Work expecting me in office when pregnant

[littlefawn]

I am currently 20 weeks pregnant and I requested to work from home a week before lockdown, they said it wasn't possible, I was then told it was "not recommended" that I come into work by a manager and told me to take sick (even though I'm not sick) I told them I could not get a sick line but that was fine.
About a month later I found out about 4 or 5 people had been allocated laptops and were working from home.
Manager rang about a week after this and said HR said they've done a risk assessment and I can come back to work. They said social distancing is in place, only one person per row of desks and people working one week on and one week off.

AIBU to expect a laptop to work from home when others who are not vulnerable have been allocated laptops?

Surely I still have to pass communal areas and touch door handles to get to my desk, there is a narrow corridor to my office and the building is shared by other departments (it's public sector)

From what I've read online employers must do what they can to help
Pregnant women work from home, my manager suggested I take leave as I have a lot but I've also sad they can't make you take leave and this is discrimination.

@Ragwort You know you can phone people using your laptop? DPs company are doing this. When I rang the vets he was largely wfh and still taking and making calls. None of this is that hard.

Misses point, but I’d love to know what sort of Public Sector job is completely computer based with no customer interaction or phone calls

You can phone people via your laptop. No need for a separate phone nowadays. But if people are WFH permanently, companies could always supply work mobiles.

@LakieLady You are right very few places can't stump up £500 for a laptop. We were even told we could take desktops home if we had a suitable place and IT would provide remote help with set up.
There seems a real lack of a can to do attitude in the UK, as if anything a tiny bit out of the ordinary is just too difficult, so no we don't do it.

@LakieLady
But spending £500 per employee for each laptop is an unreasonable cost to expect them to absorb on top of salaries etc.
So actually yes, not buying for op because it's £500, is reasonable, as there's an expectation that all staff of her grade and role should be supplied.

DP makes pretty much constant calls and meetings, that is his job. His whole team are wfh and using laptops to do so. They are doing so securely with remote support from IT.
I am surprised that anyone these days does not know you can make calls from a laptop.

@SoloMummy I wonder if a court would see it that way? I know if you need a piece of safety equipment costing £500, the court would not see that cost as a reasonable defence.

And as I said DPs employer used a mix of employees own laptops and bought laptops. It cost way less than £500 per person. In his team of 12 people I think they only had to buy 2 laptops.
Employers are expected to ensure health and safety. You can't opt out of health and safety on the grounds of cost.
You would have to do a risk assessment legally for staff returning to work. I would urge any employee expected to return to see this. And to take a copy for the future.

you generally can't be furloughed from a public sector job as the employer already receives government funds to pay you, and they are meant to continue paying you out of this money

also furlough is meant instead of redundancy not for people whose jobs are safe

My argument is

They had laptops available

How do they dish them out?

Surely firstly they should follow government guidance and give to those who are vulnerable or shielding then everyone else comes next.

If not then every company could prioritise profits and give to those based on say for example the employees who make the most sales? Surely they have to be held accountable for how they distribute the laptops?

If they had no laptops I would totally understand but I asked for one and they bypassed me

Sounds to me like you just wanted to work from home but your pregnancy is just not the excuse/reason you thought it would be.

@littlefawn
*My argument is

They had laptops available

How do they dish them out?

Surely firstly they should follow government guidance and give to those who are vulnerable or shielding then everyone else comes next.*
Well, they don't have any obligation to do that no.
And if they have a shielding member of staff that's different.
Atm, you are no more worthy than any other non shiekding member of staff.
It makes sense for managers and those more vital to have the limited resources as they have been working when you haven't!

they then gave laptops to others who 'appear' to not need to work from home

They had laptops available

Surely firstly they should follow government guidance and give to those who are vulnerable or shielding then everyone else comes next.

It is possible that this is exactly what they have done. But, obviously, they would start with those who are shielding. Perhaps the laptops have all gone to people who are shielding. You really don't know. You are making assumptions.

I think until you reach 28 weeks you are going to have to suck it up. Obviously, get a proper risk assessment done, but the chances are that the result will be you are expected to go into work. Because whilst you are vulnerable, there are a lot of people who are vulnerable, and I expect your employer can't afford to buy extra laptops for all of those people.

I know that dhs office gave the first batch of laptops to those they considered to be "business critical", the next to those who HAD to stay home, the next to those who preferred to stay home, etc. But they are a plc who are doing well despite the downturn and can afford to suck up the cost.

@chillipeanuts sadly many Government agencies aren't following the guidance in relation to home working.

There are still many people working in offices, undertaking tasks which aren't essential right now, under the guise of being labelled key workers, my role is important, but some of the tasks undertaken really aren't and they are keeping us at work longer than necessary.

