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?

@missfliss

No you are right *@Vergingontheridiculous* - a lot of cap doffing, 'be grateful to the guv'nor' type of posts here that bear zero relation to any roles in my Industry ( digital services).

Really weird

@missfliss - same in my industry. As I said upthread my new company wrote a new contract specifically for me to allow me to WFH full time forever. This is a big organisation of over 3000 employees ( I know i am very lucky). It was a massive milestone for them to embrace a new way of working and getting HR to draft up a proper contract to legally facilitate this new way of working and a total bonus for me.. no doffing of caps and being grateful for them giving me the job.. they also should be lucky for a good hire! :-)

@DaisyMum40 you know what - my employer is lucky to have me, and I'm lucky to have a good employer. It's a relationship based on skills and need.

I'm not irreplaceable but then my skill set is in demand and I can confidently find a new job if I need to. I actually like my colleagues though and enjoy what I do so it works.

Sorry that you obviously don't have that.

Isn’t you don’t like it leave. I’m sure your company will find someone else.
At the end of the day, we work for employers.
They don’t work for us. We don’t pay them, they pay us.

@Hearwego

Isn’t you don’t like it leave. I’m sure your company will find someone else. At the end of the day, we work for employers. They don’t work for us. We don’t pay them, they pay us.

What an incredibly subordinate way to think of yourself, and of employees in general.

Employers aren't doing people a favour by employing them. Presumably those people they employ have skills that are necessary for the company to achieve their objectives -- employment, and being employed, should be a mutually beneficial situation.

[quote missfliss]@DaisyMum40 you know what - my employer is lucky to have me, and I'm lucky to have a good employer. It's a relationship based on skills and need.

I'm not irreplaceable but then my skill set is in demand and I can confidently find a new job if I need to. I actually like my colleagues though and enjoy what I do so it works.

Sorry that you obviously don't have that.[/quote]
Ha! You have no idea what I have or don't have. But feel free to judge anyway.

Very well said @gwenneh!!!

In most industries employees hold all the aces right now so assuming they value the job you do and face-to-face collaboration isn't key, then I'd stand your ground rather than resign. If they're stupid enough to fire you for such a trivial reason only to have to struggle to replace you, then I suspect it's not a great place to work anyhow.

@DaisyMum40 oh I'm not judging, I wish you well. I simply disagree that people on this thread who wish to keep working from home are as arrogant as you seem to think you are.
I also am pointing out that employment goes both ways and where skill sets are sought after, decent employers do actually value their staff.

[quote missfliss]@DaisyMum40 oh I'm not judging, I wish you well. I simply disagree that people on this thread who wish to keep working from home are as arrogant as you seem to think you are.
I also am pointing out that employment goes both ways and where skill sets are sought after, decent employers do actually value their staff.

[/quote]
There's over 500 comments here, the arrogance goes both ways. That was clearly the point I was making.

@Goldenbear

Agree with Vergingontheridiculous and there is a lack of understanding about the breadth of jobs and the way people work. I work in data protection and compliance and I have spoken on the phone to people about 6 times this year as my work is pretty much all done via email and Teams (at a push). I do have an office to go to so I occasionally see people in person if that's what I need to do but that is covered by a hybrid scenario. My DH has to bring in new clients with new contracts, it is not in his interest to be slack at all as he has bonuses etc. So of course he won't be called back in to work. Many of us who work in offices aren't carrying out 9-5 clocking in kind of work and we have to go way beyond our working hours anyway so I'm not sure why we would not be trusted to do this as if it doesn't get done in many cases that is problematic for your professional reputation so it is I your interests to work hard.

There are reasons that employers might want people back in the office beyond not trusting them to work hard at home, though? Some jobs work better collaboratively, it’s hard to build a skill set for new starts when they’re all working from their homes sometimes, etc etc.

Anyway, it’s absolutely not ‘entitled’ to leave your job for one that suits you better. But it is a bit ridiculous when people who accepted a job under one set of conditions expect that their employer should permanently change them based on “I’ve discovered I don’t like my commute very much.” You signed up for it, if you don’t like it you can renegotiate or leave, but it’s not like your employer is doing something unfair by expecting you to stick to it.

No that really wasn't clear @DaisyMum40 - it looked very much like a conscious dig at people who were unhappy at the prospect of returning to an office.

@pollyanna1962

Really? 3 days in work? Sorry I'm old school and worked 40 hours in a hospital mixed shifts. Covid rules have been there for a reason and now are relaxed of course people need to be in work not sitting at home one eye on the TV or whatever. I pity the poor employers not being able to watch the people they are paying.

Unfortunately old school employers don't attract decent staff in a lot of industries. Decent firms don't want old school employees - they want people who aren't scared of change and want to embrace new tech & new ways. "Not being able to see them" worries will turn off most of the modern workforce and they'll struggle to hire & retain.

it’s all very well people with roomy houses and established social networks finding it suits them better— it certainly doesn’t suit ‘most’ younger people in shared houses or living with parents and ‘a lot ‘ (not all) of them haven’t yet built up the discipline not to see it as an opportunity to skive off as much as possible unless monitored- unless it’s something they love doing.

I have a roomy house with a study and I still want to go back to the office. I'm a sociable person with 0 self-discipline, and I need the routine and social interaction of going into a workplace. I met my husband and some of my best friends at the office - to me work is where I socialise as well as something I do.

