Employer says I must return to office

[Dishmatic]

I’m currently wfh. A lot of people at my company are in the office and have always been.

Last year I wrote to HR and requested to wfh due to a health condition which makes me vulnerable to Covid.
This was approved and i’ve been wfh since.

I have my Covid vaccine this week. I told my work colleague that I’d booked it and yesterday I had an email from work asking for a catch up about retuning to the office.

I spoke to them this morning and they’ve said that now I’m being vaccinated I will be expected to return to the “Covid secure” office.

I didn’t say anything on the phone but I’m really not happy to go back in.

There’s over 70 people in my office building.
14 in the room I work in!!

AIBU to not go back in due to risks?

I have definitely seen people become more cocooned- I don’t think it’s so much anxiety as it is a loss of enthusiasm for life- not being bothered to leave the house. Sick of walking around the same areas. I don’t mean to sound dramatic but there was definitely a different feel to this lockdown (understandably).

However, people have worked through the entire thing and many of them aren’t anywhere near being vaccinated yet and just have to get on with it. Lots of the people I work with have been really grateful for being able to go in to work because it has ‘kept them going’. I don’t know many who actually live wfh to be honest.

It would be great if employers started to become more flexible but I imagine that trying to please all would be a nightmare judging from some of these posts.

When were you planning to go back? After your second dose? Not at all?

I also have a condition that makes me CV (but not CEV) & spent most of the pandemic working on a Covid ward. I now work in a GP surgery.

I have had my first dose of vaccine but not the second yet.

If everyone else who isn’t shielding is back in the office then there is no valid reason why you shouldn’t be too.

If you can work from home I don't get why it can't stay this way if someone chooses.
I own a waste management company obviously my employees cannot stay at home

We are working with a global, multinational corporation whose employers are a bit more forward thinking (or afraid of being sued) and everyone there works from home and will be until it is safe to do so.
I work for a global multinational company in the US. Apart from a very small subset of customer facing workers. We are not allowed to go to the office. They can track this with security badge reports and any infraction is a very serious offense.
But I would like to be able to go a couple of times a week.

I think you should go back.

Am at my wits end because my colleagues are too comfy WFH. Affronted if I send the wrong piece of work to them because I’m too busy and make the odd mistake. But won’t come in to collect stuff.

Both trying to use the vaccine as excuse not to return, one has had first jab so could return. Other is ridiculously anxious and rarely goes out, happy to go to funeral (not on zoom) but not the office cos all of us with kids are potential carriers. We do tests regularly, windows open, wipes, gels, sprays galore. 2m distance still enforced. We’re keeping Covid at bay due to good safety measures, no logic for refusal.

Am not being unkind, have supported both through all sorts of crises. Just want them to woman up and come back part time. Just tired and fucked off with the whole thing.

😬😬

Honestly? People have become used to wfh. They like the fact they can grab a cup of tea and biscuit whenever they want, that no one is looking over their shoulder. They like the fact there's no commute and can get a extra 30 minute lie in.
They have been off for so long, and I wouldn't be surprised if the thought of a change in routine isn't freaking people out a bit. Just in general. All the added stress, never mind Covid. There will be many. Not to mentioned the furloughed, who haven't actually been working.
It's been a year of this. Each and every employer has the right to request staff to return to work, albeit with appropriate risk assessments and adjustments.

It's a fine balance. I work in healthcare and have been working at my practice all throughout the pandemic. It's been a mental health life saver to be able to leave the house every day. I couldn't imagine day in day out of virtual meetings.

It's going to take a huge adjustment for society to return, hopefully to a safe, but more normal way of working.

@EthelMerman your circumstances are a really good example of what those wfh or without responsibility for all staff don’t see - the knock on effect for other team members

[quote VaVaGloom]@EthelMerman your circumstances are a really good example of what those wfh or without responsibility for all staff don’t see - the knock on effect for other team members[/quote]
Thank you for understanding @VaVaGloom, makes the world of difference.

If you can work from home I don't get why it can't stay this way if someone chooses.

Because you might not be as productive at home as you are at work?
Because you might be leaving an unfair load on those who are in the office?
Because you're not as contactable as you would normally be?

There's lots of reasons why it's up to the employer, not the employee, to decide if they should work from or not.

I was all with you until the revelation you are not even on the shielding list. Your employers have been very nice to let you WFH when everyone else has been in.

but more normal way of working.

Can’t we have a new normal? I found the old normal soul destroying.

@Ijustknowitstimetogo

but more normal way of working.

Can’t we have a new normal? I found the old normal soul destroying.

Yes, absolutely where it’s possible and makes sense we should. I’m expecting my team to ask to split office with wfh and if I am allowed, will agree to that.

We need to make changes for NHS staff too. They’ve absolutely had our backs (as have teachers, front line staff and so, so many others).

