To resign because my job suddenly requires me in 3 days a week?

[Earlyflash]

We got told on Friday that we would be required to do a minimum of three days a week in the office from monday.

I’m new at the company (4 months) and this was never mentioned in the recruitment phase. That said I didn’t push them for a written answer.

Given we’ve spent the last two years working 100% at home, this seems like a massive overreach, and I’m intending to tell them to do one.

It’s going to have such an impact on me, my partner, and my children (from previous relationship).

I already have interviews for fully remote roles.

So, AIBU for reacting to such a request?

I think that's a wholly unreasonable demand on their part.

What sort of a world are we living in where employers need to give a lot of notice that they require their staff back in the office??? Until covid most people had to go into work - anyone who thought wfh was going to last forever is nuts, and especially the OP for taking on a new job without even considering that she might have to actually work in the building her employer conducts their business from . So many of you seem to have totally lost the plot.

News flash: when you take on a job your employer is actually allowed to make demands on where you work from.

You can resign for any reason, I resigned because I hated wfh.

You can resign if you want to resign, for whatever reason.

Whether you can reasonably expect to stay WFH depends entirely on what it says in your contract and what was agreed when you took the job. You need to check if you don't know.

I suspect there is probably a clause about working from the office as and when that suits the company's needs, in which case you really can't complain. However even if it says your post is working from home, presumably at 4 months you're still in a probationary period? So they probably have no obligation to you either way.

Oh yes, do go and tell them to “do one”, in those exact words. And then report back to us what happened next.

@DrSbaitso

You can look for a new job whenever you want but I don't see why you're so outraged at the prospect of hybrid working when it seemed pretty obvious this would happen at many places.

Well it sounds like it's not what OP thought was agreed when they took the job.

If you take a job which states in the contract that you will be working from home, it's unreasonable for the employer to then suddenly change their mind and demand you go in.

Of course, it entirely depends what the contract said and what was agreed.

@SquirrelG

I think that's a wholly unreasonable demand on their part.

What sort of a world are we living in where employers need to give a lot of notice that they require their staff back in the office??? Until covid most people had to go into work - anyone who thought wfh was going to last forever is nuts, and especially the OP for taking on a new job without even considering that she might have to actually work in the building her employer conducts their business from . So many of you seem to have totally lost the plot.

News flash: when you take on a job your employer is actually allowed to make demands on where you work from.

"A lot"? Who said anything about a "lot" of notice?

They were told on the Friday that the next week they need to be in the office three days. That's not even one business day before the period begins. 2 business days to get anything done. It takes no account of people who may need to make arrangements for childcare, commuting or other responsibilities. Some of which will have changed, along with the services they need to support their return to the office, since employers started (also with no notice) using employees' own homes and utilities as part of their strategy to stay in business. Obviously keeping businesses going is good for everyone. But making demands without decent notice that will strain many employees when the time frame isn't critical shows a huge lack of respect and appreciation for employees.

I think they should have given people at least 2 weeks notice to arrange pet sitters , childcare etc. Their attitude would put me off.

It's an employees market from what I hear. I don't think people will stick around in jobs that don't offer a significant amount of WAH, although maybe not all the time.

YANBU about the short notice, which won't give people enough time to sort out child care etc, but whether you're BU about the principle depends on what's in your contract.

It must be in your contract, what does that say, can't really say if you are unreasonable or not without knowing this, you must have signed a contract and read it properly.

They were told on the Friday that the next week they need to be in the office three days. That's not even one business day before the period begins. 2 business days to get anything done. It takes no account of people who may need to make arrangements for childcare, commuting or other responsibilities. Some of which will have changed, along with the services they need to support their return to the office, since employers started (also with no notice) using employees' own homes and utilities as part of their strategy to stay in business. Obviously keeping businesses going is good for everyone. But making demands without decent notice that will strain many employees when the time frame isn't critical shows a huge lack of respect and appreciation for employees.

I disagree. I think the OP was very naive to expect to be able to work from home forever - she can't blame her employer because she didn't think things through. As for the other employees - surely they worked from the office prior to covid, so they can go back to doing whatever they did then. There are some very entitled people in today's world it seems.

