AIBU to do the same work from home?

[readywithwellies]

My job requires alot of portable admin - a bit like a teacher but not a teacher. I work independently and manage my own time. No one else's job is harder if I am not physically in the office. Most of the time, I work from the office or am visiting clients (think social worker scenario). Snow is causing choas and I have brought home a box of work (more than I would have done in the office).Have done this before with no problems from my Line Manager.
This time, MD says no, can't work from home. So now I am expected to go to the office. It is 12 miles away via a motorway. My car would take an hour to dig out. There are limited bus services so I would have to walk alot of the way, I assume with the paperwork I have brought home.
Reason we can't work from home is that our work is not conducive to homeworking. It so is. I get more done at home than in work as no one is chewing my ear off about x,y, or z.
I have to go to work or take unpaid leave. I have no holidays available.
AIBU to expect to be able to work from home in extreme weather?

If you can do everything from home and no-one else's job is made harder by your not being there (and you are on the phone if someoen wants to ask you something) then it does seem ridiculous.

Does the MD think that people (not you) will take the opportunity to skive? And that they must have one rule for everyone? Maybe other people have jobs that can't be done from home so effectively. That's more understandable but still silly as there is no reason you shouldn't be able to do yours from home.

Personally, I think you need to get there if you can, whether that takes extra time or not.

what is their inclement weather policy?

I'm guessing they may need all staff that can make it in, to muck in and cover for the ones that really can't? especially in an educational setting.

also sounds a bit like you've made the decision yourself - not a good idea - you should always check first with line management.

MD is old school. He is not very progressive in his views. I don't know if he thinks people are going to skive but it is easy to do that in my job anyway, but it would show in the long term.

Hairy - We cannot cover for one another. We all work independently. I would only cover if someone was on long term sick.

I'd email the MD direct with a list of work I intend to carry out and put your point across. Probably just trying to stop people skiving. DH couldn't get to work yesterday but managed to get to a closer office which links to his (which he walked for 45 mins to get to). Today he has driven in (an hour drive) only to find that people who live 30 mins away and less haven't bothered and are appalled to be asked to walk to a bus stop.

Unfortunately, there are people who take the P* and they ruin it for the rest of us. I used to have an MD who liked bums on seats - shows real mistrust!

Yanbu if you can do the same work from home. Although i can purhaps see why the manager has put down a ban on all staff working from home, it's probably the fairest way. If other employees saw that you were allowed to be at home, they would want to and would think it was unfair if they couldn't. So easier to not let anyone stay at home.

YABU regarding the car being snowed in. Most workers have had to dig their car out their drives, so just get on with it. I don't know what motorway you would take but 12 miles is not a long distance to go on a motorway and would be safer then some of the A &B roads that other drivers have to take.

"Hairy - We cannot cover for one another. We all work independently. I would only cover if someone was on long term sick."

Not even manning the phones to keep communication with parents going? There's nothing you can do (outside of your own JD) that would help the organisation?

At work yesterday we had senior managers calling placement people, supervisors driving minibuses, and the MD manning the phones, as so few people came in.

"I'd email the MD direct with a list of work I intend to carry out and put your point across. Probably just trying to stop people skiving."

If you did this to me, you'd be on disciplinary, after being told you could not work from home. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but MDs have the big picture, and if they have managed to get a job as an MD/CEO, presumably they have had enough sense to know how a business/org needs to work, so they make decisions on that basis.

The reason Ceos and MDs do this is because of people who live next to a bus stop, when busses are running, phone in and say 'I can't come in, the lock on my car is frozen' or who leave a secondary site half way through a shift and disappear with no communication, with their mobile switched off.

The point is, there has to be one rule for everyone.

Hairy - we all have mobile phones, our clients call us on those. We do not have calls into the office and we do not deal with children. There is nothing I could do in the office that I can't do from my kitchen table. In fact, when I started, I worked from home for 4 months as an office was seen as too expensive. The only issue was not having a photocopier.
Agree with you about emailing the MD. Would just be more trouble.

I think to be honest I'd see you as being a little bit awkward. At the end of the day, if the boss says come in, you need to make an effort to get in, unless it is impossible.

