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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To say no to going back to office until I've had vaccine & restrictions lifted?

251 replies

Willow79 · 09/04/2021 22:20

I live in Scotland and have been wfh for a year. I'm late 20s and asthmatic. Basically I wouldnt feel safe going back to physical work until I've at least had the vaccine. I know I'm young but I have friends with long covid and the prospect really scares me.

Anyway over the last 2 weeks my boss has been asking colleagues to meet our clients in physical meetings again. They travel there together by car and spend time with multiple teams of people.

Today was the first time the boss suggested I do this soon and another client also put pressure on me for the first time saying they want to meet soon as things go back to 'normal'.

AIBU to not want to do this seeing as the rule is a phased return to work in June?

OP posts:
DeeCeeCherry · 10/04/2021 06:43

Scottish and English legislation is different. Not everything revolves around England. There's no point incorrectly advising OP based on England rules

YANBU OP

HumunaHey · 10/04/2021 06:47

@Lalliella

Isn’t the guidance to still work from home if you can? So your boss should t be forcing you to go back in. YANBU OP, and I don’t really understand why people are saying the opposite, and why there are so many nasty people on this thread.
*if you can That's the key part. If they potentially lose clients through lack of face to face action, then thry can't continue as they were.
NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 10/04/2021 06:53

Yabu.

Rates are incredibly low, your chance of catching it is minimal and the risk to you of severe illness is tiny.

If clients like that face to face brain storming, you need to work face to face. It's not up to your employer to tolerate your excessive level of health anxiety and inability to understand the low level of risk you face.

Geamhradh · 10/04/2021 06:55

Guidelines is work from home if you can.
That phrase covers employers who think productivity isn't so good when people WFH.
Unfortunately, the piss-takers, and we all know several, create that situation for the rest of the people who are working properly from home.

Hyppogriff · 10/04/2021 06:56

If your asthma is of any significance you should have been offered or be able to seek the vaccine by now. Then get back to work !

duffeldaisy · 10/04/2021 07:01

A lot of people on this seem to have the attitude that because they have to face risk then so should you.
No wonder this country is in the state it is.

I think it’s reasonable, from your description, for you to ask to continue working from home for the next few months if doing that has been possible for the last year. Good luck with it.

duffeldaisy · 10/04/2021 07:06

“ If your asthma is of any significance you should have been offered or be able to seek the vaccine by now. Then get back to work !”

Yes, they should have been offered the vaccine, but they haven’t. I have a friend who has been hospitalised with asthma and who has other immune conditions, but if they’re not on the limited list then they’re slipping through the cracks. My friend is very anxious, having to work unvaccinated and the stress has impacted her health. We need to be more compassionate and patient to protect people like OP.

BusyLizzie61 · 10/04/2021 07:06

@Willow79
Yanbu to be concerned and at least reduce risks.
However, given you're not even in group 6 for the vaccination, you need to take this as a positive. The odds of you having a serious outcome are incredibly small. I say this as someone who's chronically asthmatic and been on the shielding list for the last year, who has barely left the home.
I don't think that you will have much choice tbh about returning and given at the moment your employer is mooting the idea, I think that you're best off requesting a specific assessment regarding your needs, though I cannot see that they'll view them significantly differently to other colleagues given you're not in the first 9 groups.
But, I'd state that you only wish to meet where there's ventilation, preferably outside, 2m apart and no car sharing. The matter is easier if none of those driving have business insurance to carry colleagues and not a company car.
Have you read work's policy re covid and compared it to the official guidelines?

Aprilx · 10/04/2021 07:10

Somebody in their twenties has a risk factor close to zero and is absolutely taking advantage of the situation as a reason to not go to work. If I were the employer, I would ask you if you want to come to work or resign and knock this nonsense on the head. Clients wanting to see people in person is a very valid reason to see them in person.

Asthma is very common in the UK and is not considered a risk factor otherwise asthmatics would be getting vaccinations.

Covidatemyhomework · 10/04/2021 07:10

Car sharing isn’t particularly covid secure unless as you cant be 2 meters apart. We’ve been advised (NHs staff) to only car share if there is no other alternative ans there should be one in the front, one in the back, masks and visors on and all windows open. It’s that part of what you are being asked to do that would not make me comfortable. Metting people face to face for work, I’ve been doing that all the way through the pandemic (NHS)

Covidatemyhomework · 10/04/2021 07:11

Can be. Not cant be, obviously...

