To think colleague shouldn’t be on permanent WFH due to his DW’s Covid risk?

[oober6]

As in the title really.

The world has opened up, social distancing requirements have gone, vaccines have given us all plenty of protection.

We are key workers who have worked throughout, coming into work every day. I would love to be able to WFH! It would be a lot less pressurised, and of course, no commute etc.

AIBU to think management should now be telling our colleague that he has to start coming back into work? He is healthy and fit.

I have been both a manager and an employee and have never understood the picking up slack thing. If you are working as hard as you should be then either you can't "pick up slack" or it requires extra hours which should be paid for or some less important stuff has to be dropped....basically if the business is running as it should be then any slack is minimal. If you are missing out on breaks which are part of your t and c or going home late/arriving early then that needs to be addressed.....but as someone who managed a very busy tightly staffed NHS service, I'd have LOVED to know where all the resource comes from to pick up slack?

Normal work in my department :
Taking 999 calls, talking to distressed members of the public (often suicidal), talking to the public all day long over a 24/7 period. While being hassled to work faster by management, constantly pushed to take one more call before being allowed a break, having to ask permission to get up.
WFH in my department :
Copying abd pasting emails onto logs which you then pass to someone in the office to call back or action; work at a leisurely pace with no manager breathing down your neck; no interaction with distressed or angry members of the public as you have no phone; work whatever hours suit you.

I wonder why people get miffed 🤔

@oober6 just because she isn't in that "most vulnerable" group (less than 1% of the population) she could still be extremely vulnerable. For example, my sister is in her 30s and she's still WFH and thank fuck she is, because she's had anorexia for almost 20 years and weighs less than a healthy 11 year old. (And no, she's not 4 feet tall her BMI is in the low teens).
Are you jealous because you want to work from home? Or annoyed that your colleague doesn't want to actively endanger his wife?

God, people are awful.

YAB massively U. Your colleagues circumstances are none of your business.

If you have issues with your workload or how work is being allocated to you speak to your manager.

If you want to WFH put a case to your manager of make a flexible working request.

If you just want your colleague to be dragged into work and put his wife at risk because you think Covid should be over now and a bit of Great British pluck should sort it all out and it’s not fair then I hope I never have the misfortune to work with you.

OP, if your colleague were self-employed, he wouldn't still be WFH. He's only doing it because he can get away with it while everyone else has to crack on

if he were self-employed he probably would do because he'd be in charge of his own work and working pattern. And if eg he needed to go into other peoples' houses he could arrange mitigations such as asking them to open windows, wear masks and keep their distance.

@WildExcuses

Keep your beak out.

Some people on here are so rude!

@TractorAndHeadphones

Hmm. If WFH is allowed for one person it should be allowed for all of you. This is what you should raise with your manager!

If manager says that no because your workload will suffer say that you’ve all been doing X’s work.

But it’s still unfair if one person is allowed to WFh and others aren’t

One rule for all cannot exist iN the workplace ....not in theU.K. anyway.....People have rights....people are protected by law for having certain characteristics.......I myself am protected by disability discrimination law.....my manager makes reasonable adjustments so that I can continue to work.....yes this does mean I don’t do the same as others .....because I am not in the office I don’t know if people comment and if they do then I’m not there to hear it..my manager is great

@TractorAndHeadphones

Also to add if the family are living their normal lives then surely he can come in to work. This fraudulent behaviour definitely creates ill will.

Unlike the mental health thread Covid is just exposure so if you don’t want to be exposed in one location it doesn’t make sense for you to go and be exposed everywhere else does it?

How does everyone know so much about his family?

And… it’s perfectly possible the thd WFH adjustment is clothing to do with covid but that’s a convenient story to give you all (since you feel that you’re owed an explanation). Maybe it’s an adjustment because of mental health issues or something else.

You just don’t know because that’s between him and whoever has agreed the adjustment (which may be above your manager, and they’ve just been told that this is the adjustment they need to accommodate).

