To think my employer demanding I go back to the office is just cruel

[Runnyrose]

I work full time over 4 days. DD attends nursery and DH and I split drop offs and pick ups between us. We live 45 minutes from my work in one direction and an hour from DHs in the other but I've been working from home since returning from mat leave in February. My job used to involve a lot of travel around the county and before mat leave, I could easily not step foot in our main office for weeks at a time and generally would start from home and finish at home and go to meetings or appointments in between. Because of the efficiency of Teams, these meetings are almost exclusively virtual and there is no plan to go back to face to face meetings. There is literally not a single aspect of my job that requires me to be in the office.
Suddenly, it's been announced that we have to go back to the office and work there. This will be impossible to manage with DDs childcare setting so the only way will be for my DH to take over both drop offs and pick ups which will mean, to ensure he's there on time, losing 2 hours of work a day. He's self employed so this is a significant amount of money lost every day. I will also lose 2 hours of seeing DD for travel time every day. Not to mention the sudden increased cost in fuel.
I've spoken to my manager and she was completely inflexible and the only solution we could come up with was for me to drop my hours so that I can drop DD off as soon as nursery open, race to work, leave the second the clock strikes 5 to race to pick her up again which frees DH up at least but makes my day a race everyday and costs me a full day a week's pay which works out at nearly £5k a year in bring home pay, not to mention the impact on my pension etc . I can't work full time over 5 days because the nursery don't have availability for her current day off and also, I don't want her going in 5 days a week. Going part time won't even feel like a break for me because I'll literally just be replacing the 2 hours a day working with traveling.
I feel so unbelievably angry at my employer that I work so incredibly hard for them, they know this and my manager said she knows this, but there is no flexibility to allow me to keep working from home when it's going to cause complete devastation to our family set up and financial situation and not in any way shape or form change what they get out of me whilst I'm at work.
I'm trying to find another job but my work is quite niche and there just aren't that many jobs around that pay the same level I'm at now. And I do love my job and don't want to leave it.
I have no problem going back into the office, I just want the option to still be allowed to start and / or finish at home like the job was when I first started and what DH and I planned our situation around before we even had DD.

Due to the way you've been working previously I think it is unfair and I can totally understand why you're upset at the inflexibility. Do they have a flexible working policy and an appeals process? Did you have to put in a formal request?

employ a child minder to take your daughter to nursery and collect her at 5.30. That would be a nice little part time job for somebody and would take the pressure off you and your husband.

I used to do this for my daughter when she went back to work, of course I did it for free because I was looking after my grandson, but I could see myself doing it as a paid job if the need arose.

Or, employ a nanny to look after her full time, you could use the money saved from nursery fees to pay the wages.

Depending on how long you worked for them pre pandemic there could be an argument that your employment contract was effectively changed so that you were no longer an office based worker. It could be worth exploring whether that is a runner, but you’d need advice from a specialist.

Please ignore some of the messages on here. YANBU to expect to continue the pattern of working you already have, which is successful for you and the company. They’re being hugely shortsighted in their approach as it seems pretty clear you’ll leave as soon as you find a viable alternative. I don’t have any advice, except if you do reduce your hours stick to the new hours and make it clear you cannot do 5 days worth of work in four days. The drop in benefit to them may make them rethink their approach. Good luck and hopefully you’ll find a new role working for a company that genuinely values its employees.

From your posts it seems that the issue is getting to nursery pick up at 5.30, when you would finish in the office at 5.00, with the journey taking probably an hour in rush hour, so effectively there is a 30 minute shortfall time wise.

Surely the most feasible answer, is a child minder who does the pick up and looks after your daughter until you can get home. This is bound to be a lot cheaper than either you or your partner cutting your hours, assuming your both in reasonably well paid jobs... unless you have family nearby who would be happy to help out four times a week?

So they are essentially changing the position to be office based. Would you have taken the job for the same pay had you known it was going to be office based? Did they pay for your travel before?

Are your coworkers upset also?

I agree with the others, OP--is it possible to find a reliable local child minder who could pick your daughter up from daycare in the afternoons? Even it's a decent amount of money, it won't have an impact on your pension, and it will take the pressure off the commute. Then your DH could drop off like normal, your minder could pick up, and you could stay on a four-day-a-week job.

I agree that it's too bad they've made the flexibility of telework mean that time you used to spend driving around in the area will now be spent in the office. But as others have said, it's very possible that they're hoping for more in-office collaboration now, or that there was a general lack of productivity, or that there are concerns about work inequality with inequality of home situation.

In the meantime, if flexibility is important to you, I'd stay alert to other jobs that might be out there, however niche.

