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

[Willow79]

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?

@StrawberryLipstickStateOfMind

Presumably if OP and all other people in their 20s are so low risk they should have been allowed to carry on doing whatever they liked during the past year regardless? 🤔

Funny now isn't it, now they have switched to being the ones at higher risk that apparently it doesn't matter and everything should just get back to normal.

This misconception is going to persist for a looooong time. Younger healthy people were never asked to stay at home for their own protection. They have done so to reduce overall contacts and keep community transmission down to protect the most vulnerable. Those people are now largely vaccinated.

I don’t think OP should be forced back to work either but it’s not helpful to misrepresent why she was at home in the first place.

@HandsIntoTheFire I've not enjoyed WFH either- it's been awful for my mental health.

I do appreciate though that i have excellent employees who have put our health first. They've tried to do what they can to support people struggling from home and before the most recent lockdown had opened the office up for staff in small numbers who really felt they needed to be there.

They've also trusted us to get on with our work and have treated us like adults.

I also get that people feel differently to me- that after a year of bullying and gaslighting from this government who have ramped up the fear factor at every opportunity people will have been psychologically affected by this. And like a PP said, it does feel like we're nearing the end of it now with vaccinations, I don't think it's unreasonable for the young who haven't yet had theirs to want to wait a little longer.

@Notagain20
My working conditions enable people to continue WFH without their children running around at home all day:)
I’m also treated with contempt if even start to express “genuine concerns” about MY health because if I start to work from home through zoom (which is not impossible) it will make lives of so many people so much harder.
WFH is also the opportunity to save a fortune on travel costs, a bliss for introverts and a great opportunity to save time on commute. I completely understand! Some of my friends WFH and completely agree with me. Unless you a person is genuinely CEV and refusing themselves all the other “pleasures” like shopping/meeting friends/family, it all comes down to that - comfort of WFH. But no one wants to admit that.

Sorry, I’m shouted at - forced back to face-to-face work in the office.

So much hate on this thread for WFH. Just to clarify for all of those who think we all watch box sets all day.
I work for the NHS, from home in a public health role. I and my colleagues have worked 10-12 hour days throughout this pandemic and we have carried large amounts of annual leave into next year as we are unable to take the time off.
I know many others who are working more than ever now- all from home.
Yes, we are fortunate to have been able to avoid the risk of the virus and yes we appreciate those who have placed themselves at risk to provide essential services but WFH certainly hasn’t been a long holiday for me. Quite the opposite!

I'm reading a lot of...

"I've gone along with everything my manager has said without questioning or negotiating or checking whether it's legal - therefore anyone who questions it is a pampered wuss"

"I've had a shit time and/or been treated like I'm disposable by my firm - therefore everyone else should be and if they raise questions about it they're a selfish princess who is destroying the economy and wants key workers to die"

Whatever happened to solidarity? ?

Mybe office working is fine but no you dont have to car share with anyone not in your household/bubble

They changed the asthma vaccination guidelines and bumped loads of asthmatics off the list it got changed to if you had been hospitalised or were on certain steroid prescriptions.

Some areas have been able to get through some asthmatics based on GP lists but this is dependent on the area, it certainly hasn't been done in my area but we are on the lowest for vaccinations.

As for the comments of being young and mild asthma doesn't put you at risk...... Unfortunately it is complete pot luck and nobody knows how covid will effect them until they catch it.

I say this as a mild asthmatic aged 34 who ended up with a moderate case of covid and I'm still recovering over 2 weeks now. My oxygen levels dropped many times into not good levels resulting in multiple calls to NHS 24, I was put on steroid treatment had paramedics at one point and have spent a lot of time in bed. Fit, healthy, not over weight, don't smoke etc.

It's not to scare anyone but unfortunately what appears on paper isn't the reality of covid especially when younger and seems to be pot luck!

StrawberryLipstick I must admit my employers have been pretty good too. They have complied from day 1, no question. They’ve been as supportive to me having the kids at home as they realistically could have been. We have been extremely busy for the full year. Work levels have ramped right up and stayed that way. It’s been very difficult.

The idea of opening back up worries me a bit too - purely because from day to day the only place I go is to the school and back. But I recognise that I need to just get on with it now. We need our lives back.

Yes @PlumpAndDeliciousFatcat I'm aware that it wasn't in the main for the protection of young people (although if you want to blame anyone for the misconception then perhaps look to Matt Hancock/Boris etc who have been very keen to emphasise that 'young people get ill with coronavirus TOO! Long COVID is a real possibility!') but now the older more vulnerable population have been vaccinated, it is now the young who are 'higher risk', albeit that risk being low. It is still a risk, even a tiny number of young people dying is really hideous, as it is with all illness. Given it's pretty close to the point when everyone will be vaccinated then I don't see why it's wrong for the young to consider their health.

On the flip side, as you say the vulnerable are largely vaccinated and it's safe for the young to have to continue as normal, then presumably they should be allowed to actually live again properly too? And not wait until 21 June. It can't work both ways.

@confusedfriday Agreed, there needs to be more honesty here about wanting to WFH because it makes your life easier and you enjoy it versus you feel that it is too unsafe to be in your workplace. When a colleague tells me they hope to travel abroad and look forward to going to theatres and restaurants this summer but still feels it is unsafe to return to work I am a little bit

The duty of employers in Scotland is clear and the message has been repeatedly communicated. There's no excuse for any employer in Scotland not to know their duty. Same as for the OP's employer's clients...if they are in Scotland they too should be enabling WHF wherever possible. I'm not sure if I should be but I'm shocked at the level of bitterness on this thread.

