Has anyone refused to go back into the office?

[GreenPepperRed]

Just that really. Have a job that can easily be done working from home. Company is now saying compulsory 3 days in the office. Has anyone just not gone in and carried on working from home? How did that turn out?

The majority of my department is insisting they are not going in. Can confirm they are serious because I went in to the office a couple days back and there was probably 10% of the people in.

Intrigued what my company will do. Fire us all?

@Gwenhwyfar

" I have internet anyway. Do you only have it to work at home?"

I had internet before but for wfh you need more/unlimited.

You might need more but again you can't speak for everyone. I think many people have a good enough broadband to work at home anyway nowadays.

@DungballInADress

Raise a flexible working request.

That said, I work in HR and people are leaving companies who are mandating return to office to move to where I work because we are promoting more flexible ways of working - agile working and/or hybrid available to all office based, most desks now hot desks and we offer 9 day fortnight. Companies need to move with the times or employees will go elsewhere.

I agree more flexibility is the way of the future, and that it’s a good thing.

But it still seems like some people might be kidding themselves about how much flexibility they could reasonably get. Or they’re interpreting “we offer flexible working!” as “you get to pick your own work pattern entirely!” which it often doesn’t mean.

In my field: if what you want is a mix of home and office, you’ll now have your pick of jobs to apply for. If what you want is 100% home-based never set foot in an office ever, though, like some of my colleagues now do… well, those jobs are out there, but they’re very few and far between. Probably not worth any big stand-offs with your current employer until you’re sure you’ve got one lined up.

There are periods at home that are more productive. However, all the I formal interactions take two or three times as long. The casual inquiry in the coffee queue about someone's wellbeing or quick clarification about a budget calculation all have to be a formal teams or call. As does keeping tabs on a team. It's also so much harder to read the mood music and how new things/changes will fall.

I am refusing to return to the office for several reasons including:

• public transport isn't Covid safe without a mask mandate (and is the only viable option for me);
• I have successfully WFH for two years;
• my quality of life is now too high to give it up without good reason.

My employer may push back but I've been there 15+ years so if they want to start a legal battle with no upside (whilst needing to replace me in a tight job market) then so be it.

Bretta. Good luck with getting a new job working 100% from home. With that attitude you don’t sound like someone that organisations would be falling over themselves to employ.

Hold strong fellow home workers and resist all the way. In a worst case you can always look elsewhere for jobs that allow good flexibility or full remote working. The luddite companies will have to accept they can't force us to 5 days in the office again and they'll lose top talent to more sensible rivals. They've already been shown that it works perfectly fine for nigh on 2 years

How long is a piece of string?
Where I work is quite lax( they 'say' we should return as normal but if we don't feel like going in we just don't ).
Nobody cares, our site has hundreds of people so they can't point fingers at individuals and say 'you're not coming in!'

But we had flexible working, home working etc long before the pandemic. Our teams are global anyway.
Honestly if people hate it easy to vote with your feet.

One thing though i don't get much work done when I do go into the office if it's 1-2 days a week. It's spent just catching up, and having a chat. It's really a different atmosphere though, just rolling over to see a colleague's screen, the chat's very natural. Compared to being at home.

I also used to live in a shitty houseshare and had to move for my MH as I'd be stuck in an office/bedroom all day.

@LampLighter414

Hold strong fellow home workers and resist all the way. In a worst case you can always look elsewhere for jobs that allow good flexibility or full remote working. The luddite companies will have to accept they can't force us to 5 days in the office again and they'll lose top talent to more sensible rivals. They've already been shown that it works perfectly fine for nigh on 2 years

But most people who are saying they don’t want to go back aren’t being asked to be in the office 5 days a week? They’re being asked for fewer days and don’t want to do that.

Fine if that’s worth losing your job over, but don’t kid yourself there will be tons of 100%-WFH jobs waiting to welcome all those people with open arms if they just stand their ground a bit. Some fields maybe. Lots of fields, no.

I'm a bit late to the thread and haven't read it all but totally agree that a lot of the effort around hybrid working falls on those in the office. We have got a brand new IT system which is incredibly complicated & confusing - if you're working from home all you've got to do is hit Join. Some other poor bugger in the office is the one who had to spend half an hour getting the equipment to work!

I don’t think we’ve heard from anyone who is insisting that their team go back full time, just because.

I am back in the office full time 'just because' It is what it is, I guess. Work are currently recruiting - there has not been a shortage of applicants even with working full time in the office.

Some of the whinging on this thread is ridiculous.

My workplace has switched to hybrid and all 3000+ employees are expected to be in 2 days a week. They are phasing our return though, so we won't be back till end of April.

