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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Office is still open

124 replies

Junesopramo · 04/01/2022 23:17

My office is still open. Over Christmas I was exposed via a family member and also in the new year.

I don’t think I’m eligible for a PCR and none are available in my area, no symtoms.

We can work from home, we did it for 15 months.

Surely with Boris telling us to close the office, we should close the office? A couple of employees did get covid before Christmas. I don’t believe lateral flows are mandatory. We’ve been asked to buy a certain type of mask and they will reimburse.

Aibu by refusing to go to the office?

OP posts:
monkeysox · 05/01/2022 07:20

@OnceuponaRainbow18

Flowers
daisymade · 05/01/2022 07:21

At some point, you won't be able to hide behind "guidance".

WFH longer term is unsustainable, you can't live in fear of contracting this indefinitely. My office is still open, they decided after the first lockdown shit all over everyone's MH, they would keep offices open for people.

Lots of people (like me) genuinely need to go and work in the office for our own MH reasons, of course employers should recognise that.

Whilst they can't do anything under current guidelines, YABU and very short sighted in terms of marking your cards at work.

Twiglets1 · 05/01/2022 07:23

You’re being unreasonable... school staff have to go in with far more reason to feel afraid. Retail workers have to go in, bus, taxi and train drivers have to go to work outside the home as do people working in hospitals and other emergency services. You expect society to operate almost as normal I expect. Well so so I and I’m fed up with receiving poor customer service because so many organisations still have too many staff wfh to run as efficiently as they used to.

Katemum · 05/01/2022 07:33

Civil servants with laptops that have worked from home previously and could easily continue to work from home are in the office every day so even Boris isn’t following his advice.

MaybeHeIsMyCat · 05/01/2022 07:37

@Twiglets1

You’re being unreasonable... school staff have to go in with far more reason to feel afraid. Retail workers have to go in, bus, taxi and train drivers have to go to work outside the home as do people working in hospitals and other emergency services. You expect society to operate almost as normal I expect. Well so so I and I’m fed up with receiving poor customer service because so many organisations still have too many staff wfh to run as efficiently as they used to.
People keep saying that to us about customer service. I think the issue now is the amount of people isolating/sick My work is just insanely busy and short staffed due to people off work. I'm the only one WFH now and it doesn't impact productivity
Summersdreaming · 05/01/2022 07:38

YABU, your employer does not seem to be one of the many companies moving towards permanent WFH, they want their employees on site. If that is not what you want then look for another job.

Jayaywhynot · 05/01/2022 07:39

My office is open but the advice is to work from home if you can, on the flip side, we can go in if we want to, for example, if there's something that you can't do at home, you need a face to face with a colleague or its affecting your mental health.
There's safety measures in place, I've wfh through the pandemic, been into the office a couple of times when restrictions were eased but back wfh now.
However, if my manager asked me to go in I would even though I prefer wfh.

stayathomer · 05/01/2022 07:40

YABVU, do you stay locked indoors at weekends? If not, then you should go to work - I find it funny some people have no issue going pubs or shopping but have an issue going to work!
While I don't have an opinion on OP's predicament a pub is different to shopping and in a different way it's totally different to work. You sit in work for 8/9 hours. Shopping you walk through with a mask on, you have no mask on while drinking and drink is known to make you loosen your judgement!!!

user1487194234 · 05/01/2022 07:41

We will not continue with WFH a moment longer than necessary,as it is not as productive for us as a company (despite what some of the staff think)

FlibbertyGibbitt · 05/01/2022 07:46

Same. I went to my union and complained, nothing else said. They’re dropping like flies now. Rules stipulate work from home , if you can.

tigger1001 · 05/01/2022 07:48

I don't understand the point of the post. You want to wfh and you are wfh - what's the problem?

Is it you think that the office should be closed forcing people to wfh? In which case yabu.

OnlyTheTitosaurusOfTheIceberg · 05/01/2022 07:49

@Katemum

Civil servants with laptops that have worked from home previously and could easily continue to work from home are in the office every day so even Boris isn’t following his advice.
In some departments, perhaps. By no means universal.
RedskyThisNight · 05/01/2022 07:52

My office is shut to just about everyone but the call centre bit is still open because it's recognised that employees were less efficient at home (and some e.g. worked in unsuitable areas or had tech that cut out). So I suspect if your employee is wanting you in, it is for a similar reason. I guess you can say you are isolating for the next few days, but I don't think you can argue your need to work at home long term.

FAQs · 05/01/2022 07:57

It seems a mixed bag, I rent an office for myself but surrounded by over 20 companies in the office complex and most seem to be in, the car park is full and the offices vary from small like mine to huge with a couple of head offices. I was surprised to see so many in.

Whinge · 05/01/2022 07:59

@tigger1001

I don't understand the point of the post. You want to wfh and you are wfh - what's the problem?