The colleague with the adjustment is a total red herring here (and a useful scapegoat). The problem is poor management of workload.

It’s may well be discriminatory to have a situation where the management failings are causing resentment and vilification of a colleague with an adjustment.

You know every detail about his wife's health? And how they've been living their lives? How do you manage that? If he's working with people who think 'well we're going about as normal' I can well imagine that he'd want to avoid you. Management decided he can work from home so he obviously can.

What’s this got to do with you?

Your colleague has addressed concerns about his job with management and they have agreed WFH.

Now you do the same - address concerns about your job with management (in that you are being asked to do more than can be achieved in a working day). Any reasons for the extra work are none of your business, and management's problem to solve.

The issue isn't that he is working from home.

It appears the issue is that your work's management is failing to ensure everyone's workload has been allocated fairly across the employees.

Fwiw I'm CV but have been in work in contact with covid for all the times bar the two big lockdowns. I caught covid and was really quite poorly, needing hospital admission and medication for life.

When I was working from home, during lockdowns I did more than my fair share of work, didn't leave anyone picking up any slack and tbh I've never worked harder nor longer hours than those times. So wfh doesn't always mean not pulling your weight.

Sounds like you have a management issue rather than an employee one.

@DaphneDeloresMoorhead

Normal work in my department : Taking 999 calls, talking to distressed members of the public (often suicidal), talking to the public all day long over a 24/7 period. While being hassled to work faster by management, constantly pushed to take one more call before being allowed a break, having to ask permission to get up. WFH in my department : Copying abd pasting emails onto logs which you then pass to someone in the office to call back or action; work at a leisurely pace with no manager breathing down your neck; no interaction with distressed or angry members of the public as you have no phone; work whatever hours suit you.

I wonder why people get miffed 🤔

Whereas in my job it's exactly the same if you WFH and you have a phone. I do twice as much as some people in the office!

What are their specific circumstances OP? What exactly is her risk etc..?

I am sure there have been similar exasperated colleague threads before which were entirely more sympathetic

Yes AIBU swings this way and that, but don't forget there are also plenty who simply enjoy WFH and don't want the boat rocking - so naturally some will blast you for how unreasonable you're being no matter what effect it's having on the rest of the workforce

I'll say again that workload issues are for management to address, but it seems they're not doing it properly or you wouldn't be in this situation
Come to that, if the absent colleague was fulfilling their role properly it may not be happening either, so if you raise the workload with the boss you may well find him back at work (especially if the alternative's hiring/paying for someone else to pick up the slack)

You've just said that you'd love to work from home, this man is doing what you would love to be doing. I think it might be a bit of jealousy you have here. I get it may not be fair, but if thats the case do something about it, speak up, explain why you need to WFH, commitments, anxiety about covid, mental health. Things can always change.

OP, if your colleague were self-employed, he wouldn't still be WFH. He's only doing it because he can get away with it while everyone else has to crack on

That depends entirely on the nature of the self employment. I''m self employed and my OH is CEV (incurable blood cancer). I've worked throughout, but drastically changed the type of work I do. I've had to let go probably half my client base who required meetings and personal visits, and taken on a lot of a different type of work/client that can be done remotely.

One of my clients is a decorator who has only done external work or empty property interiors since covid started. Likewise, another is a kitchen fitter who has only been doing kitchens in empty properties.

Lots and lots of self employed and small businesses have changed the way they do their work to minimise/zeroise close personal contact.

@AwaAnBileYerHeid

What are their specific circumstances OP? What exactly is her risk etc..?

None of the OP's business and if their employer/HR dept know, then it's a breach of confidentiality to divulge such information to the OP.

