Forced return to office - anyone else?

[Flexipecs]

My work has announced we’re all being forced back into the office two days a week. I’m a sole parent of primary school aged children (no help from ex). If I’m forced to go into the office I’ll have to reduce my working hours and I’ll be financially worse off.

I’m going to contact my union but has anyone else had this problem and did you successfully challenge it?

There’s zero benefit to me being in the office. My stats and performance are high. I actually think I’m more productive at home because I’m not being distracted so often. I’ve worked for the company for a very long time and I’m really disappointed at this decision (to put it mildly).

I’ve resigned myself to the fact I probably won’t progress any further in my career because of it, which is pretty shit when I’m only 30.

Why would this cause you not to progress in your career?

As the children are young/pre school I'm going to guess pre COVID childcare wasn't an issue as the kids weren't born yet

If you don't like WFH find a job where you are in the office. Good luck with finding anyone in an office on Friday though. "Nobody" works on Fridays, and that was the case pre-covid. DH usually does go in on a Friday because the trains are quiet and his immediate team often go in as well.

Saying you can't progress in your career at the age of 30 is bonkers. Find another job!

I really really really struggle wfh - like every aspect of it. I just can’t do my job properly anymore. I know that sounds so dramatic but it’s true!

I haven’t been able to find a firm near me that offers the way I prefer to work, with everyone in on the same days each week.

So the other option is to change career but that’s a bit tricky when you are single and took 4x your salary on a mortgage 😆

Surely there must be places with set office days? That does seem to be the new normal...hybrid working. Is completely remote standard in your industry?

So what criteria would you apply to rewarding two employees, one of whom boosts the profit margin when in the workplace and another who boosts the profit margin when WFH?
It seems to me that the debate is largely about 'what's good for the employee is bad for the business'.
All employees should be focused on and rewarded for improving the profitability of the organisation that employs them - it just doesn't seem to happen much and most businesses are very poor at understanding an employee's contribution to the bottom line.

Yes, the world has very much changed for some of them. Even if they don't necessarily want it to have done.

The moaners don't leave because they know if they go get another job they will have to compromise on something else like pay, or the grass isn't greener and most other companies are asking staff to be in the same or more days.

Same moaning happens in my team, but I don't see anyone leaving so its a pointless exercise moaning.

The complicating factor is that customers wanting a particular level of service doesn't mean they're willing and able to pay for it. The sort of private sector customer service type roles you mention are often quite poorly paid. In this labour market, the pool of people who'll work for those kind of wages whilst also paying associated working costs such as commuting and childcare has shrunk.

I think that this is what is happening with some employers. My previous MD was definitely of the old school. Didnt believe people were working unless he was able to see them sweating. Even during the height of lockdown he was in the office and wanted others to come in despite them doing their jobs effectively from home.

Previous MD because I was offered a far better job and no longer work for a dinosaur.

Yes that's the sort of thing I was getting at. The world of work has changed sufficiently that any computer/office type role is at least potentially impacted by it, regardless of whether the organisation wants it to be. At bare minimum, it's the threat of staff voting with their feet.

There are some organisations who have to worry less about that than others, because they pay well, they're prestigious, or maybe they employ people who don't have better choices. But even then, it's always something that's in the background.

If you’ve worked from home continuously for two years, it’s now your workplace and the expectation for you to return to the office is a variation of that - ie you need to agree.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim32080

This is income tax legislation, it’s not employment law.

@StormShadow agreed. Some employers are very slow on the uptake. My previous employer was like this. They were still very much in the mindset that it was an employer's market and that all they had to do was advertise a role and suitable applications would come flooding in.

It took well over a year to find a suitable permanent replacement when I left. Where I went to had also been recruiting for over a year.

@RedRosette2023 that is interesting. Most people's work agreements evolve over time. Employers often benefit from unwritten agreements eg WFH, extra hours worked in busy times in return for shorter days in quiet times.

Employers who use the written terms of a contract to force people to return to office based may find that employees also return to the terms of their contract regarding flexibility on hours.

Two can play that game!

But what it demonstrates is that the contract is not necessarily a tablet of stone.

Depends on how the law views it.

Yeah for tax purposes.

For income tax purposes, “normal office” has always been defined based on the facts rather than what a contract says.

It still has absolutely no bearing on employment law.

(MN needs an edit button!)

It will be interesting to see what happens at industrial tribunals. The most likely source of these will be the public sector.

It is easy for smaller employers to bully employees into doing what the employer wants whether it is legal or not.

My previous employer was a corporate bully. Eventually I voted with my feet. Which rather left them in the lurch!

Our jobs gone the other way, less office . More remote working. We moving abroad actually!

@Letsgetouttahere2023 exciting! One of my previous employers has now said employees have to be within half a day's travel of the office but otherwise live where you want.

I do wonder if some of the recent demands by employers to start being in the office multiple times per week are coming because the problem is not with the workers but with their managers.

Just as poor workmen blame their tools, poor managers blame their teams.

If you think a team member is swinging the lead, deal with it directly. Managers need to manage.

Wfh seems to be championed by people with young children - which really does sound as if you are doing half a job - saying you make up hours later (does that really work for an employer who wants to speak to you at 3.30?)Younger employees seem to want to be back in the office for the interaction and I would also suggest the need to be 'seen' by management. Unless your role is specifically advertised as remote, I think there is the risk that in a few years time you might wonder where your career has gone.

Actually wfh benefits many members of society who would otherwise be out of work or would have to work limited hours such as some disabled & neurodiverse people, people caring for elder relatives for example.

Luckily although my boss is child-free, they are understanding of my circumstances and are not a dinosaur so understand that the 15 mins it takes to do the school run can be made up at the end. I could work for a higher salary elsewhere but I may end up working for someone like you hence fantastic managers like mine deserve loyalty and yes, I do go the extra mile for them. 😊

@Trifal - I clearly hit a nerve

OP, when I went back into the office after Covid, my circumstances had drastically changed, so I understand your stress. Work were understanding and I've worked through my lunch break to leave an hour earlier as I wouldn't get back in for time for after school club otherwise! I check my phone and log back on in the evening if need be.

I think the key is to show willing and look for a compromise. Hopefully they'll be reasonable.

I still have a much better deal than before the hybrid model was in place and I don't think it's unreasonable for businesses to want employees to spend time together in person, but after years of WFH, it is bound to cause issues for some people.