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AIBU?

to think my colleague may be taking the p*ss slightly with regards to working from home?

71 replies

ceebeegeebies · 31/03/2011 11:41

My company is flexible about people working from home occasionally (for example, I am working from home tomorrow morning as the washing machine repair man is coming to fix my machine).

However, my colleague (we do the same job, share an office but do not have the same manager) uses working from home when she needs to be at home to look after her DC when school is closed unexpectedly/they are sick.

The type of work we do can be quite reactive at times, rather than planned, and when we are at home, we are only contactable by e-mail (no mobile phones), obviously cannot print anything off and there are a couple of IT systems which we use regularly that are not accessible from home.

My colleague had a week working from home when the schools were closed due to snow last year - this was out of the blue so there is no way she could have planned her work to take a week's worth home (and anyone would struggle to find a week's worth of work to do at home) so I have no idea what she did for that week. This week one of her DC is sick and off school so she has been working from home for the last couple of days - again, out of the blue so what has she got to do? We don't routinely take work home just in case...

In her defence, her DC are older than mine (12/13ish) and obviously aren't going to be demanding of time etc that my 2 under 5's would be but AIBU to think that this is not in the spirit of working from home and that she should be using annual leave instead?

I am a little bit Shock that her manager just seems to let her without question because I know my manager would be Hmm about it.

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MissVerinder · 31/03/2011 18:36

*stealth and cbeebie" I was thinking you had to print stuff off like reports to give to someone at work, like your boss, not be posting it out. Boo to that. She should set up the remote desktop really, otherwise how can she be actually working from home?

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wubblybubbly · 31/03/2011 18:15

She may very well have asked for flexible working, to include WFH, as is her right.

You're entitled to do the same.

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Satireisbest · 31/03/2011 17:59

Surely it is better if your colleague has this flexible working.

And you should be working to trying to get the same conditions as her not trying to get her conditions made worse.

Flexible working has to be better for families.

So I think yabu and it's not on to criticise your colleague.

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KatieWatie · 31/03/2011 17:50

"I think I can be a little Hmm about what my colleague is actually doing"
But isn't it up to her manager to be Hmm about what she is doing? Presumably her manager is happy and thinks everything that needs to be done is being done.

Unless you're having to do more work due to her not being there (and if you are, complain to your manager, because that's not right!)

I can totally understand your frustration but it seems to be more borne out of envy that you're not doing the same thing yourself, and this is down to your more strict morals and work ethic. Not everyone has that and your colleague maybe doesn't, but she can sleep at night so who's losing out? Just you by worrying about it.

I firmly believe wfh should be encouraged where possible - the planet isn't getting any greener by everyone making unnecessary commutes - so I'd leave her to get on with her way of doing things, and you do your thing your way. If you want to wfh as much as her then ask, and if it's refused then you can argue that she does it and you do the same job. Until then it's really just you feeling aggrieved because she has a different work ethic tbh.

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ceebeegeebies · 31/03/2011 16:53

I don't actually have a gripe with my manager as it happens as I agree with her that what we do does not lend itself to wfh for more than 1 day and that is with planning our workload in advance (i.e. not waking up in the morning and thinking that we were going to wfh for whatever reason).

I could not pull the wool over my manager's eyes and pretend I was being productive whilst at home - that, even if I could do it, would be dishonest to me.

Ormirian I don't have a problem with wfh - as I have said, I have used it to my advantage in the past - but my problem is that the work we do cannot generally be done at home so I think I can be a little Hmm about what my colleague is actually doing.

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Drizzela · 31/03/2011 16:26

Has someone already asked why the hell it's necessary to stay at home with a sick 13 year old?? I mean, if theyre seriously ill then fine but on a snow day?! This is weird, particularly where there are 2 of them.

Other than that, I supose if the manager says it's ok then it's ok ceebeegeebies why not think of it as a chance to get ahead?

I regularly work from home but I have everything set up there, it's not different to being in the office really.

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Ormirian · 31/03/2011 16:18

ceebee, shouldn't your gripe be with your manager not her or hers?

