To think I must have some rights here?

[Bringittbqqck]

I have worked at home since before covid one day a week. When the pandemic happened we were all fully remote. For the last four years most people are remote and come in only when necessary ie for a meeting etc. some people will therefore be in one day a month or one day every two months. There is absolutely no need to be in the office for the sort of work we do, unless we need to actually see a client in the flesh (this is rare).

I came back from maternity leave a year and a half ago. I have been in the office twice in that time for a team building day and for a client meeting on another day. There have been no issues. on my return everyone (including management) was keen to say that the working world remained different and we can work wherever as long as it gets done. This was massively important to me as I’m a single parent to my little girl and getting her to nursery etc is half a days work in itself and I have literally nobody to help me.

Yesterday my manager announced that he would like me in the office once a week from January. I know this seems like not much and that I should just go with it but I now live very far from the office, which was done on this assurance that ‘working life is different and you can work from anywhere.’

It will cost in excess of 50 pounds a time to travel in, with car parking and the train, and will take 2.5 hours each way. I am already close to the breadline with nursery fees and don’t know how I will mentally cope with this journey on a weekly basis when I have to fit in a nursery run around it.

i haven’t responded to my manager yet to address this as I was a bit taken aback by it. Surely I have some rights to resist this? It just not sure.

@V0xPopuli because my child’s father left me and I couldn’t afford to stay.

@PinkPolkadotFlamingo probably they would be it means I’m still faced with spending money I literally don’t have

If you can show that you're just as productive, and you're the only one being asked to come in, I'd use those facts to challenge what they're doing, maybe you could negotiate it down to 1-2 times a month with a flexible working request? The law has changed on these sorts of requests recently so might be worth checking it.
I can't see anyone has suggested it yet, but ACAS might be the people to speak to if you can't get an informal resolution with your manager and the formal flexible working request fails.

Do you have a good relationship with your manager? Can you ask why this change is being made?

It would seem odd that you are the only one, unless your roll is unique. Or there is a performance issue of which you are not aware.

Good luck, it sounds tough.

When I asked at the time they just said it’s good for ‘internal networking.’

@Bringittbqqck I think some employers just want people in for the sake of it. I agree that it’s pointless if you are productive at home.

I have to go in once a week, I have no team there. I go in, sit on my own and there is no one to talk to, it’s actually quite depressing.

When I’ve questioned the point of going in, they said it’s great for networking!

Why do you live so far away from work?

if if bothers u get another job,
Use a childminder rather than an expensive nursery that employs cheap labour, and use yr funded hours. The reason they want people back in work is they spend a lot of their so called working hours ferrying their kids around

@Skybluepinky its called being a parent. Apparently the world is still welded to the patriarchy as it’s mainly women doing these nursery runs.

Although maybe not written very nicely, she has a point. Yea you are a parent, but so are many others in the workplace. Your contract assigned you to an office and the contract never changed so this was always a risk. Perhaps you need to try and get a flexible working request in.

I think you might get have to be willing to offer some compromise here, if you're not willing to be flexible on the hours because of the cost of nursery could you maybe postpone the start date-will you be due a funded nursery place soon, if your child is 2.5? Could you push it back till then?

most organisations are bringing people back into offices. I think this was always going to happen once Covid died down.

I think you have to suck it up or find another job... not an easy choice i know.

I mean this in the nicest possible way but I think it’s time to find a new role. One that’s closer to you, more flexi or remote.

HR will just point to your contract. Unfortunately.

Once work has caused you stress / annoyance it rarely gets better :(

I'd be tempted to ask manager what elements of my role I'm not performing presently, and what benefit do they believe will be gained from being onsite.

If they mention anything around bums on seats blah blah, say that you're unable to commit to the onsite requirements and as such if it's non negotiable you'll be looking for a new role. This may sway their decision to accomodate you.

People mention contracts etc but you've always got the option to negotiate, and if necessary walk away and find another more suitable role that meets your needs.

If you have anything in writing about it being fine to work almost entirely from home post-pandemic, that will help make the case that insisting on you coming in would be a change to your established working conditions. If you've nothing written down, then they're probably just going to point to your contract and say that nothing has changed.

Put in a flexible working request, asking formally for the working arrangements you have at the moment. When you do that, you have to say what impact it would have on the employer (none) and what can be done to mitigate any impact (you could mention that you have been going in once or twice a year for particular reasons and that could continue). They can only turn down a flexible working request for "sound business reasons", and if you've been doing the job successfully for 18 months under these arrangements, they'll find it difficult to justify. If you have appraisals or whatever that say you're doing a good job, you can use them to justify your claim that these working arrangements do not impact on the business.
You could try and forestall the "internal networking" argument by mentioning it as a possible minor impact, and explain how that is currently minimised, and perhaps make additional suggestions (eg active participation in whatever means of communication are used, attendance at team building days, regular online check-ins with line manager and other close colleagues).

