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?

@Notyourtypicalvirgo We're now moving to a new model where our technological capability means we can all work from home, so there is more flex in what can and can't be done.

Tell that to the carer supporting your grandma with toileting, or the 21 year old working from his cramped bedroom in a small overcrowded house, too nervous to message his boss all day the way that he might ask them quick questions in the office.

I like working from home too, but the thoughtless privilege on this and similar threads can be mad.

[quote OverTheRubicon]**@Notyourtypicalvirgo* We're now moving to a new model where our technological capability means we can all work from home, so there is more flex in what can and can't be done.*

Tell that to the carer supporting your grandma with toileting, or the 21 year old working from his cramped bedroom in a small overcrowded house, too nervous to message his boss all day the way that he might ask them quick questions in the office.

I like working from home too, but the thoughtless privilege on this and similar threads can be mad.[/quote]
It will never be possible for all work to be done from home.

You are privileged in the extreme if you have a home where you can be comfortable doing this and a job that allows you to do so.

That's not what you said though. You literally said "we can all work from home".

@OverTheRubicon

That's not what you said though. You literally said "we can all work from home".

I never said that... I was agreeing with you!

Out company is very pro home working, contracts are being changed to 'hybrid' working ( very large public sector).

I would say if your contract states office based then you don't have a leg to stand on

There's yet another thread today by a woman who is being negatively impacted by her DH wfh.

I bet for every woman who thinks wfh is great because she can do the schoolrun, there's another woman somewhere who is being driven demented because of the expectation that normal home life and family life must give way to someone wfh.

there are a few childless women on this thread who are being pretty negative about parents working from home and I just want to say how sinister this is. MUMSnet should be a safe space for mums, somewhere they can connect with other parents and not be judged as "setting women's rights back" (LOL!!!) for picking up their children from school.

What a horrible thing to say - you should be ashamed of yourself.

And as someone who actually pays for enough childcare to cover my working hours I massively resent people who decide they don't need to do the same because they can just shirk instead.

"5.35 comes and an email comes in. Oh I may as well deal with that as I am here and have time (if I had been in the office I'd have been on the train home and would not have seen it until tomorrow)."

So your colleagues get used to that and everyone starts answering emails 24-7 and we enter a hell where work never stops.

@Whitefire

Contact centre. I don't have time to drink a brew let alone speak to a colleague It's much easier to hear at home too as no background noise

My contact centre colleagues all prefer to be in the office, but I guess it depends on the purpose / role of the contact centre.

Tbh it is everyone else who hates working in their vicinity, they are so noisy.

When I worked in a call centre nobody there except me lived on their own. Nobody earned enough to. They either lived with parents, partners or housemates. Those living with parents or housemates have a hard time having enough space to work from home comfortably.

"I don’t know of any office environment where staff sit around for hours idly chatting. "

I've done this. Had some jobs with quiet periods. It's the chatting that gets me through it.

I do a job that I could do entirely by wfh, but going into an office has a lot of benefits:

• quicker to ask quick questions and not having to spend ages typing or waiting for a response
• builds a better relationship with my team members
• allows me to sort out admin stuff like needing more equipment
• a good chance to get out of the house

Although I would find 3 days a week a bit too much, some time in the office is reasonable. Why can't the staff members come up with an alternative proposal instead?

And they can discipline you/ see it is a behavioural issue that could hold you back from promotions or pay rises.

If people are now choosing to wfh when previously working in office, then it is up to individual to set up their home working environment to meet comfort and other requirements. It would be ridiculous to expect your employer to do this both practically and financially.

My staff prefer a mix of home working and office, we let them pick their hours in office and i actually do it myself and find i can get more done, if anyone was still concerned about covid we'd probably let them do just 1 day a week in office if they wanted, personally i think if the work is getting done and staff are happy/prefer that then whats the issue, parents might find it easier than finding childcare etc but then again if our staff need it we pay that if they need, I find the lack of social interaction a bit mind numbing but i think buisnesses will know whats best and if they can offer WFH or hybrid working they should

@Unpopular37

If people are now choosing to wfh when previously working in office, then it is up to individual to set up their home working environment to meet comfort and other requirements. It would be ridiculous to expect your employer to do this both practically and financially.

