Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think offices should close in this weather?

48 replies

Registryofficepanic · 02/03/2018 15:51

We’re in a part of the country with about 6 inches of snow and it’s been going on for 3 days, all schools and most offices are shut.

DH works in a town and we live in a nearby village. He’s in a non essential industry (sales) and has been expected in Work all day everyday.

The snow is now chucking it down very heavy and the main roads back have both been closed due to accidents so he’ll have to take back routes through country lanes. He’s asked his boss if he can leave early before it gets any worse and his boss has told him ‘we close at 6 so you can leave at 6’ I’m worried about the roads and DH driving in it.

AIBU to think when it’s truly dangerous conditions, non essential businesses should close their offices? To save staff from fretting between risking their lives or their jobs.

OP posts:
IntoTheFloodAgain · 02/03/2018 16:34

Yanbu. I posted about similar last night. I had to go in (nightshift), when all the taxis and buses had stopped. And I’m in a city with regular public transport.
I drive, but people just don’t drive safely at night here. I was tailgated again all the way to work, snow still pouring.

I’d understand it but my works system is web based, you can log in from home with your normal account details, nothing special is required. And they have a special on call phone, which is used in the event of a fire evac that you can divert calls to.

I work in maintenance, and we generally take calls for alarm faults. Last night between 4 of us we had 3 calls and 2 were the same person.

There was absolutely no need for us to be there last night.

I’d have worked from home for less pay if it had been possible but it was made clear to me that I had no reason to not go in.

taratill · 02/03/2018 16:35

Snow is coming down thick and fast here, DH is not only expected to work when he could work from home but he is expected to attend a dinner on behalf of his company near bham airport tonight!!!

I can't see him getting home at all, if he actually makes it to the dinner.

Bonkers.

IntoTheFloodAgain · 02/03/2018 16:36

And to add, all of our resources are available through Google drive, dropbox and one drive so if I’d needed to check a policy or do any admin for example, it’s all easily accessible.

Jaygee61 · 02/03/2018 16:38

I work in the public sector and my office is closed today. I’m a fairly junior member of staff and there isn’t an awful lot I can usefully do from home - my job does sort of depend on my actually being at my desk. Not all of our systems are accessible remotely.

TooStressyForMyOwnGood · 02/03/2018 16:40

This may be a stupid question but, in areas where police have warned against non-essential travel, how are managers ‘allowed’ to make staff risk life or limb and that of others? There are plenty of jobs where people don’t want to take the risk of even unpaid leave as they fear the repercussions.

Surely the police should take a dim view of it all (I bet they do privately) but employers seem to get away with it. Or maybe I am expecting too much of a nanny state.

IntoTheFloodAgain · 02/03/2018 16:46

@TooStressyForMyOwnGood my managers reasoning was that she lives near me and managed to get in. The difference is that she had to travel in the day when it had been gritted and steady traffic meant the roads were a bit clearer.

It didn’t matter that I had to drive hours after it had been gritted, more snow had fallen and there had been very little cars to move the snow about so it just continued to settle.

It’s a bag of bollocks.

SillySallySingsSongs · 02/03/2018 16:46

in areas where police have warned against non-essential travel

They do that not just for code Amber and red. If offices etc closed all the time they would grind to a halt.

LouiseCollins28 · 02/03/2018 16:47

@TalkinPeace. fair enough your systems are set up for it. Other people's should be, yes I agree with you there, but lots of them aren't.

I do agree with the OP that this show's inflexibility on the part of the management of her DHs firm

@taratill....after work social functions? er no way, IMO that really is unreasonable

TooStressyForMyOwnGood · 02/03/2018 16:50

FFS that is shit Into but sadly doesn’t remotely surprise me.

DGRossetti · 02/03/2018 16:51

Other people's should be, yes I agree with you there, but lots of them aren't.

Whatever happened to business continuity as a subject ? given how much of my life I have wasted spent working on the IT side of things ...

Passportto · 02/03/2018 16:54

I think one of the problems is that the advice for essential travel only is used too easily. There are clearly parts of the country where travel has been a bad idea for the last couple of days, but they've been saying it for 4 days here and there was only one afternoon when conditions on the roads were really bad enough to justify staying home.

That said, the roads would have been much worse with a higher volume of traffic on them.

TooStressyForMyOwnGood · 02/03/2018 16:58

Yes that’s a fair point actually SillySally and Passportto about overuse of the advice.

In our area the police have listed (many) roads which are impassable with photos which I suppose lends more weight to the advice if your employers disbelieve you.

lostjanni · 02/03/2018 17:10

I think yes if it is possible to work remotely and the profits aren't affected then sure go ahead work at home.
However spare a thought to us NHS workers for example, i had to travel at 6 last night to work, and got home 6 this morning and will be ding the same soon.

MotherofDinosaurs · 02/03/2018 17:55

I've never worked anywhere where I wasn't allowed to make my own decision about whether or not it was safe for me to travel into work in the snow. What with me being an adult and everything...

TalkinPeace · 02/03/2018 18:15

lostjanni
The NHS and the Emergency services have my utmost respect.
But the mess on the A31 could have been avoided if all those office workers had gone home at a sensible time
let alone the amount of crashes caused by muppets on irrelevant journeys

Bluelady · 02/03/2018 18:22

Nobody's job is essential unless they work in emergency services. This manager is beyond appalling. If he were mine I'd be looking for another job.

Vitalogy · 02/03/2018 19:02

Has you husband set out for home now OP?

lostjanni · 02/03/2018 19:15

I do agree TalkinPeace

AvocadosBeforeMortgages · 02/03/2018 19:16

They'll lose more in goodwill than they gain by keeping people in the office.

If there's one thing I've learned in the workplace, it's that if you care for your staff, are nice to them and allow a little leeway, they will go out of their way to help you. Nickel and dime staff and treat them like replaceable widgets and you will rapidly find that they start actively working against you and your interests in subtle ways that can never be proved but impact the bottom line.

ForalltheSaints · 02/03/2018 20:25

No, we should be properly prepared for winter weather.

Dipitydoda · 02/03/2018 20:40

Most office jobs can be worked from home and indeed I think generally this has to be the way forward at least part time to easy pollution and congestion. I wfh today and quite frankly it was the most productive day I’ve had this week.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page