Our role can be undertaken at home, but the facilities haven't been made available despite asking on humerus occasions, yet management have been instantly provided with the facilities needed without question.

The Government does need to come down on companies who refuse without good reason, starting with their own agencies.

OP have you trotted getting in touch with the union? Usually you have to be a member for 1 month minimum before they will support you but, I joined when in difficulty and they were still happy to meet me, provide verbal advice in that month. You might need them later.

In the mean time as pp have said, document everything including detailed notes of you can during calls, sent to whoever was on the call after 'a summary of our call please advise of any edits'. Stay factual, concise and professional.

"If they had no laptops I would totally understand but I asked for one and they bypassed me."

Because they were given to people who were shielding, whereas you are not in the shielding list.

Or given to people with a more crucial role in keeping the business afloat.

They've complied with government social distancing rules, done a risk assessment, decided there's a business need for you to be in, and you're not in a group with an increased risk of serious illness.

I don't blame you for preferring to work at home. Anybody would. But I can't see what they have done wrong really. And they've also given you the opportunity to take your annual leave to further delay returning.

*tried not trotted.. sigh

For those saying op is being unreasonable. This is a job she can do very easily from home
We don't know that though. OP says she can but her manager might disagree.

Also, the issue is likely not to be the laptop but the access to VPN. They will have a licence for only so many people but more importantly, the more people accessing VPN, the slower the system so they will prioritise managers whose access at home is more important. Managers should be in the office too unless they have health issues but as others have said, it's likely they are at stronger risk than OP, or are a single parent with no childcare etc...

Misses point, but I’d love to know what sort of Public Sector job is completely computer based with no customer interaction or phone calls

There's an awful lot of back office work done by public sector workers that requires no interaction with the public e.g. accounting & finance, data processing, writing briefs, many roles in IT (programming for example). There are many more public sector workers behind the scenes, it's not just all public facing like health care, job centre etc.

I do not think allocation of laptops has to be on health grounds it could be on who can most easily work from home securely, those whose work is most vital for the function and / or the financial stability of the company even if you work for the public sector,
if you are shielding they still don't have to give you a laptop but will need to give you sick pay
if they have rearranged offices to allow social distancing and done a risk assessment then it is reasonable to come back to work, touching door handles using same toilets as other employees would be considered reasonable working at a desk 60cm a instead of 2metres away would not

She’s fighting for furlough but they said they can’t because they take funds from the public. She needs to now consider risking herself to come in and work as she can’t afford to live.
@TheWickerWoman that makes no sense as all furlough pay comes from the public purse.

@TeacupDrama They will have to do a risk assessment. What is considered reasonable will depend on that. And all employees asked to return should ask to see it and take a copy. It is a legal document.

@dontdisturbmenow You mean they will prioritise managers as managers have more power to insist they are protected?
DPs team are wfh. Apart from the first few days with IT hitches it has been fine. IT provide remote support. And they suggested workarounds
that meant speed was quickly dealt with.
Responsible employers already had staff who could wfh before lock down and used that time to iron out any issues. I can think of loads of companies who could do this.
In a court of law I would be arguing that employers who did not do this were negligent and so employees should not now be put at risk for their negligene.
If people are forced back this will be the next big PPI with adverts saying, left with long term health problems, ring this number to start a claim. And insurance will not cover it, most exclude pandemics, Which will lead to some companies becoming bankrupt.

In the third trimester it would be reasonable to expect to be facilitated in working from home, as it has been identified as the riskiest time. You don't know how the other laptops were allocated, but you need to be asking what provisions they are going to make when you hit 28 weeks. They are also required to write a risk assessment as you are pregnant anyway, ask for this and don't sign it off until you are content that they can provide the necessary measures. I would wager than a laptop will miraculously become available.

I'm a Civil Servant in the vulnerable group. I was allowed to work from home before lockdown for this reason. The vast majority of our staff started WFH once lockdown was announced (we use laptops at work, rather than desktops and dock them to our screens, keyboards and mice).

We can make calls through our laptops. Those who who man our helplines have to go into the office as their phone systems can't be used remotely.

Anyone in the vulnerable group, or shielding group who cannot WFH for any reason whether because their role requires them to attend the office, or because their disability means they can't WFH until they have their specialist equipment from the office, is on special leave with full pay.

I would be speaking to ACAS if I were you and joining a union. They have clearly been able to accommodate some people to WFH, and it sounds like your job can be done from home. I can see why you're disappointed with their response.

Cantory you are obsessed with people suing workplaces, it would be extrodinarily hard for anyone to prove they caught it at work. The public sector can't win, remember the uproar about MPs getting an increased budget to facilitate their staff working from home? Can you imagine £x millions spent on laptops (which have to have the correct software for security and compatibility) for staff, whilst struggling businesses have had to pay for their own?