I didn't fancy going back with a mandated number of days, so requested a switch to permanent remote working - but my employer knows I will go in whenever I need to see a client or it makes sense to, etc. They approved the request and now I don't have to worry, so I would just ask them OP.

No one needs to be in the office to facilitate me doing my job.

The opportunity to or not to work from home isn't the only markings of a good / bad company. Another organisation near mine (same sector) offers hybrid working (with more of a swing towards home working) but they (from personal accounts) aren't that great to work for.

Just make sure you aren't jumping from the frying pan and into the fire.

My company has updated its home working policy to allow more flexibility than pre covid but ultimately the same as yours we must do 3 days in office.

I have a team member who is refusing this and HR have taken a very dim view. Granted it is one person and not a whole department though.

I have tried to fight their corner as so long as the work gets done I don’t mind where they are but it’s not me that gets to make the decision.

We have now reached a point where they have given the employee a decision to make - you come to work and adhere to our policy of 3 days in regardless of your opinions on the subject or you are electing not to meet your contractual requirements and you resign.

It’s brutal and everyone will have different opinions on it but at the end of it all it is up to employers to decide what works for them and they make those choices knowing it may alienate some employees / potential future recruits.

I wouldn't dare refuse to go in! We're on hybrid trial until end of May, survey coming out about hybrid working, hoping majority are happy and it will be permanent.
I honestly don't see any need to be in the office but they've insisted on hybrid trial so in I go when I have been told

@GreenPepperRed

Just that really. Have a job that can easily be done working from home. Company is now saying compulsory 3 days in the office. Has anyone just not gone in and carried on working from home? How did that turn out?

The majority of my department is insisting they are not going in. Can confirm they are serious because I went in to the office a couple days back and there was probably 10% of the people in.

Intrigued what my company will do. Fire us all?

Get this:

When I started WFH I was working for the office 10 minutes from my house - During the WFH period I landed an amazing job (same department, but higher up role) after applying for it. This new role is in a different office 3hrs away from me, but I'm well known for doing a fab job! 3 other people from the office down the road also applied and got the job. Hybrid working would have meant myself and the other 3 sat together in the office down the road, as a team...in a building where we have no HEO, SEO, or sight manager. We would have been remotely working from that office, for our new office. Confused you yet?

Roll on a year later, the office I'm working remotely for put out another job offer, higher grade again, more pay- I landed that position and start it in 2 weeks time. This time when I hybrid work in 2 weeks...I will have no team. I will be sat on my own, remotely working from an office I don't work for. I have no affiliation for them other than it's one big corporation, many different departments, different roles etc.

For what reason? We don't have a full-time working from home contract! Yet they managed to create this Hybride contract LOL! It's almost like they don't trust us to continue doing what we do best.

I'm not a people person, but people distract me, hunt me down when I'm in the office because I mentored them in the past and they cling to me.

I have no distractions at home, I'm comfortable, I can continue working if my children are sick or if I'm sick. It's totally bizarre. People have been working remotely for years and years - Are some of these departments so far behind with the times? We live in a digital age now.

For those saying, "I thought WFH ended?" - Either you do not work, do not have a job where you can WFH, or you're being purposely snide.

I think its short sighted of some companies to revert to the previous ways of working IF flexible working has been effective.

However, a lot of people over estimate their productivity and how effective they work from home. An employer has an overall view of it across the board to be able to decide whether it works for them, as well as balancing with well being etc.

I mostly work with people overseas, so it makes little difference where I am, but I enjoy physically being with others from time to time.

My company polled everyone and hybrid working was the clear preference so that's what they've gone with. Everyone's in at least a day a week. I go in 2 days and I'm happy with that. We can choose what hours we go in so I can avoid heavy traffic, and I'm also enjoying listening to audio books and podcasts again on my journey.

In your situation I'd say you need to request flexible working as refusing to comply with a reasonable request is unlikely to be fruitful, at least in the longer term.

@CallyfromBlakes7

I always think it's weird that people think WFH means perching on the end of a bed in your shared house bedroom. There are plenty of other options including co-working, and nothing stops you going into your employer office if you want to.

I don't know why this polarises people so much. Employers who are flexible have the most committed employees and the best results.

I always think it's weird that people have no sense of confidentiality requirements when happily suggesting co working spaces. I can't be the only one who is not permitted to work where I might be overheard due to security concerns.

And yes, employers do stop people coming into the office. I moved from my last job because they would not let me return, despite the adverse effects WFH was having on my mental health. My current job said 3 days in 2 at home, which was perfect and are now making noises about wanting to cut costs by making me foot the bill for an office i.e. WFH. I told them the day they presented me with a WFH contract would be the day I quit and I meant it. So far, it has not materialised but I am still looking for a new job again as I do not trust them to try and kick us out to save money.