It's not your decision to make.

I have closed our office today as I think it is unsafe for anyone to try to travel, and it's pointless the one person who lives down the road to sit on his own.

Yesterday we opened and those that could make it in did so.

MsSparkle - only said about motorway as I couldn't walk along it. It would take longer on A roads.

I will not drive. It is above my capabilities in these conditions, I know my own limits and I am not being responsible for hurting someone.

Hairy - all the main offices here are closed, he is 200 miles away and cannot assess the situation. My office is in a building of other offices, all of which are closed yet we need to be there.

Can i ask what part of the country you are in?

well there you go then - that seems a sensible decision to me, I have asked people to make their own judgements (except for today when I closed) - if it is safe to travel, please do so, including by public transport or walking short distances.

Your boss has said that you may not work from home, so you are officially snowed in.

What irks me is when I know full well that a bus is running with a short walk either side, and people claim 'snowed in'.

Hairy - Yes, snowed in but not getting paid when I have enough work here to do for the week. Work that no one else will do, I will have to catch up on. It is contrary.

You asked, he said no. If you can't get to work then you have no choice but to take unpaid leave. Get your slippers on and hunker down in front of Jeremy Kyle, you know you want to

Ah well, that's the policy and that's life, sorry but I don't have much sympathy. If you wanted to get paid, you'd have made the effort, including some walking.

You didn't mention at all in your OP that there was a pay issue.

FWIW if we close the office, or if people are really unable to get in, we pay them as if they had been in. ~Generally it would take for us to decide that someone willfully failed to make any effort, when they could have got in, not to pay them.

YANBU - I totally sympathise.

I work in a paperless office. Our letters are sent remotely. We have been advised that we can't work from home as there are security issues involved which prevent us being networked onto the various systems we use...I'd believe this were it not for the fact that I know other companies doing the same stuff do have remote working.

It's extremely frustrating - when it snowed last time several of my team took work home, but I had to tell them not to bother doing it, because they would still have to make up their hours when they returned and wouldnt get any credit for the work done from home. Unfortunately its the sort of thing that in the current climate of minimal pay rises, no bonuses etc could really boost morale in many businesses, but a blanket refusal by employers makes people v v resentful.

I spent 6 hours a day getting to work during the last snowy spell. That's 6 hours I could have spent on work!

hairy - I did, last but one line.

I could make it in but I won't take the risk when I don't get sick pay in the event of an accident.

Its OK, he will lose a hell of a lot of money from me now than paying me for working from home. My motivation is at zero and I will be producing exactly what my contract says and no more.

Oh, and I worked in retail and care for years and always made it in because people relied on us. This is different.

hatesponge - exactly - it would have taken me two hours to walk to work and two hours home, minimum. Even if the buses were running, which I think they will stop this afternoon when more snow is forcast. I would happily work these extra hours for free for the benefit of staying indoors.

My issue is simple - why make someone take unnecessary risks when they can do the work from home? They aren't going to tuck my kids up when Mummy has been knocked over by a car who skidded on the ice are they?
The fact I am taking unpaid leave when I really cannot afford it shows my frustration.

ah, missed that . Apologies.

No-one is making you do anything, or making you take risks, though, they are simply not paying you for a day you miss work, when the office is open and it is possible to get to work ready

I get your frustration, but them's the rules. You sound very unhappy in your current work place - have you tried to find something else?

YANBU. I, too, have work on hand I can as easily do from home as in the office. I'm in today but am going to check if I can work from home for the rest of the week, or can at least have the option if I can't get a bus in the morning. To be honest, if you calculate the amount of time it takes to get in during the snow, the amount of time you spend looking anxiously out of the window and ringing people to see what it's like at home, and having to leave early, I'd get far more work done at home.

I agree with hairy, nobody is making you do anything. Either you go to work or take the day off unpaid - I would assume all the employees have the same option.

Whilst you may be able to work from home (assuming you could get the children to the childcare) its not a right and if they dont want you to then thats their decision.

"he will lose a hell of a lot of money from me now than paying me for working from home. My motivation is at zero and I will be producing exactly what my contract says and no more" - to be honest if thats your attitude then I can see why they arent more flexible with you.