Mayra1367 · 10/04/2021 07:14

Many people have had to work throughout the pandemic with only token risk assessments. Time for everyone to get back to their office unless you have a severe medical exemption .

Literallynoidea · 10/04/2021 07:14

YABU

Literallynoidea · 10/04/2021 07:21

In my office it's the 20-somethings who are the worst, too. Wanting to wfh in their pyjamas for ever. Using fear as an excuse.

It's not good enough. In my office loads are jabbed and we all wear masks except at our (very spaced out) desks and get covid tests all the time.

I don't understand this laziness - in my 20s I'd have wanted to be back at work with my friends. Like I feel now - I'm happy to be back.

Holly60 · 10/04/2021 07:22

I don’t think you are being unreasonable. If you can do your job as effectively from home as you can in the office then you need to convince your employers that this is the case. Ask for a very clear justification of why they want you back in the office. I would also speak to your GP and explain that you are asthmatic, very anxious, and expected back in work/car sharing etc- they may be able to find a justification to put you down to get a vaccination.

Just because others have been going out to work does not make you unreasonable for not wanting to.

Holly60 · 10/04/2021 07:25

I can’t believe all the ‘well I’ve had to put myself at risk so I think everyone else should too’ posts. Not the most gracious attitude Hmm

loulouljh · 10/04/2021 07:27

Late 20s? I would say for goodness sake go. All out of proportion.

Divebar2021 · 10/04/2021 07:30

What are the actual COVID rates in your area?

Sarcobaleno · 10/04/2021 07:31

I can understand your frustration if the rules say wfh until June. Car sharing would be a flat no for me but the meeting is hard to judge not knowing what you do. I think you need to get your head around the fact you will not have had the vaccine before you are back at work. It doesn't sound like you are deemed vulnerable so as a 20-something you are likely to be waiting a while.

devastating · 10/04/2021 07:31

@DeeCeeCherry

Scottish and English legislation is different. Not everything revolves around England. There's no point incorrectly advising OP based on England rules

YANBU OP

^ this

Plus - socially distanced meeting with a client - maybe. Travelling in a car with people - definitely not. I work in a school in England doing admin. We try to keep our distance from each other and there is no way we would be travelling in cars together.

nancywhitehead · 10/04/2021 07:32

I think some people on here are being really harsh. I understand OP's concerns and she is asthmatic which is a really grey area. People with asthma haven't been offered the vaccine even though it would obviously be worse for them if they got Covid, so I do understand.

OP, if there are colleagues in the business who can do face to face appointments happily, couldn't you just take the clients who are happy to be online/ phone for now?

It's only a couple more months before you will likely have had the first dose.

If your employer genuinely can't compromise and will lose business if you don't go back then perhaps they would have a point (although I'd still argue that employee safety comes first). But surely there is a compromise that can be found here. I think it is unreasonable of your employer to not even try to meet your request to stay working from home for 3 more months. It's not very long and it's not like you're saying you'll never come back.

devastating · 10/04/2021 07:34

Why are so many people saying the OP is lazy Hmm?

NothingIsWrong · 10/04/2021 07:37

Just because you think you are doing an good job of working from home doesn't mean the client thinks you are. If they are wanting face to face then I think your employer is in the right. I would insist on driving myself as that sounds like the biggest risk, but beyond that I think YABU

nancywhitehead · 10/04/2021 07:38

@Hyppogriff

If your asthma is of any significance you should have been offered or be able to seek the vaccine by now. Then get back to work !
Unfortunately this isn't the case. The asthma criteria are really weird for Covid jabe.

I have a friend who is quite badly asthmatic who hasn't been offered the jab because she hasn't been hospitalised with asthma.

If you have mild asthma or even no current symptoms but were hospitalised as a child - even if you're now in your 40's or 50's and have had no asthma symptoms in decades - you can have the jab.

The criteria are strange and mean that lots of people who currently suffer from asthma which might actually be quite bad (even if not hospitalised, it can be quite bad!) aren't getting the vaccine.

IceCreamAndCandyfloss · 10/04/2021 07:39

Lots not wanting to go back, employers will start taking action soon. Many happy to go shopping, send their children to school, book holidays but won’t go back to the office as too risky Hmm