not averse to a bit of mucking in. But this isn't mucking in is it? Amazon demanded everyone in California went back to 5 days office and found they had 800 too many staff compared to workstations. That is just daft and obvs on a far greater scale than at OPs place but it is the same in principle.

In OPs shoes i would point out the DSE compliance stuff, and not do any work until i had organised the room to fit those criteria. I don't dust (anywhere, ever) because i have severe allergies, so someone else would be doing that, but i would be calling IT and the facilities manager etc, to have it all arranged. But i wouldn't be working at a workstation that wasn't compliant with regulations.