@crumpet

Depending on how long you worked for them pre pandemic there could be an argument that your employment contract was effectively changed so that you were no longer an office based worker. It could be worth exploring whether that is a runner, but you’d need advice from a specialist.

This is what I was thinking.

Also that there are 5 people in the same situation, who could potentially unite and convince management that this is unfair.

If they can monitor your performance I presume they can monitor how much less work you do in the office because you had to get settled at your desk, fend off the office gossip, phone it about the printer etc non of which you had to do at home
It really should have been a return to normal working patterns not a return to the office

I hate these petty-minded people who don't even mind affecting the quality of the work as long as they can wield their feudal power. Take legal action if possible and keep on looking for another job. Being niche works both ways and you'll be hard to replace

Yanbu. You have always been alwaysefrom home so they are changing your normal working conditions.

If I was you I would look for another job, ask for time off for interviews (they have to give it to you) so they know you're being serious, then see if they change their mind.

@crumpet

Depending on how long you worked for them pre pandemic there could be an argument that your employment contract was effectively changed so that you were no longer an office based worker. It could be worth exploring whether that is a runner, but you’d need advice from a specialist.

On this basis, I would be talking to an employment lawyer. It will cost a couple of hundred for an initial meeting. Far cheaper than the 5k shortfall.

I wouldn't say it is cruel exactly but I'm not sure employers can vary their employees T&Cs so drastically without the employee having the right to appeal? I guess it does come down to what is in your contract.

As a pp said, how do your colleagues feel about it?

P.S. I think there has been some lack of clarity over whether your job was office based before mat leave or Covid because your thread title says "go back to the office" which does rather imply you were office based previously.

I would definitely be taking to an employment lawyer about this. This could be considered constructive dismissal depending on how long you’ve worked there and/or discrimination against women if your working conditions have changed to the extent you and other mothers need to quit. Depends on whether or not your employer can justify the change, I would think.

You have other people on your team doing exactly the same job as you, who (I presume) worked in exactly the same way as you, and now are being requested to change the way they work and go back to the office.

How do they feel about this change?

We are in an economy with a massive shortage of skilled staff - so your employer is about to learn a lesson in trying to keep good people rather than driving them away. Is there a grievance procedure? If they can’t accommodate you I would be looking for another job with the right conditions and a short-term fix to make to work until you can switch.

Also dashing back in the rush hour for a nursery pick-up is going to become hugely stressful long term. What about when the trains are cancelled or there is bad traffic? Nurseries are notorious for closing on the dot! Childminders also usually finish at 6pm - which makes it so hard for mums working in offices where some staff sit shuffling papers until late to look like they are dedicated (while doing no more work). It also seems like you are maybe paying the price for other people slacking off while WFH. You should point out how efficient you have been.

Op you presumably submitted a flexible working request at some point, can you reassess your options and resubmit, is there a HR department?

Appreciate not wanting dd in nursery 5 days, I struggled with this too, but I personally have found this the better option longer term. We have more time each day, dh does drop off, I do pick ups. It takes the pressure off a bit.

Could you request 2 days per week at home for example and 3 in the office? Try to secure a hybrid working model?

And are you certain all staff have had the same message, is anyone else struggling with the change?

It sounds as though you were working remotely because a large part of your job was physically attending meetings. Now you don’t need to do this they want you in the office. It doesn’t sound totally unreasonable to me in all honesty.

I do understand your disappointment though.

@Kanaloa

But you don’t know why they’re demanding a return to in office. Perhaps work productivity has dropped with people being at home and comfortable carrying out tasks during the day, or perhaps they’ve noticed problems in some way.

There could be many reasons but realistically it isn’t ‘cruel’ to ask you to come into the office to do your job. If you dislike the change you can look for a job that is at home with no chance of office work and allows for 7-5 but in my experience there aren’t many of these.

This. They've actually been quite flexible.

The change is disappointing for you but not cruel. Welcome to working parenthood, it's hard.

As your contract states your base is your office then your employer can ask you to work from the office and this would be deemed a reasonable request.

I think your best option is to have an open conversation with your line manager and submit a flexible working request. Make sure you set out the benefits to the company of you continuing to work from home as well as the personal benefits. Good luck.

If you have been doing this routine for years, then arguebly the terms of your contract has changed and they cannot now demand that you change it. The impact of pandemic is irrelevant. I am not an employmen lawyer but in your shoes I would get legal advice before engaging with them (written or oral).

I have a lot of sympathy for you OP. Your situation is very unusual because you had a flexible working arrangement which suited the employer and now they've decided it doesn't suit them and are refusing to even consider your reasons. There is a cost to you in petrol, since presumably you claimed mileage for site visits, but now driving to the office you can't as it is your ordinary place of work.

