To think you shouldn't have to work in the office on Christmas Eve?

[oliverwe]

I work in an office environment. Some people work from home fully remotely, most people are in the office 3-4 days a week. My manager has decided that we must come in 5 days a week. That is minus him and other managers of course, who usually go to their country houses for long weekends.

My folk live in Cornwall and I'd like to go and see them for Christmas. It's about 6 hours on the train or driving.

Manager has told me he expects me in the office on Christmas Eve. I can't take annual leave as other people are. AIBU to think I shouldn't need to be in the office? I can and used to work from home so it's just grinch behaviour.

I think your boss is being a bit unfair and you'd hope with Christmas being once a year he could slightly bend rules at let you work from home. ( obviously I don't know your company so unsure as to why he's being an arse)

Unfortunately though retail staff and those in hospitality still have to work Xmas eve because it's still a normal day

just book the day off
oh you can't

were you going to wfm at your parents?

I wondered this too but perhaps only so many staff are allowed off and maybe that number has been reached?

@weetiddlepop as mentioned on other posts, shops and restaurants close early on CE as buses stop early.

I work in retail and it's still a 5pm finish for me

YANBU.

I only have to work half a day on CE. Someone does have to turn up every day, because I work with (small) animals.

Your manager is showing you who they are.

double standards
out of touch
lacking in empathy.

no different to any relationship - if they don't shape up, ship 'em out. Don't settle for such low standards in your leader.

LTB - Leave the Boss.

This. An employer who's being this much of a petty and unreasonable twat over Christmas will be a petty and unreasonable twat in other ways too.

This thread makes me appreciate my employer a whole lot more! We work half a day on Christmas eve but get paid for the whole day.

I agree with posters who say xmas eve isn't just another day. It should be a bank holiday in my view. But it isn't. So in reality a business has every right to ask you to work for the money you will be paid that day. It would be lovely if they took some discretion but it's not an entitlement. I'm a hcp but work mon-fri flexi working and schedule my own diary I'll probably be told I can finish whenever I want on xmas eve but will be down on my hours, that's fine. My husband was office based and his last boss encouraged them all to wfh and finish at 2. I do think this boss is unreasonable purely because they are expecting full office working without applying that to themselves. They are also a bit of a grinch, but no one is entitled to the time off on that day, it's just nice if they get it. I'll be honest many people would "wfh" without doing much like work, so the boss would be expecting that.

I know that Christmas Eve is technically a “working day” but I have never worked it in my life and don’t know anyone who does - everyone takes it off as AL and enjoys the build up to Xmas. You don’t say what you do but I find it highly unlikely that it’s not possible for you to take AL because someone else is on Xmas eve if you work in an office. Your manager is being a grinch and trying to exert control. No reason why you couldn’t work on a train that day - it’s not like anyone will be getting anything real done then anyway!

It’s Christmas Eve

In every office job I’ve had it’s been very quiet and not the same need for everyone to be working at full pelt anyway. Even if the things you suggested were an issue, which OP hasn’t said they are.

@ThatsNotMyTeen the OP hasn't said anything about the office she works in or how busy it would be, something else I'd mentioned in my posts!
Some offices are quiet Xmas eve, some are busy - it being 'office work' doesn't tell us anything. Though it seems strange that the boss won't allow her to take annual leave if it's expected to be quiet.

I’m talking about supermarkets who usually close 8-11pm and close 5-6pm on CE

I’m a nurse and even we don’t work the full day, we do a morning clinic where no one comes then pop to the office for nibbles then home it’s a nice day usually. Although I don’t work Tuesdays so off this year. Even when I worked in the wards we made it lovely for the kids get loads home if we can still can be busy. However if op can work from home why couldn’t she? Long as the work is done? Makes me thankful to never have worked in an office with such rigid people.

It never ceases to amaze me how half of the posters on mumsnet turn into Victorian workhouse owners on every employment thread.

I think we're all aware that some people do need to work as normal/ perhaps even harder over Christmas, but presumably op isn't in one of those jobs.