I'd be seriously pissed off if my T&C were changed just to put me on a parr with another employee because they didn't like it. I have arranged my working/home life to be a good balance. My employers know they get more out of me because I have my laptop at home and will willingly work longer than my contracted hours because I have got into thinking of my house as an extension of my working environment. And because I don't want to queer my pitch with them.

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KatieWatie · 31/03/2011 15:47

YANBU if the same rules don't apply for you as they do for her, in which case you should tackle your manager.

YABU if the same rules do apply, and her manager has no problem with it.

I have similar challenges with a colleague too. She works from home when it suits her (and tbh I'm glad when she does as I don't have to deal with her!), but if/when I want to do it she makes a fuss about it in a 'subtle' way as if I'm swinging the lead e.g. she will say "oh yes, don't worry, I'll lie for you if anyone asks", as if she's doing me a favour.... Yet my company is flexible and no lying is required. When I tell her this she says "oh yes, but you know, some people might think it's strange or have a problem with it". It boggles my mind that she thinks it's perfectly ok for her to do something that she seems to have a problem with me doing Confused.

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LisaD1 · 31/03/2011 14:53

I think you should only be able to wfh if you can FULLY complete your tasks from home. I wfh fairly frequently but have full access to all my files etc from home, I'm a PA and about 90% of my role is email/diary based and I can do that completely from home. If it's a day I "choose" to wfh I always make sure my 2 bosses are either out of the office or themselves wfh so that they do not need me to be physically in the office. I do also wfh if the children are ill (11 and 3) as my bosses prefer some support rather than none. I do think it has to work both ways though, I am often online in the evenings when the little ones are in bed and DH is watching TV, so we all get a good deal from the flexibility.

Does sound like OP's colleague is taking the mickey to me.

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StealthPolarBear · 31/03/2011 14:41

"I think more companies should invest/be open to working from home"
completely agree

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exhausted2011 · 31/03/2011 14:33

i have a colleague who works 2 days from home and I have no idea what he does.
I am very jealous
But really it's nothing to do with me, if our manager is ok with it, what can I do?

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exhausted2011 · 31/03/2011 14:31

it's not really very fair, but tbh if you were in her position you wouldn't complain would you?
maybe her manager just thinks that she is worth it, maybe she gets stuff done, that you don't know about
But it's not really her fault, is it?

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NinkyNonker · 31/03/2011 14:07

I used to work from home on a regular basis. My commute involved a ferry ride that was weather dependent, if it looked dodge I would stay at home rather than risk being stranded on the other side and them having to foot a hotel bill. Ditto if I wasn't feeling great, rather than leave the house at 0600 and just get more ill I would wake up at 0800 instead and just work at home. I could get loads more done without the regular distractions of an office environment and was ad contactable as I would be in the office anyway. No kids then tough, just some noisy housemates! If I were really ill I would call in sick, but would always log in etc to check stuff so they got a good deal out of me.

I would always take my laptop home for these reasons, sounds like your colleague was very sensible BumbleQueen, with the right systems you can support those more senior from anywhere...my secretary would just tap my code into my phone for me so my office phone was redirected to my mobile and do her job as per normal, just without the joy of my presence! Grin Likewise had she worked from home one of her colleagues would have redirected her phone for her (or she could do it from home), the only thing she couldn't do for me was open my post or field in-person requests, but there were others to do that.

I think more companies should invest/be open to working from home, especially as fuel prices rise. If you're a sensible adult you can, or should be able to be trusted to do what you should be doing. If you're not that's another issue entirely! Not with kids that require more attention than tea breaks and lunch can allow for though obviously.

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crystalglasses · 31/03/2011 13:52

It depends whether you work as part of a team or not. I don't and my work is completely separate. There would never be an occasion when anyone had to take messages or do anything on my behalf. I have my own office, my own project, my own workload, my own schedule and my own deadlines.

The downside of working lat home is the social isolation which is why I come in to my work site from time to time.

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5Foot5 · 31/03/2011 13:28

YANBU

In my previous job I could physically work from home but kept that for emergencies as I felt that there is a great deal that you miss out on if you are not actually in the office.

Where I work now only certain people are allowed to do this as it involves special arrangements and security clearance. One colleague always works from home, and while I am sure she puts in the hours and does a good job, her lack of physical presence here means that she is never drawn in to the emergencies, the last minute meetings, random requests for help - all the stuff that can clutter up your day because you are sitting at your desk and accessible.

