Working away

Has his contract not got the caveat ‘occasionally working from other locations as per demands of business?’
do you work? It’s 2 days - unclench.

This is was I meant by having to make adjustments, which most of us have to when work requires it. Far form ideal when you've becomes used to a routine I know only too well.

You’d do all that for no extra pay and expenses when on minimum wage? Jeez you might want to stop being a mug.

My job is fully remote. However in the last role I went in to the office approx quarterly. I’m now seconded to a more senior position but only short term and need to go in approx once a month. Yes it’s not in my contract but it’s just better / easier for work if I go in. It’s super awkward. We live in a rural northern county. The office is London based. My husband gets the kiddos up and drives me (and the kids to the train station) before 5 am (no taxis where we are) and just juggles his office based / commuting to building sites role. He did so both Wednesday and Thursday this week. I was in Leeds one day and London another day.

it’s just what’s easiest. It’s super hard for him. A 3 year old in nursery 9-3 and a 12 year old at secondary school 45 mins away. However he gets on with it for the greater good. It’s not all the time and he gets creative with solutions.

Except the extra childcare and all the OPs paid holidays to facilitate it.

Try RTFT. Would you do all that for mw, no extra pay and no prospect of promotion?

Not past basic computer skills, no. I work fully remote for mw. Admin and call centre experience is all that’s needed.

'They won’t even pay for a taxi to the city centre train station and are making him get two buses instead.'

Fuck that. He needs a new job.

most Remote workers I know really enjoy a trip to meet colleagues occasionally

Lol, you should see what entry level recruits get in the military and how long they’re sent away for…15 years ago my DH was earning £13,000 as a recruit and was sent back to work when I was 4 days post partum, he was sent away for weeks and months at a time when I had a newborn and toddler. You’re being very precious, it’s 4 days!

My wife goes overseas for work a couple of times a year for not a huge salary, she enjoys it, I do all I can to enable it. Was harder when kids were younger but so be it.

Can you not put child in extra nursery hours? He could ask for that as expenses too? I think it’s a reasonable ask to get staff to meet up 4x a year and hugely beneficial. You only have one small child and not three to juggle. Ask your employer for some flexi hours

I get mildly annoyed at posts like this. We have children. I work. And I certainly am not a martyr by any stretch of the imagination but my husband works away for around nine months of the year. Abroad .

Four days is fuck all and in the nicest way possible I think you should pull up your big girl pants and get a grip.

Seems like a more than reasonable request to me. His salary or job level is irrelevant.

I assume his travel and accommodation will be paid for? So, it's not costing you anything but has become a part of work. It may not be ideal so new arrangements need to be made. If you both feel the pay doesn't justify going away a few days every few months then this is a difference conversation.

Genuinely, the fact that you’ve said that this is normal and then wrote out that appalling post is the reason why employers get away with this behaviour.

Absolutely not normal IMO and I’ve never ever heard of anyone being treated as you describe. Unless there’s a massive drip feed in your post and your contract says you’re expected to travel and aren’t 100% remote.

It’s really sad people just accept this treatment instead of pushing back against it.

This is pretty normal. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’m an academic and work mostly remotely and we would certainly be expected to travel with no extra pay.

Except we wouldn’t even get expenses. 😂 I would have to pay for my own train travel and the university would not cover a hotel. I could do it at my own expense, but if we finished at, say, 5pm, I’d be expected to get the train home. As long as we’re able to get home by 11pm or whatever the last train would be if earlier, there would be no overnight stay funded. I would have to get the 6am train back the next morning.

At best, we might get sad catering sandwiches for lunch. Or in the case of the last few meetings, my line manager (who is vegan and eats like an anorexic rabbit) goes to Lidl and gets packet of salad leaves, 8 falafel, some wraps and some almonds. And we have to split that between the 4 of us for lunch. The other 2 are very food anxious and always on a diet and ‘no, no, I couldn’t possibly eat more than one falafel for lunch!’ Meanwhile, I am f**king starving all day.

I hope your DH is looking for a new job. The company and his manager sound awful.

He can just say no that’s a shit salary for that level of commitment

Unskilled labour is a real term that means the job requires no prior experience, specialised training, formal education and often means doing basic on the job training. These jobs quite often don’t have progress and are not career type jobs. Cleaners, warehouse workers, customer service etc fall under this title. Electricians, plumbers etc someone that has had to train specifically for that role would be a skilled worker. OP isn’t being rude, that’s what they’re called.

Presumably a call centre type role applies to this because they answer calls and then transfer them to the relevant department. It’s unskilled.

I can’t think of a single job that’s ’unskilled’ - but a remote WFH job must involve some tech stuff - hasn’t it?

I’ve just made a post about the expectations put on me to answer messages and calls on my evening and non working days… for minimum wage. Then I came across your post! It makes me so mad what they expect.

I think perhaps there’s people out there who don’t have families or don’t mind doing these sort of things for minimum wage and may have no home life so think cool, 3 free hotel nights and some extra dinner.

I am glad DH has spoken up for himself and said no. And to also be asked to be team leader whilst there and take on extra responsibilities? Joke

Not only would he not be getting paid they would be at a massive disadvantage!

OP would be either taking unpaid time off or using half of her holiday days for this fuckery to take place. For 26k a year! That’s a pittance these days.

Frankly I’m struggling to see how you read the full thread and came to this conclusion.

So that’s 12 nights a year that OP’s DH would be away for a year that he is NOT getting paid for.

I think you’d be “wet” to let yourself be taken for a fool like this but, fair enough