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

AIBU for thinking that this is ridiculous?

35 replies

Enni2S · 01/05/2018 13:33

Last Friday, everyone in my team at work received an email regarding working from home. Apparently we are to upload a full itinerary of what we'll be working on, when and how long for into our calendar. Everything then has to be noted up so that work done can be checked by bosses.

Working from home is allowed on an ad hoc basis and most people work from home between once a week and once a fortnight. Everything that can be done in the office can be done from home. AIBU for feeling that this is ridiculous? Nobody asks me for a detailed breakdown of my day when I'm in the office. I dread asking to work from home as much as I dread calling in sick. To people who work from home, is this normal?

OP posts:
stressedbeyond123 · 01/05/2018 13:35

I think if you are being paid to work from home then your bosses have every right to see/have an idea of what work is being done, how long it took you etc.

if you are not being paid to work from home, then yes they are being entirely unreasonable.

TheDrinksAreOnMe · 01/05/2018 13:35

I’ve seen it happen before and recall having to do this in a previous job.

It sounds like they don’t think some people are actually pulling their weight at home

BusterTheBulldog · 01/05/2018 13:40

No it’s not normal to do that at all. If you don’t do the work, then everyone will soon find out. Itemising is painful for all concerned.

That being said, I do block out my calendar as per what I’m working on. That’s more more me than anyone else though!

TreesAndCheese · 01/05/2018 13:40

I wish this was done with my boss. She claims to work from home 10-15 hours a week, yet we can't contact her, she doesn't respond to emails and admits she can't access the system she needs to in order to do her work. It's a joke

gwenneh · 01/05/2018 13:41

I've worked remotely for the better part of 7 years for one main company and on lots of freelance projects; plenty of companies do this and no, I don't think it's ridiculous. I do a "punch sheet" for my team when we have to work remotely so we can all stay on task.

Lazypuppy · 01/05/2018 13:43

I work in civil service and i have to log every 15mins of every day whether i'm in the office or not. I would guess some people have been taking the piss by not actually doing any work so this is how they are managing.

itallhappensforareason · 01/05/2018 13:43

If you are actually working from home then I don't see the issue. If you were "working from home" but doing other things instead like the washing and the housework then I would see how it would be a negative!

VladmirsPoutine · 01/05/2018 13:45

I think on the one hand yanbu because this sort of thing is very infantilising and demotivates employees. But on the other hand a lot of people do shirk off from work saying that they're "working from home."

Inertia · 01/05/2018 13:45

You need to make sure you log the time you spend completing the timesheet.

Waggingmyginger · 01/05/2018 13:45

I expect to be able to account for my time but logging it minutely is quite the micromanaging culture.
I had a (shit) manager who used to sit there every week checking everyone's timesheet against building entry logs AND computer log in times. She was bad at her personal time management and her timesheet was a work of fiction. People always suspect others of ehat they know are their own shortcomings. It sounds like your managers are the "shirking from home" type.

Fruitcorner123 · 01/05/2018 13:46

I suspect they think someone has been using working from home as an excuse for time off and it is result of that. If they do this they can monitor that person without singling them out.

MyotherUsernameisaPun · 01/05/2018 13:49

I don't know if that's generally normal but I'm a lawyer and have to record my time for everything anyway, so it's routine for me whether I am at work or at home! I wonder if some of your colleagues have been taking the piss and that's why?

RedPanda2 · 01/05/2018 13:50

Make sure you include your pee/poo breaks too!

AmazingPostVoices · 01/05/2018 13:50

Someone in the team is swinging the lead and they are using this to either catch them or stop them.

Personally I’d just quietly fill it in. I suspect the people making the biggest fuss will be the ones who don’t do very much while working from home.

AnneLovesGilbert · 01/05/2018 14:00

I'm another one thinking this would be a sensible approach at my work. We benefit a lot from flexibility but my line manager views working from home as a right rather than a perk and is pretty much contactable when she's out of the office. It's incredibly annoying. I get far more done when I'm at home, I spend less time making coffee and chatting with people in the kitchen and far more time making sure I'm constantly looking at emails and our work messenger service.

expatinscotland · 01/05/2018 14:00

Sounds par for the course.

Witchend · 01/05/2018 14:01

Dh has to fill out time sheets each day anyway. They work for a lot of contractors and they have to know who to bill how much.

Sparklesocks · 01/05/2018 14:01

I would find this really demotivating, as if I'm not trusted to work without supervision.

As PP have said I think people who are slacking off are caught out when deadlines aren't met and emails arent replied to etc.

kitkatsky · 01/05/2018 14:01

I work from home all the time. As long as I'm hitting targets my boss leaves me to it, but I do take it very seriously and work as if I were in an office eg don't take the piss by taking extended periods out for dentist etc

JessicaJonesJacket · 01/05/2018 14:03

As a freelance consultant, I used this approach with some clients. It was fairly standard and widespread.
It may be your bosses think people aren't pulling their weight or it could be a new way for determining budget splits. When we moved to zero budgeting, we used timesheets so we could properly allocate costs to projects.

catinapoolofsunshine · 01/05/2018 14:05

The first item on your itinerary will be 9-10am write and upload detailed itinerary... Five minutes of every hour on the itinerary will be allocated to making notes on what you did for the previous 55 minutes.

They're shooting themselves in the foot a bit there, paying you for that kind of busy work instead of your actual work...

Karigan1 · 01/05/2018 14:08

We have always had to fill in time sheets for work done at home or out of the office.

PlumsGalore · 01/05/2018 14:19

I've worked from home since 2003 and I have never had to do this. I am managed on my performance and targets irrespective of where my bum is based that day.

Eesha · 01/05/2018 14:21

I’ve seen this happen before, usually one or two bad apples have messed up the trust for everyone else and that line manager pushes everyone to then tow the line and do the logging thing. It’s unfortunate but people do take the piss at times and I think this can be a good way to get people to not do so.

BellyBean · 01/05/2018 14:25

I think summarising what you spent the day doing at the end of the day is reasonable but in advance? Depends on the job but hard to do and unrealistic.