So Yes I agree it does add to the workload of colleagues when people wfh

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crystalglasses · 31/03/2011 13:14

I'm lucky in that I can and do nearly always work from home provided I'm not timetabled to do something at work, because I have a lot of autonomy over what I do. The downside of this is that I've always got my computer on the go and tend to work all sorts of ungodly hours, 7 days a week.
If I'm feeling unwell I don't need to phone in because I can always 'catch up' later in the day or week. I think there are often times when people take sick leave because they feel too poorly to drasg themselves into work but not too poorly to work at home.

I have some fairly serious chronc health conditions which mean that I would be someone who took 'sickies' quite a lot if I had to actually attend my workplace 9 to 5 Monday to Friday.

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ceebeegeebies · 31/03/2011 13:12

Getorfmyland yes I agree and our work is also great at letting us work from home on the very rare occasions that we may have a discrete project to do - as it is, I do project work one day a week for another area (my colleague does not do this) and actually did use this to work from home last year when DC1 had to go for 3 trial sessions at school so I had to collect him from nursery, drop him off at school for an hour and then take him back to nursery for 3 days - had I not been doing this project work and was just doing my day-to-day work, that would have been very hard (quite rightly) to justify wfh with my manager.

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ceebeegeebies · 31/03/2011 13:07

Snuppeline apology accepted Smile Yes, the set-up is strange and difficult to explain to be honest.

Rebeccaruby as my DC are so much younger than hers, I have no idea what age is reasonable to leave at home by themselves as I am not even thinking about that yet (too scary Wink)

Something else that has occurred to me - I was in a meeting with her manager (and the next senior manager iyswim) when I got a phonecall from nursery saying DC2 as poorly and needed to come home. In discussion with them, I commented I would have to take half a day's leave as there is no way I could work from home with him and they totally agreed with me as they both have DC similar ages to me Hmm Must be to do with the child's age then??

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GetOrfMoiLand · 31/03/2011 13:06

It is unfair that the OP doesn't get the same treatment as her colleague. WFH allowances ought to be consistent really.

However I think it is a far better practice to be allowed to work from home if possible. I am lucky that I work on discrete projects, and have full IT access at home and a mobile, so can work just as easily from home as I can at work. I am also very lucky in that WFH is a culture here, lots of my colleagues, if they have a contract to write or a complex spreadsheet to work on can request a home working day to have a bit of peace and quiet.

I love my job Smile

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StealthPolarBear · 31/03/2011 13:04

yes, true

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wubblybubbly · 31/03/2011 13:04

I think it's an issue, but with management, not the colleague.

You'd have to be a bit daft to refuse the option of flexible working because someone else, doing a similar job, for someone else isn't given the same perk. Confused

I can see why you'd be pissed off, but take it up with management.

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StealthPolarBear · 31/03/2011 13:03

Snuppeline, they may be, e.g. PAs to two different directors, same office, same job as such, different management

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StealthPolarBear · 31/03/2011 13:02

We made damn sure we treated people fairly during the snow days in my dept, and that doesn't mean treating people the same. There is one team who are out and about and it makes sense for them to work from home, and there's another team (mine) where working from home is very difficult/impossible.

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Snuppeline · 31/03/2011 13:00

Sorry for the comment on prospective management role for you OP. As has been said it was nasty and unecessary to get my point across. Hope you can accept the apology.

A lot of the nuances you've mentioned throughout the thread didn't figure in your initial post where you address more your grudge against her and less your feeling of being unfairly treated. I must say though your office have a strange setup if you both do the same job but have different managers - what's that all about? If you and other colleagues get left with more work when someone works from home address that with your manager who will then have to address it with the other lady's manager. Feeling unfairly treated isn't fun, obviously, and you should try to sort it out in a reasonable way (I.e. not in a as I did in my post earlier Smile.

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StealthPolarBear · 31/03/2011 12:59

Am amazed at the number of people who think this isn't an issue - poor management IMO. Plus the number of people who didn't bothr reading the OP's posts and assumed "It doesn't affect you"
Are some people a little hard of reading today?

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