YANBU I started my new role in September because it's remote.

I think you should have been given at least a week notice. However unless the job was marked as fully remote you should have expected to be going in at some point.

Of course you can resign and get another job. If I was your employer I’d be pretty annoyed so if you are in a small industry remember you may come across them again.

Obviously the ‘do one’ comment had been taken literally, and it was not Intended as such. I’d never be so rude.

However I am going to be clear that the policy change is a huge issue for me, and the way it has been handled also.

To answer some questions;
The contract doesn’t specify location.
In the recruitment process I was told 1 day per week.

YANBU for expecting more notice about the change - telling you on Friday that it was happening from Monday is pretty rubbish.

YABU for not seeking clarification at the recruitment stage.

YABU for considering this a massive outreach - while some jobs have moved permanently online, I think most will return to the office over the next few months.

YANBU for seeking another job that suits you better.

Get another job.

But by same token, they aren't being unreasonable eithier.

@Earlyflash I resigned for a similar reason. My job doesn't need to be done in the office and I hate presenteeism.

A lot of employers are offering more flexibility now, so by all means, find yourself a different job too. I'm much happier now.

If it doesn't suit your lifestyle, then I would move on

I have a couple of friends who found new jobs that are entirely WFH after the last 'get back to the office' push. YANBU to find a new job that is WfH if it suits you. I wouldn't go back to working in an office now, other than the odd day for training/events.

What were you doing with the children when working from home?

@SquirrelG

They were told on the Friday that the next week they need to be in the office three days. That's not even one business day before the period begins. 2 business days to get anything done. It takes no account of people who may need to make arrangements for childcare, commuting or other responsibilities. Some of which will have changed, along with the services they need to support their return to the office, since employers started (also with no notice) using employees' own homes and utilities as part of their strategy to stay in business. Obviously keeping businesses going is good for everyone. But making demands without decent notice that will strain many employees when the time frame isn't critical shows a huge lack of respect and appreciation for employees.

I disagree. I think the OP was very naive to expect to be able to work from home forever - she can't blame her employer because she didn't think things through. As for the other employees - surely they worked from the office prior to covid, so they can go back to doing whatever they did then. There are some very entitled people in today's world it seems.

You are disagreeing with something I didn't say, then. None of what I wrote there was in response to the idea of working from home for ever. It was all about the unreasonable and disrespectful lack of notice.

I would probably ask them and if the answer isn't what you want, move on, it doesn't sound like you would be able to force it. I resigned because I didn't want to WFH, though that was because of the government mandate rather than my employer who was just following it.

@SquirrelG

They were told on the Friday that the next week they need to be in the office three days. That's not even one business day before the period begins. 2 business days to get anything done. It takes no account of people who may need to make arrangements for childcare, commuting or other responsibilities. Some of which will have changed, along with the services they need to support their return to the office, since employers started (also with no notice) using employees' own homes and utilities as part of their strategy to stay in business. Obviously keeping businesses going is good for everyone. But making demands without decent notice that will strain many employees when the time frame isn't critical shows a huge lack of respect and appreciation for employees.

I disagree. I think the OP was very naive to expect to be able to work from home forever - she can't blame her employer because she didn't think things through. As for the other employees - surely they worked from the office prior to covid, so they can go back to doing whatever they did then. There are some very entitled people in today's world it seems.

It’s not just as simple as going back to doing what you did before though is it @SquirrelG? People may have previously relied on others for support - school drop-offs and pick-ups for example and it may not be possible to re-arrange with little notice. I am fortunate that I was in a WFH job pre-pandemic and this will continue but it doesn’t take a genius to work out that it will be impossible for some to return to the office with no notice and inconvenient for others. A month to get organised would be reasonable.

If someone said one day a week at the interview you have to go to your manager and have that discussion.

It takes no account of people who may need to make arrangements for childcare, commuting or other responsibilities. Some of which will have changed,

Don't people need childcare whether you wfh or not?