Back to the office or dismissal

[2023cupcake]

I’ve worked with this company for 15 years and as was working remotely since the pandemic, I relocated to the other side of the country. This was brought up informally, contracts weren’t changed, but management were aware. Talks have been had since Jan with the wider staff and people have started to return to the office. I was advised I wouldn’t be asked due to my location.

My parent died last year, going through a divorce and waiting for a mental health referral, my performance has slacked. Nothing extreme but not on par with my colleagues. Quality of work is still there. Management have been aware of my issues and I believed were being supportive. I have had no other problems for the last 15 years.

My performance has been mentioned in passing. Nothing in writing or formal, just an informal chat and been offered tips and tricks to improve.

I requested some support about 20 days ago to improve my work and was advised it would get sorted. Nothing happened. Asked again a few days ago and then also yesterday.

Today I have been informed I need to return back to the office despite a 300 mile commute. Or look for other employment. Due to my performance.

I explained my refusal to do so is because I live too far so have been informed there will be a meeting held with HR.

How do I go about this?

Ignore the person who said to resign, absolutely do not do that! You've long service, they need to handle it professionally, take advice and wait for them to slip up, which most employers do. Keep following up on everything in writing. Consider putting in a formal flexi time request covering you being where you are.

Why should she? She doesn't owe either you or her employers a reason for her choice of where she lives. All she owes the employer is the required performance for her role. Obviously they could try to insist that this requires an office presence, but OP can challenge this. As she appears to have successfully done.

Have you posted about this before OP? It sounds familiar.

You were stupid to move away without it being written into your contract.

Your only hope is to request to continue WFH as a reasonable adjustment for your mental health.

Not really a good idea to move 150 miles away from work unless you had a written agreement that you could carry on remote working

I think op is far from the only person to have done this sort of thing and then posted about it in a flap. At one point it seemed as if WFH was definitely here to stay.

This is why my workplace made it clear during the pandemic that anyone considering relocation should bear in mind all staff were expected to be within reasonable commuting distance of one of our offices, regardless of the current WFH situation.

Firstly, don't resign.

Secondly, do make sure everything is in writing - have a third party note taker at meetings if necessary.

Thirdly - prioritise looking for another job. No matter who is right, wrong etc, It's quite clear here that your needs and the company's requirements are not compatible. You can't go to the office, they are perfectly entitled to want you to. You can go through all the process etc but at the end of the day it's never going to work is it once the conflict gets going.

Fourthly - make sure they are following their own procedures.

On the subject of poor performance and coming in to the office - I do this for my staff when they have difficulties that affect their performance. It's a way of connecting with them, a way to show support for someone - they come in to meet me once a week and it gives an opportunity to really understand what's going on. My teams are all remote so it often means I'm on the road as I'll ask them to come to their local office rather than drag them to mine. It's really challenging to properly performance manage and support someone remotely, if someone is struggling often the WFH aspect is actually part of the problem. I've not made anyone return to the office full time tho - I don't want to go in full time for starters and it takes away the purpose of the intervention if I'm telling them to go and sit by themselves all week under the guise of improving their performance, it seems pointless.