I got severely depressed in my last role, as I didn't have the self-discipline to motivate myself at home, and got really lonely never speaking to my colleagues in person. The company's new policy was "everyone do what you want", so everyone stayed WFH. I've now moved to a company that demands 50% in office - much happier now.

@Goldenbear

Why should we because you have had to? What about the very pressing problem of the climate crisis and the pollution that accompanies all this work travel? We have to find new ways of working, we don't have to stick to some outdated work models based upon working patterns from the industrial revolution!!

and why is it only office workers that have to find new ways of working then ? last i knew everybody that works travels to get there , but office workers are so special they are the ones contributing to pollution , i think not , everyone else that works does as well maybe retail should go back to monday to sats only 9.5.30 with all these late nights and bank holidays /sundays stopped .but oh no wait when sunday opening was first introduced in retail it i remember it being mentioned it was to cater for people who worked mon to fri to give them more time of a weekend to do their shopping , ie office workers , i wonder how people that want to work from home evermore would find other sectors curtailing their opening hours and cutting out extra days to improve their staffs bloody family life convienient , i suspect not very much

they want people who aren't scared of change and want to embrace new tech & new ways. "Not being able to see them" worries will turn off most of the modern workforce and they'll struggle to hire & retain. Sure we want employees who embrace change and that means coming back into the office if required - change you know, happening again - won't bother the modern workforce who embrace change and new ways or is hybrid not the "new way" you wanted?

Unless your contract stated you would work from home permanently, they are not being unreasonable. Covid was an exception, not the norm.

I understand the company I contract with wants all staff in full time now. It's sad cos they made a big thing about hybrid working and their energy consumption is only going to increase when they're trying to get to net zero.

I'm remote working so I'll stay working from home - my nearest facility is 65 miles away.

I'm saddened tgat employers are stupidly forcing people back to tgd office - I mean what for? Its not like most of you haven't shown we can wfh, right?
Anyways, OP I def think if you can't wfh you need a different job. Before you go though, ask. It could be part of flexible working. Maybe compromise if you love tge job!

Good luck

@chaosrabbitland I imagine if everyone otherwise office-based was working from home it would make it easier for people to nip out during office hours (eg on a lunch break) and reduce the need for extended hours for retail staff.

Win-win?

I find the "we have shitty working conditions so nobody should have good working conditions" attitude bizarre and very saddening.

One thing I don’t think has been touched on much either is there are plenty of situations if both partners are WFH where it can feel a bit 24/7 and a lack of personal space etc— there have been lots of threads on here from women moaning about their partner/husband being around all the time— this of course works both ways— I don’t think there is a right way or wrong way- what suits one doesn’t suit another— however When a hybrid model is in place— there is often a bit of ‘out of sight , out of mind ‘ in some companies and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are fewer advancements on offer for those who never go in. Not saying it’s right or wrong— but I suspect this will happen

They have a right to ask you to return to the office and you have a right to look for another job. It's not anything to get mad about, either by you or by them.

@Crikeyalmighty

One thing I don’t think has been touched on much either is there are plenty of situations if both partners are WFH where it can feel a bit 24/7 and a lack of personal space etc— there have been lots of threads on here from women moaning about their partner/husband being around all the time— this of course works both ways— I don’t think there is a right way or wrong way- what suits one doesn’t suit another— however When a hybrid model is in place— there is often a bit of ‘out of sight , out of mind ‘ in some companies and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are fewer advancements on offer for those who never go in. Not saying it’s right or wrong— but I suspect this will happen

Nah the thought of me and DH both working from home together is enough to have me running to the job centre.

I find the "we have shitty working conditions so nobody should have good working conditions" attitude bizarre and very saddening.

Well, a lot of the roles that require people to work outside the home, with no option to WFH, are also those that are lower paid, so it's understandable that people get a bit pissed off when others moan about going back to commuting or having to pay for childcare, when presumably their salaries compensated for those costs, whether in money or time.

@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?

YABVU. Three days? Is that all? Moaning after wfh for months if not years? Count yourself lucky and give a thought to the millions of us who went to work day throughout the pandemic with no option of ever wfh.

@DietrichandDiMaggio but why not strive to make things better for everyone, rather than insist that everyone suffer the worst because some people have to? There is very often no good reason to force people back into offices, so why should people have to spend hours commuting just because some people's jobs are not WFH compatible? Because your employer says so, and if you don't agree just suck it up otherwise you're "entitled"? It makes no sense.

A working relationship should be a relationship, with some give and take. If all the power is on one side, there is a problem. This is why unions were formed.

@Endoftether2000

Belladonna12 I may get slayed for this, but Good Employmers will enforce people to go back in the office where they are under performing and they need to be managed. It is like X Factor some people believe they can sing, this is because they are told they can. As the economic climate changes, some people will sing from WFH and some people will try but fail badly. Some people need structure. What will fail however is when people are WFH and should be there 9-5 but fail on contact during this time, as they are out running the kids to school or doing a home job. Unless they have you can do your work when you want policy as no other department is dependent on you.

There's no suggestion that OP is underperforming. The employer is asking everyone to go back into the office, not just those who are underperforming. Anyway, if someone is under performing it probably doesn't make any difference whether they are at home or in the office. If it does make a difference it could be the other way round ie the person at home could be working harder than the person in the office.