Extracts from some of Nicola Sturgeon First Minister's Statements:

30 March: Continue to work from home if you can. That remains the default position. And employers still have a duty – if they reasonably can - to support people to work from home.

9 March: Continue to work from home if you can and as an employer that is the situation you are in remember to support, you have a duty to support your workers to work from home.

2 March: Work from home if you can – and if you are an employer, continue to support your employees to work from home

22 February: Please work from home if you can – and employers remember to support your workforce to do that wherever possible

18 February: Please continue to work from home if possible and employers, please remember you have a legal duty to support people to work from home.

16 February: If you are an employer, please understand that employees who were working from home while their children were being home schooled, should still be working from home next week, even if their children are back at school. It is of course a legal obligation for all employers to support employees to work from home as far as is possible.

15 February: Work from home whenever you can and employers, remember you have a duty to facilitate your staff working from home wherever possible

11 February: Work from home if you possibly can – and employers, please remember you have a legal duty to support people to work from home.

9 Feb: Work from home if you can – and please to employers remember you have a duty to facilitate your staff working from home wherever possible

various others similar

14 January: We are also introducing statutory guidance on employers to make crystal clear the duty of employers to enable people right now to work from home whenever that is possible.

and www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-homeworking/

I thought people with asthma had already been offered the jab.

It’s getting abit irritating listening to 20 year olds moaning about going back to the office when I have never stopped travelling into my workplace (hospital) , but on the plus side for me, fewer office workers frees up space on the tube so I easily get a seat. I’ve noticed a marked uptick in tube passengers in office attire these last few weeks so people are going back to the office in London at least.

@HandsIntoTheFire I agree very much we need our lives back. I'd drop restrictions tomorrow if I could and go back to 2019 living.

But I don't blame people who haven't yet had a vaccine if they don't feel this way and think some consideration should be given to those that are now the ones more at risk, due to not having been vaccinated yet. I'm 33, not high risk at all. I'm now higher risk than my parents as they've been vaccinated. I'm relieved they've been vaccinated, it's helped my mental health no end. But I think given it shouldn't be long now there still room for compromise for the people who are now more at risk, given what they gave up all along.

@Toddlerteaplease

I thought people with asthma had already been offered the jab.

No the criteria changed only those with a certain steroid or who have been hospitalised with asthma in the last 12 months qualified.

Plenty of us asthmatics in the older age group have been going into work throughout, and at points dealing with children going into schools full of covid and coming home to self isolate left right and centre.
I think, maybe, some people are worrying this into a bigger deal than it is, having been sheltered for a long time, and I get that.
Exposure to the risk does reduce the fear of the unknown, for want of a better way of putting it.
I came to terms with the risks while working through the first lockdown, and I do have sympathy for people who are coming to terms with risk now.

@sashagabadon part of the reason why wfh should continue for those who can manage it is expressly to give space for those such as in the NHS or shops who have to travel.

[quote SilverGlitterBaubles]@confusedfriday Agreed, there needs to be more honesty here about wanting to WFH because it makes your life easier and you enjoy it versus you feel that it is too unsafe to be in your workplace. When a colleague tells me they hope to travel abroad and look forward to going to theatres and restaurants this summer but still feels it is unsafe to return to work I am a little bit[/quote]
I think I'd have a little chuckle at that too 😊

@FindingMeno

Plenty of us asthmatics in the older age group have been going into work throughout, and at points dealing with children going into schools full of covid and coming home to self isolate left right and centre. I think, maybe, some people are worrying this into a bigger deal than it is, having been sheltered for a long time, and I get that. Exposure to the risk does reduce the fear of the unknown, for want of a better way of putting it. I came to terms with the risks while working through the first lockdown, and I do have sympathy for people who are coming to terms with risk now.

Lovely to hear some empathy and compassion ❤️

I think you should go into the office. CV rates have dropped. Our shielders are now back in patient facing roles. Our staff have been car sharing since September as have many other workers eg police, ambulance crews (throughout the pandemic for some). We have had no outbreaks due to this even prior to vaccination with appropriate mitigation. If your employer feels you should be in the office, then you should at least discuss this option with them. If you enjoy WFH be honest with them. You may be able to reach a compromise. I think there will be many people like you, anxious to return to the office. I would also suggest speaking to them about your concerns. Clinically, you don't sound vulnerable from what you have posted. You say you don't want to return until it's safe. I just wonder when that will be? Take care.

@Notagain20

I'm reading a lot of...

"I've gone along with everything my manager has said without questioning or negotiating or checking whether it's legal - therefore anyone who questions it is a pampered wuss"

"I've had a shit time and/or been treated like I'm disposable by my firm - therefore everyone else should be and if they raise questions about it they're a selfish princess who is destroying the economy and wants key workers to die"

Whatever happened to solidarity? ?

Well said!

It's a good point too @peak2021, those who can work from home doing so has been there to reduce the risk for everyone.

@confusedfriday I do agree with you too- there are obvious benefits to working from home- saving on commuting (although this isn't massive for some people including me who lived near my workplace), it definitely helps as a single parent too. I think more choice for everyone should be a good thing surely? The pandemic has been dire for so many reasons, it would be good for some of the positive elements to remain and WFH part of the time will be one of them.

We should be looking to drive up standards for all, not a continual race to the bottom.

We should be looking to drive up standards for all, not a continual race to the bottom

Absobloodylutely!!

We should be looking to drive up standards for all, not a continual race to the bottom

Couldn't agree more!