To not have much sympathy?

[KimberleyClark]

Office of National Statistics staff refusing to go into the office for two days a week. Homeworking is a privilege not a right. They might soon find themselves without a job at all.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqqnz7g4451o

Bump. Don’t think two days a week is too much to ask.

My dss was employed on a work from home contract in civil service.

Now he’s forced to go in 3 days a week. He has to sit in the canteen as there’s not enough desks as they all used to work from home.

l agree with them. Stupid presenteeism.

I think it depends on whether they took the job on as remote working, and if the employers have moved the goalposts

I have no problem going into the office for a purpose like a meeting or to use particular equipment. If it’s just to show face then it is too much to ask because it’s fucking pointless.

YABU. If you took a job on the basis you were remote working and then you are suddenly told otherwise then that's absolutely not OK. What about people that live e.g. 3h from an office as they didn't think they'd need to travel to the office on a normal basis? What about people that have childcare arrangements that won't work if they have to add an hour's commute each end of their day? Few people really don't want to be in the office at least a couple of days a week I'm principle, but if you've set your life up in a certain way and someone moves the goalposts in practice it becomes impossible to go in as requested.

Well if they’re all refusing to do it I don’t see how they could all be without a job? Civil service pay is inflexible and shit. If they have this “perk” to tempt staff with and compete with the private sector they’d be stupid to fuck with it

Also I know people that go and sit in an office three days a week on their own as all their colleagues are based elsewhere. If they are on video calls with their colleagues anyway what exactly is the point of them being in an office?

I couldn’t get over the fact there’s more than 1000 people working at ONS. What can they possibly all be doing?

Alan Sugar is that you?

It's only being pushed in the Civil Service as the government is so anti home working. It's purely political. So why should people be used as pawns? They can't just turn around and sack everyone, it doesn't work that way.

You force people to stay at home for months on end, it is no surprise that many end up liking it.

The problem I've seen is that it starts off that people have to come in 1 day a week, then it goes to 2 then 3. It's a slippery slope! At some point people have to take a stand.

What's the benefit in them coming to the office?

That was keen.

Not only did they force people to work at home for months on end, but they also promised post Covid that WFH would continue so people made life plans based on this- things like moving house.

I disagree OP. Working from home is a right if that is what it says in your contract. It's not a privilege if that was the basis upon which you took the job.

DH goes in 2x a week.

Its pointless. No one in his team is in his office so he has the same meetings on teams he would have from home. He perches on a seat in the break space because there's no desk space available. He literally takes his laptop for a train ride to ping the IP address as showing he's been in then takes his laptop for the train ride home again.
It's not the going in he objects to if there's a purpose to it, its the ridiculousness of taking his laptop for a ride and then coming home anyway to have a private meeting because there's no space in the office. How anyone can say it's a sensible use of time is beyond me.

I tend to think that 1000 people who actually work there have a better handle on the issues than a random who likes to post angry threads on MN.

I do two days a week in the office. I waste two hours in traveling and petrol money to go sit somewhere alone and be on Teams calls with people on other continents. Pointless doesn’t begin to cover it.

Summer holidays come round and then all the WFH crew complain about kids making noise playing out!

Nah. Get to the office FGS!

All of what’s been said above. People’s expectations of work have changed since Covid. I work for the CS. I’m paid well but far less than if I was in the public sector. If I was forced back into the office just to bump up the figures I’d be looking elsewhere.

My firm has compressed office space, we have 24 hours to book a desk. It's ridiculous. I have a better set up at home rather than perching at a 'hot point' with no screens.

Same here. I end up wearing headphones to go on Teams calls with people all over the country. And when I'm doing stuff with Excel I keep them on to block out the noise of all the people around me on Teams calls because for some reason people talk louder when they are wearing headphones. And probably only one of the people near me is working on the same stuff and we talk over Teams every anyway. And as it's all hot desks now I have to cart my mug and water bottle etc back and forth.

A blanket rule of 2 days in the office is pointless. If they can work from home, why shouldn’t they?

Theres plenty of wfh jobs now. To get the best staff, companies know they have to offer it.

It makes some people angry, usually those who don’t have the option of it. You see people on here losing their minds about it, all through jealousy.

@KimberleyClark why do you care?

What's it to you? What a bizarre thread.

I could ask why do you care that I care?