The bottom line is do you wish to keep your job? Your employer has said you must return to the office, you're not shielding, have had the first jab, others are working in the office, why should you not?

I can never understand people who claim working from home is less productive. Being at work 90% of my time (no exaggeration) was spent chatting with colleagues in/out the office/meeting for "marketing" drinks/coffees etc etc etc. Only a fraction of my day was spent on my actual work. At home, I start earlier, finish later, can concentrate on my actual work and am extremely productive. I am also contactable ALL the time.

@Ijustknowitstimetogo

but more normal way of working.

Can’t we have a new normal? I found the old normal soul destroying.

Meanwhile there’s another thread talking about longer school days and shorter holidays.

I think I’ll stick with the old normal.

Work called to discuss, you refused to talk to them. What do you want them to do other than say "hey Dish, you just tell us if you ever want to come back, there's no rush, 2025 is cool". CALL THEM and TALK TO THEM and ask if you can return two weeks after your 2nd jab.

You say there's 15 people in your office, but your office could be huge or tiny, you could all have individually ventilated plastic boxes or you could all be sharing one desk. Is you office actually covid secure? Can you talk to colleagues and ask them to send a picture of your desk and the surrounding area?

Are your colleagues picking up your share of mail, printing, telephone calls, lunch cover etc?

Because you might not be as productive at home as you are at work?
Rubbish. The only reason people managers are pushing people to return to the office is because they need people to manage to keep their own jobs.

@XelaM

I can never understand people who claim working from home is less productive. Being at work 90% of my time (no exaggeration) was spent chatting with colleagues in/out the office/meeting for "marketing" drinks/coffees etc etc etc. Only a fraction of my day was spent on my actual work. At home, I start earlier, finish later, can concentrate on my actual work and am extremely productive. I am also contactable ALL the time.

I gather you don't work in IT. Or indeed in any measurable role.

Isn’t the whole point of having a vaccine so that you can start going back to the office, life can start to get back to normal, etc? Why have the vaccine if you still don’t want to leave the house?

No, not everyone is anxious about COVID. The government has told you to be scared and you obeyed. Now it’s time to realise that and get on with your life.

Were you “working” when you were on this thread? The employer might have a point about wanting you back in the office. Or do you usually have Tuesday afternoons off?

*I requested last year to work from home due to being CV.

I didn’t formally tell work I was being vaccinated, I told a colleague.*

So it looks as though perhaps the colleague has told your employer if the e mail requesting you to go back to the office came soon after.
If your employer has had to deal with the fact that other people have felt that their jobs could be done from home since you requested to wfh, this might explain the timing of the e mail.

I think your employer has been very supportive to allow you to wfh for the past year as you are not CEV or on the shielding list.

They are now reviewing the wfh arrangement as you are being vaccinated, all other staff are in the office, and they have made the office covid secure.

Whatever your underlying health condition is, I guarantee that there have been nurses in hospitals, teachers in classrooms and supermarket staff in shops with that condition throughout, and many of them older than your 32 years. I'm not saying it should be a race to the bottom, but just that your perception of risk may be flawed, and that you have been very lucky to have been effectively shielded up to now.

[quote VaVaGloom]**@Dishmatic* your earlier statement was misleading then Nope. We don’t go anywhere. DP wfh* [/quote]
@VaVaGloom

Well we really hardly do go anywhere!!

We go for a walk... that’s it.

In the summer when restrictions permitted, we met friends outdoors.

Are you suggesting that because I want to wfh I shouldn’t be leaving my house, at all?

I think it depends on the company the OP works for- non essential shops and gyms are due for reopening April 12th so the company may be expected an increase in demand and therefore need all hands on deck.

It’s also going to be increasingly difficult for the company to insist unvaccinated people continue to come into the office when those that have been vaccinated are WFH.

They have ensured it’s after the 3 week full protection from the first vaccine and this does greatly reduce chance of hospitalisation or death.

I am also unsure how OP would know how many others have or haven’t had the vaccine- this is personal medical information and cannot be shared.

I LOOK perfectly healthy but I have also had the vaccine. Colleagues may be carers etc which may not be known.

I would have a conversation with your manager but I wouldn’t expect to be allowed to WFH full time moving forwards.

@BritWifeinUSA

Were you “working” when you were on this thread? The employer might have a point about wanting you back in the office. Or do you usually have Tuesday afternoons off?

Nah, I was just using my work time to post on mumsnet. So my workload, I’ll let the idiots in the office pick up on my slack......

I know that’s what most people seem to believe about wfh. Not that it’s ANY of your business what I get up to on a Tuesday afternoon, but I have the week off.
Holiday allowance renews in April and I have a lot of leave left to take.
Hope that’s okay, or do you require proof?
Perhaps a not from my employer....