Is it you think that the office should be closed forcing people to wfh? In which case yabu.

I'm also sat here scratching my head in confusion. Confused
gettingolderandgrumpy · 05/01/2022 08:03

So you don’t want to go in the office and are wfh . Have they actually told you to go back to the office and you are saying no ?.

JudgeRindersMinder · 05/01/2022 08:18

@monkeysox

This is making me scared for returning to 900 students in secondary school today.

Can't work from home. Madness
Even if students from class get it we just have to crack on!

Yes you do have to crack on. All studies are showing omicron variant is less serious than other variants.

What do you think those of us working for emergency services have been doing for the past almost 2 years have been doing?

Getting sick to the back teeth of the panic merchants now.
The country cannot sustain this constant stop starting

MarshmallowFondant · 05/01/2022 08:28

@tigger1001

I don't understand the point of the post. You want to wfh and you are wfh - what's the problem?

Is it you think that the office should be closed forcing people to wfh? In which case yabu.

The point of the post is that OP wants a whinge session about how dreadful her employer is and how of course everyone should be working from home and preferably never leaving the house. There's a killer virus out there you know! Hmm
Unsure33 · 05/01/2022 08:31

Look, nothing is black and white . Every company is different.

Your employers should be doing a risk assessment taking into account the current rules .

We have a rota in the office so split between being in and wfh.
We have some staff who can’t work from home .

But ultimately it is up to the employers what they do .

LakieLady · 05/01/2022 08:33

I'm confused too!

I think it's unreasonable for employers to insist that staff return to the office unless it's not possible to deliver the service effectively by WFH. But I also think that it should be possible for staff to return to the office if that works better for them.

My employer has exactly this mix, and and people can work from the office if they wish. However, desks have to be booked, as capacity has been reduced so people aren't sitting close together, and masks have to be worn in communal areas like kitchens and corridors, and there's sanitiser and anti-bac sprays and wipes all over the place. And there are HEPA filters in place.

Employers have a duty to take all reasonable steprs to provide a safe environment for staff. If an employer isn't prepared to take the sort of measures outlined above, they are BU to insist on staff coming back to the office imo. Insisting on this for staff who have anxieties about their health is especially unreasonable.

Theluggage15 · 05/01/2022 08:41

You’re not asking if you can wfh though are you? You’re saying the office should be closed which is nothing to do with you. Companies exist to make profits not employ people. Good thing the delivery driver doesn’t mind taking on your risk so you can sit at home. You’re very thoughtful.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 05/01/2022 08:41

I don’t know about yours but my work had to put in place expensive systems for dealing with post, papers etc whilst everyone was wfh. We do have to deal with people who might not be tech savvy though due to nature of work.

Some people can’t actually work from home without it costing a lot of money, which caused arguments of the “well we did it for 15 months” nature - yes but it costs money!

Plus we have call centre staff too

JustKeepSwimmingJust · 05/01/2022 08:43

Are there two problems with going into the office?

A - you have been exposed to covid in the last 7 days and are worried that in the next few days you might infect the office

B - you are worried that over the coming weeks you might catch covid in the office

For A, have you spoken to your line manager? That is a few days of wfh when you are particularly high risk. They can still tell you to come in and you should be doing daily LFTs for 7 days after exposure.

For B, unless you are CV/CEV, you need to just get on with it. Even if you are CV/CEV they can tell you you need to be in the office, but a chat about your risk level might get you somewhere.

gogohm · 05/01/2022 08:44

I go to work because working from home is inconvenient, fine for a specific project like building a website but not general day to day because I need to interact with people and have access to materials. I'm sure that's the same with many offices. I personally don't know anyone working from home this time

C8H10N4O2 · 05/01/2022 08:44

I am a bit fed up of being told that people do “just as well” when wfh, that it is just as efficient etc. From a client and customer POV, I am afraid it isn’t always the case

But it often is and where it doesn't the management layer and processes are often at the root rather than individual staff.

But it may be that your employer feels being in the office is better for good reasons. You won’t know if you don’t ask

Feelings are not evidence. IME Management layers who "feel" it isn't working are often poor managers, who have failed to develop and grow the skills to manage staff in a different way.

I've been staggered frankly by the success of homeworking amongst my clients. I knew we could do it - have done for years - but many of our clients regarded it as a major culture shock. It hasn't worked in every role in every situation but generally has been made a success with significant productivity improvements where managers have stepped up to the challenge and revisited their approach and processes.

The result is only one or two are even talking about going back to full time office working, most are looking at some hybrid but with more flexibility overall (so that those people who miss and want the office can use it and for more in person social activities).

The guidance at the moment is to WFH. We follow our clients' lead but most, like us, are telling people to WFH unless they have a business need to be on site.