Are you absolutely certain there is no chance of a return to site visits in future? Maybe you should start campaigning HARD for that, listing reasons why the visits are more productive than the Teams calls and getting some of the site managers to agree.... unless the people at the sites are now all wfh?!!! A return to business as usual would suit you and you might have some luck with that.

Are your current 7-5 hours contractual or is that a flexible working arrangement?

If you cannot successfully campaign to do site visits and wfh again like before then you have a right to request flexible working once each year, so I would formally make that request first and propose, you come to the office ONE day a week out of four, leaving early at 3pm to collect your DD from nursery on that day avoiding risk of heavy traffic and making up the missing two hours in the evening. Explain that working in the office is a new practice as you didnt do this before mat leave, and that working 7am to 5pm in the office is difficult as you will be leaving home at 6am and not getting home with your daughter from childcare until after 6pm.

When they reject your flexible working request they have to give you a valid business reason. I really CANNOT fathom a reason that is valid. They can't say on one hand "oh great, now Teams is so brilliant we can do all our site meetings online productively" and then refuse your request saying "Teams is useless we can't get anything done unless we are all F2F in the office and you are being managed directly" - that's rubbish as you were being managed remotely not seeing your colleagues successfully before Mat leave. The inconsistency leaves your Employer open to a legal challenge. So go through the right channel and get them to put that feeble reasoning and rejection of flexible working request in writing.

Then, email your anager summarising the conversation you've had, eg 'Further to our conversation about a change to my working practices and your rejection of my flexible working request, you have asked me to commence office working on (date). I have always worked from home to enable site visits to occur, but as this is no longer necessary and you are unwilling for my wfh arrangement to continue, sadly I find myself in the position of being unable to continue working my current contractual hours due to this being incompatible with my family life. As you know I have a young child and wfh has helped me avoid a long and uncertain commute, in order to help me manage childcare pickup and drop off. I am disappointed that family-friendly working practises at (employer) don't support me to continue working from home. This seems out of step with employers in general post-covid, and I feel it is likely to deter talent from joining our organisation and encourage committed employees like myself to seek work at employers who have more progressive, family-friendly working policies. I have always worked consistently well and productively from home. I have adjusted well to the changes imposed by covid, enabling work previously done in F2F meetings to be accomplished efficiently in Teams meeting whilst wfh. I have had no negative feedback about my productivity or the quality of my work since I returned from maternity leave. However as it appears from my conversation with you there is no room to compromise on the changes to my work location, for example with me one day a week in the office instead of four, I find I am obliged to formally request a reduction in my hours of (x) per day, to accommodate the new working practices. I also submit a further flexible working request to have a shortened lunch break of x minutes so that I can leave the office earlier at the end of the day and minimise impact to my family life from these changes. Please can you confirm you approve these changes and arrange with HR the date this will take effect, and provide me an updated contract detailing my new hours and pay."

Make sure you copy in someone senior in HR and consider copying your manager's manager depending on the relationships there.

I would then work to rule, doing exactly what is asked but not a thing more. And I would hunt for another job, because honestly you are right OP most employers are bending over backwards to HELP employees wfh now. Better for the environment if we aren't all driving around, smaller office premises required, happier employees, higher productivity as employees not driving around to different sites during the working day.

And I would consult an employment lawyer and see if there is a case for indirect discrimination and constructive dismissal. Your commute, whilst not outrageous, is enough to make working 7am to 5pm unviable for most families, as it extends your reliance on (and therefore cost of) childcare, puts you an hour away from nursery if there's an emergency pick up needed (eg child sick), makes your commute more costly (2 hours driving per day), and is completely pointless as there has been no reason given why wfh isn't still acceptable. Plus you've PROVEN you can wfh successfully pre covid.

I'm really sorry also you had so many unhelpful replies here, hope you are still reading what other posts are saying as not everyone is horrible!

Sorry but it doesn't seem like there's a lot you can do if you are unwilling to reduce your hours. I'm sure lots of people could argue that their job can be done just as well from home (i'm a teacher and spend one day a week out of class for planning/leadership responsibilities - this could be done just as well from home and save me heaps in childcare as well) and would like to get the full time wage that you do as well. Sadly, lots of parents have to lose out on take home pay so that they can make childcare arrangements work. If your job role doesn't suit your family then it's your responsibility to find a job that does, rather then trying to force your current employer suit you. Sounds like they've already been quite flexible in allowing you to work 4 days instead of 5 and offering the chance to reduce hours now.