So I do hybrid working. We work from the office 5 days then at home for 5 days. My role is not customer facing at all, it's all back office stuff and answering phones. Being in the office does not benefit anything. We can do absolutely everything at home.
Since the rail strikes have been going on, there's so many train cancellations and delays! Often, it doesn't happen in the morning but once I finish work I find there isn't another train for an hour and a half. My options are either to wait around the station, or get an Uber. An Uber home costs me £25. I have done this quite regularly because after my shift I just want to get home! An hour and a half after my shift and not have even started my commute yet and still be sat around the train station is awful. I have been running out of money and having to go onto credit cards because of how often my trains are cancelled and I have to get Ubers home. So I started to tell my manager that I can't get in because train cancellations. He always says ok but I can tell he's not happy about it. Once he asked if I could get a lift and he always replies very short answers or says things like "that's extremely annoying". I don't really see what the need to get into the office is and why it matters when I can just do the exact same stuff at home?!
It's 9pm right now and I have checked the trains for the morning and the one that I get is cancelled. I could get an earlier one but if they're cancelled in the morning, they're almost definitely going to be cancelled in the evening when I finish. Is it unreasonable of me to think that working from home on these occasions is fine? I feel actually nervous about telling him tomorrow because I don't want him to get annoyed about it but it's out of my control. The cost of living is going up, and I'm spending an extra £100 a month (sometimes more) on Ubers home from work. Ok I don't HAVE to get an Uber but the alternative is to still be stuck at Manchester Piccadilly at 7:30 at night when I finished two hours prior. I don't see why I should have to bend over backwards trying to find other ways in when there is a very very simple solution which doesn't affect ANYTHING at all.. work from home.
Am I in the right or wrong here? If you think I am being reasonable, how would you phrase this to my manager if he pushes back? The thought of a night sitting in the train station when I just want to get home is making me hate my job and dread going in and I physically cannot afford another Uber, I'm almost out of money for the month because of this.