If you are in a union, talk to them. They may be able to help you challenge this if they turn down the flexible working request.

Same here - they have halved our team so office is fairly empty, go in and spend half my time on calls, people i do sometimes need to talk to never at their desks due to meetings. I sat on my own last week for lunch. But yet i am collaborating 😥. I just go in and do the bare minimum hours and then leave. We have lost two key people in our project as well in another site due to compulsory on site regardless of what you do

How valued are you in your role? Are there others that feel like you?

My role was 4 days a week and 1 WFH prior to covid, then fully remote for 18 months and off and on for another 6 months. We were then told we had to return to office 50% of the time (adjusted to 2 days a week after some resistance). Some people have rarely turned up at the office. Those who weren't valued were managed out and the non attendance gave management an extra reason. Those who are valued tend to get away with it with a blind eye turned because it would be disastrous for management if they left.

If your employer values you, they would be short sighted to lose you just to make a point.

I'd suggest formally requesting WFH and see where you go from there. How hard you can push back depends on how much they don't want to risk you leaving. For example do you think you could manage twice a month and negotiate that?

If they say no then you'll have to look for another job that suits if they insist on attendance which is unworkable for you.

As others have said, first thing is to speak to your manager, they may be helpful, they may not, but then at least you will know.
How old is your child? If starting school soon, it's worth thinking about how you will work your job around school hours, as even with wrap around they are often shorter than nursery. If you put in a flexible working request, have in your mind what you will need to make childcare work for the next couple years, as some places say you can only put in a request every 1-2 years.

Employment lawyer here. Some very bad 'advice' on here. Your contract is what is currently agreed to and happens in practice. It matters not that a piece of paper somewhere says your place of work is so and so, unless working from home was agreed as a temporary measure. You should question whether this change of contract is being treated as such, and use the formal grievance procedure to challenge the necessity of the change if it is, and why proper contractual consultation has not taken place. Your contract can only be changed following consultation, and for a pressing business need - and you are entitled to notice of any changes.

Does your kid's dad do any overnights? Could you maybe do 2 days in a row once a fortnight rather than one day a week - do you have a friend you could stay with who lives within commuting distance of the office?

I would also see if they would split the cost of the commute, or at least do an interest free loan for the season ticket that you pay back over the year.

Is it just you, or is everyone being asked to do this?

If you, then ask why just you.
If everyone, then pool your resources to challenge it.

It's definitely a warning to employees to get their contract updated to reflect their current situation.

If you have to do it, you could do 10-3 in the office and work on the train but it's not ideal

Even if it is contractual companies can vary contracts with sufficient notice, in effect terminating one contract and issuing another. I'd speak to your manager first, then potentially find someone who can take your child to nursery. Could your child's father help out more?

Even if your contract states that you must work from the office, you have the statutory right to request flexible working.

Your employer has only a list of 8 reasons why they can deny your request. When you make your application you should document your reason why none of the options are an issue to give them less opportunity to reject it. If they do reject it you have the right to appeal.

The 8 reasons are:

• there's a burden of additional costs to the employer
• there's an inability to reorganise work amongst existing staff (this is obviously more focussed on people requesting less hours)
• there's an inability to recruit additional staff (again, more aimed at someone wanting to cut their hours)
• there's a detrimental impact on quality (use previous performance reviews/appraisals to prove this isn't an issue)
• there's a detrimental impact on performance (again, use previous appraisals, etc)
• a detrimental effect on the ability to meet customer demand (should be easy to prove and you have still come in to the office for client meetings)
• insufficient work available for the periods the employee proposes to work (again, not an issue by the look of it)
• planned structural changes to the employer's business (possibly, I guess, but they'd need to explain to you what those are).

If you're fully capable of doing your work from home, as you have already demonstrated, I can't see what reason they could use to reject a flexible working request.

I would, however, offer them a compromise if possible, but don't offer too much. For example, if you thought you could push it and do two days in the office a month, offer them 1.

You need to have a frank conversation explaining exactly what you have said here. Logistics and money make this impossible. If they still push it I would offer a compromise you could do, such as working on the train counting towards your hours or putting in a flexi request for WFH full time. If neither of these suggestions satisfy your employer, I would do a free consultation with a HR lawyer to see if there's any other avenues here. I would certainly ask your employer why they have made this request and if it's just you. I would also search Teams & Outlook for any reference to your WFH being permanent, no matter how tenuous.