To think people who work from home don’t understand this?! And they’re paid more usually

I’m pretty sure they do get it and hopefully feel very grateful. I know people who have stalled a bit in their career as they dont want to leave their wfh job. There are pros and cons, focus on YOU.

Work from home in a call centre environment.

It is not exactly cushy.

Lunch break 45 mins - and at very much different times each day along with the actual work day patterns, you can get followed up if you are to early or late taking a break.

I've tried to do many things during a lunch break but it always turned out near enough impossible and just can't rely on it. When I attend a medical appointments I am often asked exactly how long I'll be and now we're being asked to seek permission to answer a medic's calls during the work day even! Out of sight I'm convinced our employer think it must be so easy to get medical attention out of hours or at a time which suits. I don't remember it being such a way in an actual physical workplace.

That sort of flexibility is just one of the perks of being senior. It's partly why I think women should think quite hard about dropping back career wise when having kids. I have basically total control over my own diary and never miss sports days or whatever and I'm glad I slogged through when mine were tiny. It's not always the case that better paid jobs need longer hours or more stress.

Ermmm....life isn't fair?

I, for one, do understand what it's like to have a full-time office job and a mostly wfh job.

And also what night shifts etc are like.

Because I've done it all.

Your job, your choice.

I wfh with a choice to work from the office. This week as an example, I went in for 4 hours on Wednesday as I had 2 f2f meetings.

We also have an agile working policy. So you might think I’m ‘gallivanting’ when I’m out during the day, but I might also be catching up on work in the evenings.

I wouldn’t work anywhere without these flexible options.

I had just as much flexibility working in an office as I now do wfh 2 or 3 days a week. My office job had core hours 10-12 and 2-4 and as long as I did 37.5 hours a week it was up to me when I started and finished. I could also work up to 42 hours a week, bank the difference and have a day off each month on top of my leave allowance. Now, wfh I often find myself starting at 9 and working until 6 with only a very short break. In some ways office based was better because it I wasn't there I didn't work.

Does she get paid more than you as well?

I'd complain if i were you

My company sold the office after the pandemic and we WFH now. I feel very tied to the house; my job is full of deadlines and I'd be missed within ten minutes if I tried to go out gallivanting. Every job is different, and being shut in can be very stressful too.

Have you told him "mouse jigglers" are available? It's a real thing apparently. He can set it going while he goes for a run or whatever and his boss will be none the wiser!

eh? I've worked in offices for 25 years and I've always been able to take important personal calls that can't be done after hours, eg. solicitors, doctors etc. I just dip into a meeting room if it's a personal issue.

Well I think your friend can look forward to being the first person laid off.

I get it, OP.
I'm dealing with the estate of a deceased parent at present, and bristle when people at various banks, solicitors, utility companies, insurers etc say they'll 'give me a ring tomorrow to follow up on x, y or z'. As if I can just pick up my phone while at work to take a personal call. The frequency with which this has happened makes me think that WFH is now so prevalent that being able to take personal calls during regular working hours is now the norm rather than the exception.

I would guess that the majority of people who work from home totally get it as at some point in the not too distant past, we worked in offices. 6 years ago there weren't that many wfh or hybrid jobs.

You’ve misunderstood the work from home concept with benefits provided by an employer.

WFH doesn’t equal flexible working. That comes from having a great employer who offers good benefits and mutual trust. It can also stem from seniority, as flexibility is a 2 way street. When the business needs it, you step up and work the extra until the job is done. You hinted that she’s high salaried and senior, she probably has skills that employers need to provide more competitive benefits for.

Working from home can also equate to a lower salary as well as higher. It’s job, industry and location specific.

Lastly, annual leave in the UK is directed by government minimums. 28 days including bank holidays. Extra allowance is again based on an employer providing a good benefits package

I suggest if you’re not happy, suck it up and retrain rather than blame others. I upskilled the last 4 years and I’m not receiving the benefits. Yes it was hard, but it was worth it.

If your friend is only ever inviting you to socialise during what are essentially both your working hours then she's unreasonable. She should be working. Not meeting friends.

If it's not that then I don't see how you're being excluded from the friendship group. Surely nobody expects to socialise during working hours?

The fact you think WFH seems easier than your work doesn't mean it's true for every job. And your friend sounds like she's either slacking off or is senior enough to keep her own hours.

I don’t think most people working from home in jobs that were traditionally office based can work like your friend. At my work we are expected to be at our home desk and available for calls, teams meetings, email responses etc.

I work from home three days a week. I can take time out to put a wash on or bung the dinner in the oven, but generally I need to be at my desk during working hours. I couldn't get away with going out for an appointment.

DH also works from home, but in a senior role. He pretty much does as he pleases, will definitely go out for appointments or for a walk. He is measured on his output, not the hours he spends at his desk. The flip side is that he often works late into the evening, weekends and is regularly travelling abroad for work. It's hardly a skive.

What I'm saying is that this isn't a WFH vs Office issue. It's a seniority/ how your contribution is measured issue.

I’m finding (maybe not you personally op) that people who don’t have the option to work from home think that people who do work from home aren’t actually ‘working’ during this time. To the point the person I am referring to once suggested I host a group of friends including them, during my working hours as I was ‘working from home’. Perhaps where you’re not currently doing it, you’re assuming you’re working and the WFH person is not.

In regards to the ‘gallivanting’ more context is needed really, ie have they worked several hours past their actual hours and are taking the time back? Have they got a lull in their workload vs a recent time where they were extra busy and therefore are flexible working after having completed their work? So many variables

What is unreasonable are people such as utilities not recognising this and still doing things such as having so-called 'appointments' which are 'we'll turn up at some point in the day or maybe not'. Openreach an example.

I work from home most of the time and I don't gallivant around either. Unless it's a hospital appointment or something urgent where you take what you are given I book everything in my non-working time as I work part-time.

If I worked full time I would book appts on my WFH days as I'd need less time out of the "office". But I would still try to get early morning or lunchtime slots as far as possible.

Yes, specifically, this lovely horse.

As someone who wfh and has been so busy this week that I've logged off at 11 most nights...I don't agree. Yes it's good being able to pick up the kids (I do this once a week, they're in after school club the rest of the time). But having to make up the time later doesn't mean I have 'more free time' overall. I've watched half an hour of TV this week and been one 20 min walk, other than that I've been working eating or sleeping.

Yes you get people who take the piss wfh. You also get people who take the piss in the office. I had a boss who most of their off site or customer meetings were beauty appointments! And I used to sit next to someone who chatted most of the day, disappeared off for fag breaks frequently, hung out at the kitchen gossiping for ages, and had loads of sick days

I WFH and have never worked so hard in all my working life (of 30 years). I rarely take a full lunch break and if you think everyone is able to get appointments at lunch time how is that possible? We get them at completely unreasonable hours in the day and have to take the time off or work it back.

You are being ridiculous too about WFH having less annual leave.

If anything, WFH people are at risk of over working as it's all too easy to keep working through the evening.

Is it just me or when people say “gallivanting”, does anyone picture someone pretending to be on a horse (like a child does) and making clip-clop sounds as they “canter”

I’d never go get a haircut in the middle of my working day if I was employed by someone else for set hours. 😂 People don’t (or shouldn’t) do that.

As it is, Dh and I are self employed, so we plan our work around life. Nothing to do with wfh though.

But I’ve always gone to medical and dental appointments if needed during the day. It’s protected time off, even when I was employed. Though I’d have to still get the work done.