Most office workers do a lot less on Christmas Eve and some are given it as a bonus day off.

Sensible employers understand give and take - if you are happy to be flexible with them, they will be with you. This has always been my experience.

And managers should not be asking you to be in if they aren't prepared to do the same.

I think it's reasonable to travel on 23rd and work from your relatives on 24th.

Explain that if you have to work in the office you can 't actually go to see your relatives for Christmas.

Most office jobs finish at noon/early afternoon but by the time you've got home you might struggle to get a train anyway as they finish early on Christmas Eve.

It does seem mean if there's no actual reason to be in the office on Christmas Eve. It's not a retail job, and yes I know they have worse working conditions but the OP isn't in a job where she needs to be somewhere, her boss just wants her to be. Want and need aren't the same. Her boss could be reasonable.

It's not like it where I work now, but in some of my previous jobs the employer would allow people to go early on Christmas Eve and NYE but wouldn't say until the day, and you had to hang around until they sent an email out to say you could go. That was really annoying.

Maybe he thinks that someone traveling to the family home for Christmas Eve will be spending Christmas Eve with the family, instead of doing the work they're being paid for

Thoughts are not facts. If the OP is otherwise a good worker, there's no reason to think that.

Pretty sure the reason I always had such good retention in my team's was because I was sensible about requests like the ops.

@SweetSakura

Yes, same. People remember stuff like this and it can be the trigger for a valuable person to leave come January.

I'd honestly love to know who these posters are banging on about normal working days, productivity and deadlines. What jobs do they actually do? I can't think of anyone I know who is/ has a manager like this.

Then why doesn't the boss stop fucking doing it and lead by example instead of having long weekends wfh in his holiday home!

Did you forget the part where he WFH from his holiday home and manages to work even though he could be distracted from having a good time. Fuck me, do the bootlickers not understand the hypocrisy at play here.

As a civil servant, I have very rarely been able to take Christmas Eve off. It is expected we go into the office in the morning, but they close up at lunchtime.

DPs on both sides live 2.5 hours away, and it was further when we were going out and newly married as the motorway network wasn't finished so we still had to go through a number of large towns which were always busy that afternoon, as were the roads generally. So it wasn't unusual to take 4 hours or more to get "home" on 24th.

And as Creche was already closed, dd had to come with us to work, then pack up and go.

It was a pain - and we did stay in our own house a good few years because travel was too complicated when added to family stresses. And travelled more often in the years we could do it over the weekend.

You plan ahead, make sure you have a car picnic for snacks en route and get a hot coffee as you set off (and preferably have a decent meal for lunch before leaving). Know where to stop for rest and convenience breaks. Fill the car with petrol/diesel in advance, so breaks are for convenience or rest mainly and fuel is a bonus. Make sure the car is checked for tyre pressures, oil, washer fluid and couple of days before.

Have everything packed the evening before, and if possible, that includes the car. AIM to leave straight from work, and not need to go home in between. Get a good sleep on 23rd.

Think of things to keep dc entertained (it might not be a normal thing, but maybe playing a dvd is a good thing on this day, for example). Make sure you have dc well fed but not too full (so they are comfortable but less prone to car sickness), warm enough to maybe have a nap, (maybe bring a blanket to throw over them), and a list (in your head or on paper) of car games to play or songs to sing etc to pass time when they are awake. I spy, how many yellow cars, who sees a bus first....that kind of thing.

It's all doable - but tell manager that you need to leave as early as possible because you are travelling (and tell them how long) but cannot book leave - they may be able to let you leave earlier than usual (even for 24th) or even allow you to take leave after all.

I am shocked by how many people on here assume that if someone is working from home then they are taking advantage and not actually going to work. Do we reallly have no trust or faith in each other.
I (and many of my colleagues) can work very well from home and do so very regularly. I do see lots of benefits of going to the office for collaboration/ coaching purposes but it’s not needed every day.

The key thing here though is that you made it work as you had to but that it was a pain.
As employers we shouldn’t be making things harder for people for no reason (business need/ personal development need etc).