@Duckerbizzle

Everyone is enjoying giving you a good telling off, OP! Not sure if you really deserve the pile on, though. Surely many many people in reality might feel a bit miffed if it seemed like someone at work was getting a seemingly easier ride for whatever reason. Doesn't necessarily mean you are a nasty, ungrateful, jealous psycho. But no, the mumsnet saints would all be perfectly happy to do the extra work because they are so appreciative that they don't have a vulnerable family member. Rubbish! Nothing wrong with feeling a bit irritated by the situation, it's not like you're sending death threats to your colleague or something!

If the rest of the team are 'picking up the slack' then it's for management to sort out, not for the colleague to have to come back.

You don't sound jealous to me but weary.

Some people, given special treatment, milk it for all it's worth.

I wish you lots of luck and a fairer division of the work.

Many railing at you would feel just the same.

I don’t think most of us are ‘telling the OP off’.

Just agreeing with her isn’t useful. Helping her to recognise what the problem actually is and to address that is not ‘telling her off’.

Both my DH and I now WFH. All of my colleagues WFH with no plans to return to office however my DH has been very ill. He was in the shielding group, he is someone to have the third vaccine. He is on immuno, has a blue badge as he cant walk far due to breathlessness. If he wasnt able to WFH he would have to go off sick. His colleagues have been fantastic but one has a real issue about him WFH. Why is he working as the assumption is he is sat sunnning himself? Noone has to pick up slack apart from when he is off sick. My DH does ward rounds from the computer, he does supervision remotely and various other things. Our life is hard enough without folks bitching .we dont go out, its bloody hard sitting in the house day in day out.

I have to care for my DH at home, help him with his self care, medication, nebulisers, fluids through the day, NG feed over night. I cant just be at work .

For us as a family the ability to work remotely has been a life saver. My DH being able to work has been good for his mental health, encourages him to get up and mobilise. Also he still gets paid. Noone knows what goes on behind closed doors. A decent employer would support there staff

@godmum56

I have been both a manager and an employee and have never understood the picking up slack thing. If you are working as hard as you should be then either you can't "pick up slack" or it requires extra hours which should be paid for or some less important stuff has to be dropped....basically if the business is running as it should be then any slack is minimal. If you are missing out on breaks which are part of your t and c or going home late/arriving early then that needs to be addressed.....but as someone who managed a very busy tightly staffed NHS service, I'd have LOVED to know where all the resource comes from to pick up slack?

Really? So if a team member was off sick then did all their tasks not ever get done, or did people not have to stay a bit late / do less well on their main jobs / rush all day / skip lunch, in order to ensure that the right service ran? Most of us have, and that's what picking up the slack looks like. It's fine if it's a day or even a week, but far too often, it's okayed for someone to WFH full time, or drop a day, or not do certain tasks (often due to a reasonable adjustment for disability) - but without adjusting the tasks required of everyone else. That just breeds resentment as well as people quitting or going off with stress.

If some have the freedom to WFH then I think this should be extended to all.

I'm very lucky in that my workplace has embraced hybrid working. We are asked to come in at least twice a week but this isn't really monitored.

However, I have noticed one person on the team hasn't been in at all. We've had a number of days now where the team have been encouraged to come in, and she's been absent every time. I also know she hasn't been in on any other occasion either.

It doesn't affect me but I think it's bad form. If she came in just once a fortnight, I'd think this was enough, but to never come in is something else. She has a significantly shorter commute than the majority on the team and if she were manager, I get the feeling she wouldn't be keen on allowing others to WFH.

What are their specific circumstances OP? What exactly is her risk etc..?

Their specific circumstances are completely and utterly irrelevant. The OP's colleague could have asked to wfh for any reason they want and if management OK it, that's that.

If the OP wants to work from home to they need to put their case to management. If they have an issue with the work allocation they need to bring it up with management. If they have an issue with their colleagues performance they need to bring it up with management. Moaning about their colleague on an Internet forum doesn't solve the issue and only breeds resentment. Moaning about their colleague at work also does nothing to solve the issue but is a good way of getting a disciplinary if the wrong person hears it.