Would you pull a sickie?

[rubberboots]

You work in an office that has flexible remote working, meaning you get to work from home 2 days a week. However, your boss leaves and the new team manager is mandating 5 days a week in the office.

You can ask for permission to work from home but this can be refused and you need a good reason. The manager seems to decide based on his mood and often decides people’s reasons are not good enough.

Before the new manager came you had booked flights to go and see an elderly uncle for the weekend in Poland. Flying out late on Thursday. You’d planned to work from home on the Friday as you have done before.

Someone else in the team is on annual leave that day so the boss would say no way. If you ask him to work from home and he says no then you’re buggered.

So do you pull a sickie that day? You’ve never taken a day off for being ill.

No

I don't work from home, so don't understand how it all works to.be honest. Aee you saying that you would work on the Fri whilst visiting relatives? Or would you have simply pretended to be doing this and no one would be any the wiser? ?

Does it really matter? You're lying either way, 'WFH' while visiting relatives in Poland or calling in sick.

I definitely wouldn’t cancel the trip to see sick relly. So I would either explain that you will be in Poland so it’s necessary to work from home (it’s not clear why you have ruled this out) or pull a sickie. Either way I hope all goes well.

But Poland isn't home is it? And OP isn't sick?

I would expect HR not to be too happy if they are informed about this cheating. Is it worth that?

No.

Because giving your kids Christmas presents from Santa is the same as lying to your employer as an adult. Good one, OP.

And this is why more firms are pulling people back in from wfh because just one or two spoil it fir everyone else

This is the reason so many companies are getting people back in.

Bring in Poland while you're supposed to be working??

Even if you are doing some work.

Do you use a work laptop? Some workplaces (many) have security which would pick up the IP address and not allow logins abroad. Does your work contract allow working abroad? Many don't. It sounds like annual leave is needed, not WFH.

You should have booked annual leave before booking the flights so no, I'd never in a million years have taken a sickie for that.

The people I know who have regular wfh arrangements which work well:

• they log on in the morning at the regular time

-if you call on their work number during the day they pick up (unless in another mtg)

• their outcomes are just as good and productive as when they're in the office
• they have childcare in place (seems obvious but...)
• if there's a specific need to come into the office on their usual wfh day, they do, because after all it's a working day. We've had occasional situations where someone wfh is needed in-person at short notice, and of course it's quite reasonable if they're a little later in as they wouldn't have been expecting to commute. If they'd turned around and said no they can't come in, then alarm bells would ring... why wouldn't they be available if it's a working day?

It's not that hard for a manager to suss out who is just as productive and accessible when wfh. As well as the cases I mentioned earlier (when people were spotted out for tea etc when allegedly wfh) there are other signs that things are dodgy... phone calls not being picked up without clear reason, emails not responded to, low work output and goals achieved on wfh days.

I am all for flexible working when it works. Unfortunately as others have said, a few people see it as a chance to piss take which then makes some companies and bosses wary. I don't like presenteeism, but neither do I think it's right that a minority don't seem to get that wfh is exactly that - doing a day's work, being just as productive and just as accessible to colleagues as if you were sat in the office

Are you allowed to wfh whilst abroad? Before you booked your Thursday evening flights you should have booked Friday off. Why go to Poland to visit family but spend the day working? Are you short of holiday days?

I wouldn’t start calling in sick if you’re not actually sick. Especially not doing it for both days as a pp suggests. It’s a slippery slope to hell.

WFH means working remotely (not in the office). There is no requirement that it only occurs
from one registered home address.

As long as there are no security restrictions from working outside the UK (which there isn’t or OP would have mentioned) why should it matter that the location is different?

Are OP allowed to work from abroad without notify compagny?
If office can ask OP to meet at the office it doesn't add up.

If there were restrictions for working outside the UK it is more than likely she would not even be able to log in from Poland (it is not uncommon for these kind of restrictions to be in place). But as OP is able to log in from Poland then it appears that this more about the new policy to work 5 days in office without flexibility when needed.

If I knew they'd say no to annual leave, I'd pull a sickie that one time. I think you're more likely to get caught out if your IP address shows you're in Poland.

Thanks - flight will be moved instead