I agree but I think it is the employer's responsibility in law to make sure you've done it. If you say your work environment is suitable when it isn't and employers aren't checking, then I assume any back problems etc are your own fault legally, but if you're not told you need to check your set up, then I think the employer might be legally liable for resulting ill health. Certainly we've been told any accidents that happen at home while we're on work time need to be reported for health and safety reasons.

But I am very much not an expert on this as you can see from previous comments where I thought my company policy of sending someone round to assess was a requirement! (Although if I were an employer with staff refusing to come back in, I might be tempted to send someone round to assess all remote working set ups for DSE suitability.)

@110APiccadilly. You’re correct. An employee falling off an unsuitable chair or laptop cable whilst working from home could potentially claim against their employer.

[quote WouldIBeATwat]@110APiccadilly. You’re correct. An employee falling off an unsuitable chair or laptop cable whilst working from home could potentially claim against their employer.[/quote]
unless they recontact with a waiver of liability which is usually the case

Disregard what ive just said as it wont apply here, were an American company and i was thinking about something an American director said, here all employees will be covered WFH by their employers insurance during their working hours

@HardbackWriter

there are a few childless women on this thread who are being pretty negative about parents working from home and I just want to say how sinister this is. MUMSnet should be a safe space for mums, somewhere they can connect with other parents and not be judged as "setting women's rights back" (LOL!!!) for picking up their children from school.

What a horrible thing to say - you should be ashamed of yourself.

And as someone who actually pays for enough childcare to cover my working hours I massively resent people who decide they don't need to do the same because they can just shirk instead.

It's not horrible if the childless women are just coming to Mumsnet to judge and pile on to mothers 🤷🏽‍♀️

I have sympathy for Mabels circumstances but the way she's talking about people taking 20 minutes out to do the school run (the same length of time someone can literally have a coffee break in) has been pretty awful too.

Again if I were childless I just wouldn't come to this site to start speaking negatively about parents.....it's called having morals

Our boss has been trying to force it (for rest of team, not for her though. Hmm!). So fine, but I now work my set, paid for hours. Not logging on 30 minutes early like I do at home, or working an hour (minimum) late.

To answer the OP's original question, i think there was a case of someone refusing and then sued unfair dismissal and won

someone refusing then being fired*

Again if I were childless I just wouldn't come to this site to start speaking negatively about parents.....it's called having morals

She’s explained she’s been part of Mumsnet over the years as she’s suffered infertility, so she’s been trying very hard to be anything but childless. You really do take the biscuit for insensitivity.

@Porridgeislife

Again if I were childless I just wouldn't come to this site to start speaking negatively about parents.....it's called having morals

She’s explained she’s been part of Mumsnet over the years as she’s suffered infertility, so she’s been trying very hard to be anything but childless. You really do take the biscuit for insensitivity.

I'm a parent and am happy to agree with @MabelsApron, some parents can manage the school run balancing and some can't. Some take the piss and some don't.

It is not on to accuse anyone who says they have found issues with staff not being available when they should be due to trying to combine childcare and work of making up hypothetical situations.

@Porridgeislife

Again if I were childless I just wouldn't come to this site to start speaking negatively about parents.....it's called having morals

She’s explained she’s been part of Mumsnet over the years as she’s suffered infertility, so she’s been trying very hard to be anything but childless. You really do take the biscuit for insensitivity.

Again I said I'm sympathetic and I hope things turn around for you @MabelsApron

It doesn't change the fact that if you don't have children you don't understand the struggles that working parents face or just how expensive it can be for childcare so if flexibility is finally being offered, being b*tchy and judgemental to mothers finally taking it and smearing us with exaggerations and negative stereotypes really isn't on, especially on a website dedicated to providing us with community.

Perhaps maybe the answer is to look for solutions to work with your parent colleagues rather than coming to Mumsnet to b*tch?

@NothingIsWrong its not on to accuse every parent doing the school pickup as taking the piss actually which is what has happened several times throughout this thread.