@DungballInADress

Raise a flexible working request.

That said, I work in HR and people are leaving companies who are mandating return to office to move to where I work because we are promoting more flexible ways of working - agile working and/or hybrid available to all office based, most desks now hot desks and we offer 9 day fortnight. Companies need to move with the times or employees will go elsewhere.

A lot of companies are also trying 4 day weeks

Prior to Covid I worked 3 days in the office 2 days from home. We’ve been told we have to work at least 2 days in the office - can choose more if we wish.
Now energy prices have rocketed , the cost of parking/fuel , I’m going to have to weigh up which options are more cost effective.

But do companies really know how to train people these days.
No.

I mean when I was senior on hotel reception you would sit side by side, training plans would be signed that you understand just what task xxx involved - nowadays none of that happens.

Most companies I've been at pre pandemic think 2 weeks is enough mate, if that. To think I used to work for a legendary travel holiday booking shop in early 00's that said you were not a sales consultant until your 2nd year - no workplace is like this today.

I mean 2 weeks spent when you've physically gone into an office for half that time spent lobbed in front of a pc with some 'buddy' on zoom shotting of that they were the only only left out of the training group last year and quite willing to tell you wrong things 'because it is a dog eat, dog world isn't something to be proud of.

There is no camaraderie in today's world.

I love working from home, I hate the one day in the office where you can expect to sit in silence. I didn't have the nice work from home experience in March 2020 - I was covering for a pregnant person who unknown to me would take frequent breaks during the day to lay down often and expect me to work late under their guilt, lunch breaks where unknown and you know on arrival back to the office in July 2020 it was said I appeared more confident because I had no choice but get on with it, alone.

I do love how people assume those of who have established lives and homes in London and the south with agreed salaries and other commitments taken on pre-pandemic should now just take a pay cut if we wfh or do more time at home and get the job done as effectively as colleagues doing the same work in an office because times have moved on and technology now allows it. The London allowance is there due to the higher cost of rent and mortgages and general living here and with costs rising why should people travel into the office if their job can be done at home? I’m all for hybrid but just want employers to be sensible in why some people are looking at when to stay at home when feasible. Not everyone is in a position to move to the coast or up north or whatever just because they want to and can easily wfh more or full time and rents and mortgages have only increased - like everything else travel, petrol, Nat insurance etc etc. People just want a better quality of life, an extra hour or two at home with the children instead of the commute (and more money to put towards soaring bills while wages are stagnant) which they didn’t have before because many firms were anti wfh. We’re such a stressed out society - why not help people where possible to have a good life balance? Also if people are talking about people saving money commuting then surely anyone walking into the office should have their pay reduced too?

@Whitefire

I don’t think we’ve heard from anyone who is insisting that their team go back full time, just because.

I am back in the office full time 'just because' It is what it is, I guess. Work are currently recruiting - there has not been a shortage of applicants even with working full time in the office.

Some of the whinging on this thread is ridiculous.

Away from mumsnet lots of people don't mind or even prefer going into the office so not surprised people are still applying.

Most people have ultd broadband now as they stream TV shows and movies. I have ultd and it's just over 20 quid a month so far cheaper than what most pay for Sky TV which I gave up when I got a Freesat Box. We can't go into the office when we want as we have to book a desk and there are only 4 to book from for our dept. 1 desk is used all the time by someone with no WiFi so that only leaves 3 in the whole building for us. 95% of us don't want to be there and prefer to WFH.

@Belladonna12

I need to have the room at 20 or 21 degrees because I'm sitting down all the time so I need the heating on all day. I need the light because I live in an old place and the windows don't allow enough light in for me to work otherwise.

A light in one room doesn't cost that much. I'm not sure what the temperature of my room is at the moment but I sit down to work too and I certainly don't need the heating on all day. Perhaps you live in Scotland or in a house with no insulation but I don't think you can assume that everyone who works from home has the heating on all day, every day.

We have our heating on 20 all day so obviously it goes on and off with the thermostat. The room I work in isn't the warmest so I have a blanket in there and if it's really cold use a hot wheat bag too

The London allowance is there due to the higher cost of rent and mortgages and general living here and with costs rising why should people travel into the office if their job can be done at home?

Employers aren’t supposed to change your terms and conditions of employment just on a whim, so I agree that unilaterally reducing people’s pay by taking away the London weighting wouldn’t be fair (or legal!)

But at the same time, they’re obviously not going to want to keep paying that for people who don’t need or want to be in London. Why would they? So I would expect more employers saying things like, “yes we’re happy to renegotiate your contract so you can work from home all the time, but in return you’ll lose your London weighting.”