No WFH but extra salary?

[joylessdivision]

Just curious as to your thoughts on this?

There was a vacancy in my company that I was interested in purely for a change but the job titles are basically the same, just working for different departments.

Our company has a flexible working policy (not contractual) and this role is quite a bit higher in salary on account of no flexible working.

Is this something that is becoming more common? I think there is potential for issues here down the line.

I would imagine you need to pay more for non flexibility too. It’s not just WFH. I think it includes no time off for dentists or doctors. Holiday leave only at restricted time. Meetings booked over lunch without warning. Basically having no control over your work calendar.

To me it’s not worth it - even though it’s a good couple of hundred pounds a month more take home - additional commuting costs, a cleaner and wrap around care would eat that up. Plus add in either the expensive lunch or sad one you’ve packed the night before….its not the job for me!

But some interesting points. I am curious as to how long the new person would stay in the role watching everyone else have flexible working.

the company I work on are normally really fair, I just don’t think it’s clocked to them the potential implications.

What am I missing here? Where is the unfairness? This role has a business reason for a lack of flexibility. The company knows that flexibility is valued by many applicants so they are being transparent about the lack of flexibility in this role and have included additional financial compensation.

It's possible they don't think they've any choice but to pay more?

Your mistake is to assume that everyone values flexible working as highly as you do. Plenty of people either do not have a set-up to facilitate efficient WFH or would prefer to be paid more instead.

So don’t take it then. For others it will be worth it. I don’t get the relevance of the cleaner - but I don’t do my cleaning during the working day when I’m wfh.

I have a cleaner despite DH working from home permanently since 2012 and I work hybrid - and - part time.

Lots of people, me included, do their cleaning during the time they would be commuting and/or on their lunch break. We would also probably hire a cleaner if we ever decide to go back to working in the office (but that's highly unlikely for us)

If you have a commute and drop offs/pick ups to wraparound care, that could be another 3 hours on your working day. that eats into cleaning time and energy.

TL;DR - this seems reasonable to me

I travel into the office once a month at the moment, as does my husband.

If I were to commute full time, the train would cost me £3.9k for an annual ticket, or just under £400 monthly. Car parking at the station would be £8.35 per day or £120 per month, so I’d be looking at around £5.5k cost just for travel.

Then there’s the cost of lunch, because there’s no way I’d be able to motivate myself to make/take a packed lunch every day. London prices these days, you won’t get much spare change from a tenner for a sandwich, packet of crisps and a drink, so that’s another £200 a month, so then we’re looking at about £7.7k (maybe shave £100-£150 off for the cost of lunches at home for the year).

Our electricity costs are minimal even with both of us working from home. Heating is the real killer, but that wouldn’t be any less if I were in the office, as my husband would still be at home with the heating on.

I’d also have to buy new clothes suitable for the office, as I haven’t been office-based since 2018 and have had 2 kids since then.

That’s all a net cost, so you then have to consider what additional gross income would be needed to cover that, which means looking at an additional £10k minimum before even leaving the starting blocks.

Apart from the financial aspect, I have two kids who sleep pretty well, and I don’t have to set an alarm to wake up in the morning - I wake up naturally at a time that gives me enough time to get myself and the kids ready and school run completed. When I was commuting full time, I was having to wake up 2 hours earlier, and was constantly exhausted just from the travel

Working from home also means I get to see my kids for a couple of hours in the evenings and we all get to sit down for a family meal together every day. If I were in the office, I wouldn’t be getting home until their bedtime, so we wouldn’t be able to eat together and I would hardly see them until the weekend, as I’d have to leave before they woke up in the mornings as well.

Those two non-financial factors are probably more significant to me than the financial ones. So to sacrifice the family time & sleep, whatever package was offered would have to be exceptionally appealing - probably life-changing - for me to even consider considering it!

From a work perspective, I do actually prefer being in the office, but it’s not so much of a preference that I’m willing to easily sacrifice the work/life balance.

Another factor to consider is that, given that most of the roles in my industry are now at least hybrid, to actually entice someone to even apply for a fully office-based role would be quite a challenge in itself, which would also drive up the package that would need to be offered

So overall, for me, this seems reasonable

There are 2 articles in today's Observer about WFH & the benefits & drawbacks. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/feb/17/working-from-home-can-bring-big-health-benefits-study-finds & the linked "Beating burglary".
Some of that research would have been linked (e.g weight gain) to times of lockdown, when going to the gym wasn't possible regardless of where you work. Obviously all jobs & all people are different.
I think it's inevitable that what happened pre 2020 is unlikely to return any time soon. (If, for not other reason that the purely practical- many offices have fewer desks & no fewer people)
My current role is higher ed staff development & support. There are times when we need to be in person, but it doesn't really matter who. Often, though, it's the team leader & myself (her deputy) who end up doing the in person stuff before 10 & after 3, as we don't have children needing care. It doesn't worry either of us, as it's a work pattern (i.e. being on campus that we'd done for many years before). Newer members of the team are more reluctant to come on campus, due to needs of home. It's a difficult balance, as many academic staff are on campus & like to see support in person, (sure some would prefer online) - it's how we effectively balance what staff want & what works - and ensuring that all participate fully. Earlier in the list, someone mentioned reasonable adjustments - at present, it's only staff who needed e.g standing desks etc. I could see how we'd accommodate someone who can't be on campus for whatever reason if it's a reasonable adjustment, but I can see a time coming when we would not always be able to accommodate everyone's preferences. :(

Going to work costs me very little - 3 mile drive, free parking, take my own lunch. Wfh I go out for coffee as often as I do in the office. It’s a short commute and I have the same amount of work to do wherever I am .. wfh I can’t suddenly have time for cleaning.

It’s not a different lifestyle for me so can’t see a need for a pay rise, but if the company realises it’s needed, that’s sensible to respond to the need.

It isn’t currently the case that they have to be considered legally, but it will be from April.

That’s not true. It is currently a legal requirement to consider if the employee has served a minimum of 26 weeks with the organisation. From April, it will become a day 1 entitlement