WFH request denied, but allowed for a new start

[HarryPottersMuse]

Longtime lurker, but not a poster. Just wondering AIBU before I make a final decision whether to approach or not.

I am a hybrid worker, did 3 days pw initiallly (2 in office, one at home). I increased to 4 days and now do 3 in office, still 1 at home. I had asked before increasing if I could do 2+2 instead or even full time wfh (my preference), was told ‘no’ as wfh percentage is at capacity. Fair enough.

Here is my AIBU, a colleague who previously left has since come back - and is allowed to wfh full time? Should I not have been given first opportunity having previously asked to do so before she came back? Do I have to leave and get rehired to get same benefit?? We do the exact same job, exact same nbr of days.

Would I be wrong to raise this with the Manager who told me they were “at capacity” for home workers just weeks ago? Do I have any rights over a new start, or am I wasting my time.

I don’t want to leave, but find myself looking for other jobs that offer remote working as I’m not happy.

YABU - you have no special right over somebody essentially new

YANBU - this is most unprofessional and you deserve an explanation

I doubt you've any leverage here. Look for something else.

Did you put it through as a formal flexible working request or did you just ask?

Sounds suspect but it might have been agreed as part of their contract. Does give the impression of being unfair. There’s a lot of it about with the WFH/in the office distinction. It’s pretty pointless for me to go to the office now as there are seldom colleagues there at the same time - no sense of community anymore.

Depends. Did you submit a formal flexible working request? If you did, and they declined it, you would have grounds to pursue this.

Make a formal request.

I don't know if there is difficulty in filling your roles, it would not surprise me if the returning colleague insisted on wfh as part of joining.

Perhaps her wfh hours were counted in the capacity amount so essential she asked before you did?

I liaised with my Manager over email and have a reply saying they are at capacity and need to keep the status quote on that “for now”, but in a further chat was told the “door is not closed on that” and may be revisited in the future.

Knock on that door then and ask why the returner was treated differently.

I’d be annoyed too, but your arrangement is entirely separate from their arrangement, and you really don’t know on what basis the other person was given their WFH days.

You can’t go into a professional negotiation and bring someone else’s situation up because a). it’s none of your business (frustrating as that might be), and b). there is more than likely a perfect legitimate reason for other person being granted their arrangement.

If you’d like to raise the issue, I’d suggest just asking them to keep you in mind should capacity change, indicating that you’d like to be top of the queue, so to speak.

Make no mention of anyone else’s arrangement.

Ask why. It could be that the job was advertised as wfh.

I disagree. If an inconsistency of approach has been taken, of course the decision regarding the other person's flexibility should be referenced. It's not personal.

They’re on dodgy ground legally if they allow one worker and not another without a significant difference in their situations.

Make a formal request and go from there.

Thanks everyone, appreciate you taking time to reply and gives me food for thought. I’m not trying to make any trouble for the new hire, just feeling put out I guess that I was told one thing, but then all of a sudden there’s someone starting as a home worker?! The capacity issue suddenly overcome :(

To make matters worse, I am the sole person, on a team made up entirely of home workers, who spends ANY time in the office.l (Team Suoervisor included). Maybe I should just ask for a team transfer instead then at least I’d be with people in the same situation rather than odd one out.

thanks again x

I would imagine she negotiated it as part of the job offer, I am one of only two in my workplace that have flexible working, we both got it as part of the conditions for us to stay.

It does sound unfair but presumably your colleague negotiated WFH as part of her package. Maybe she’s getting paid less? Or maybe they really want her… I negotiated full time WFH in return for taking on some extra duties that my manager needed someone experienced to do.

I work from home more than my colleagues for health reasons. You don’t know your colleagues personal situation.

Submit a formal request as is your legal right (as long as you've been there for a certain amount of time can't remember how long). They should have a process and if they don't they need to develop one as its a right- getting it formalised means they need to give a rationale for their decision. If this had been done before this person was allowed to wfh FT you could have contested it; I'd still do one.

I just hate that you do often have to leave a job to get what new starts are getting (including higher wages probably!). The industry itself does have high demand at the moment, but other than this sticking point, I don’t want to leave.

whatever happened to repaying loyalty?

I have a member of staff who works from home mostly. It’s due to personal health reasons. Team asked and all I could say was it was a reasonable adjustment.

Nah this sounds really iffy. How come you're the only person in your team working in the office?!

Definitely no grounds for everyone else to WFH and you not if you all do the same job. Put in a formal request.

Agree with others that you have no idea of your colleague’s circumstances. It could be that it is a reasonable adjustment or they just negotiated better when they were being interviewed. A friend of mine had a line report who agreed with HR during the recruitment process that she could wfh full time but my friend was not told and had to live with it when the person started as HR put it in the contract

Yes you may feel put out but unless you put a formal request into HR and not just an email then I think you need to accept this is the current situation

YANBU. If you are the ONLY one in the office what's the business case? Even without the new hire it looks fishy.
Are you part of a union? Try contain ACAS?

Look into the legalities. There has to be something completely unique about you/your role/your situation to make it legal to deny you something everyone else has. Good luck.

I don't think YABU but it was possibly a case of this is what she negotiated on return. So the company was left with colleague WFH or not at all whereas they already have you.
You may not have to leave but you may need to hand your resignation in to renegotiate. Can you afford the risk?

I like to think so, but you can never be 100% sure.

I also like to think I’d think more highly of myself, I have given them chances, they have declined. So if I look for and succeed in getting a new job, I wouldn’t look back.

Sad though that would be!