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.

The irony is that workers who simply see themselves as tools for productivity, who need firm rules and think rigidly and without emotion or nuance are likely to be replaced by AI a lot sooner than those who don't.

Your employer won't give a shit about all your years of obedience when they can get a machine to do your tasks and never take any days off at all.

I think you might be ill on Xeve...

All the places I've worked with a bit of flexibility and give and take between office and employees have had much better morale and staff retention than ones where everyone is suspicious of anyone who works from home and thinks they must be screwing over the business.

Because for most people who work in offices, let's be honest it's really not that deep. There is very little work that needs to be done on Xmas Eve when it won't be looked at again until the 27th. Of course, I'm not talking about emergency services, 24h on call services, public-facing services etc etc. I'm talking about standard office jobs, who manage to close every weekend for 2 days without the world falling apart, and who could definitely let employees wfh for an extra day ahead of Christmas without it being a massive problem.

I'm so glad to work in an industry where this kind of over-devotion to your basic office job during Christmas is unheard of - most of my colleagues are packing in loads of AL throughout December and over the Xmas break as we work hard most of autumn and people always have excess leave to take before year end.

The way she is stressing about it can make her prone to catch bugs etc.

I think some posters in this thread need to be visited by a few ghosts of Christmas and lighten up a bit.

Nobody is going to write on your gravestone that you worked every Christmas Eve.

I agree, I can't ever work from home but for jobs that can be done remotely, one day is hardly going to make a difference; OP will still be working! Some people are just so pathetic and bitter they'd rather others live in misery to avoid them feeling like they're missing out.

Thank god most employers are seeing sense and stop people skiv... working from home.

Why do people think this? I know most people are monitored as heavily as I am but..

My manager can see when I log in, log out, take a call, put myself unavailable to make a brew, how long I have been on my lunch, how many phone calls I've taken, every single statistic he can see in the office
I don't leave my desk during the day unless it's my lunch or I'm going to the toilet

If I wasn't working, I would be sacked

I think many people allowed to 'work from home' on Xmas Eve would end up not doing employment related tasks.

The same amount as they would in the office? If there are genuinely urgent actions or on going tasks that need covering Christmas Eve (presumably so if OP was refused annual leave as others are off), then surely it would be noticed if whoever was working wasn't doing them? If they're not important or wouldn't be noticed then seems unreasonable for the leave to not be granted; it's either important to be in or not.

I think many people allowed to 'work from home' on Xmas Eve would end up not doing employment related tasks.

I'm sorry you have no work ethic.

I think if you're being paid to work ypu should be at least attempting to work. I suspect a lot of people would struggle to WFM that close to Xmas, especially if they had children or family visiting. 😬

Are you in London OP there are flights between Gatwick, Heathrow and London city to Newquay on the 25th.

The benefit of being at family though is that there are other people around to look after children / keep them occupied whilst they work or to make you food etc so it can also lead to more productivity.

How about we let people decide for themselves based on their own circumstances and work ethic whether they could work from home or not.

Nothing in the OP suggest she isn't attempting to work. It simply means she could travel outside of work hours and then log on and do the job which can be done fully remotely Christmas eve. Where did you get that OP isn't even going to 'attempt' to do work?

I wasn't specifically referring to OP, just a general comment regarding WFM so close to Xmas day.

I was simply giving a reason why an employer may prefer employees in the office so close to Xmas, not sure why you're so defensive. 😬

You've assumed I was referring to me when I was making a general observation on work 'ethic'

There are many reason why the OP manager is not happy for her to WFH on Xmas eve

the H&S side of things. We have to have H&s assessments to work from home which assesses our home office environment - if she has made it known she will be working from elsewhere her work will not want to be held liable if she gets a bad back from hunching over her mums dining room table

confidentiality - it is less likely at some one elses house that OP will be able to ensure no-one in a busy christmas household will be able to see confidential info on her screen. Will she guarantee she locks her screen every time she steps away

It may be that a certain number of people need to be in the office and if everyone else is off then they need OP to be in

There may be a high volume of work that day that does need completing eg banking transactions or whatever. WFH may not facilitate that

If that's the rule for your office then that's the rule although disgusting for your boss to WFH. I would never make my team come in and wfh myself.

I always enjoy going into the office on xmas eve, as its always a fun atmosphere. We have xmas music on, we all bring in snacks, we decorate and generally have a good time whilst working.

We do tend to be busy as customers want to make reports before we close for the holidays (we only keep an emergency service on) but even so we finish around 1pm-2pm.

That said, since wfh started with covid we no longer expect staff to be in the office and are happy to wfh.

Try being a nurse.

Yeah, but they’re not a nurse they work in an office. If you’re salty about being a nurse, get a job in an office.

Exactly. There's a difference between being at work because people are needed at work and being at work because a manager just enjoys being powerful and setting rules.

I suppose we don’t know how many people are off

We do allow some flex with our normal numbers allowed holiday on Christmas Eve and everywhere I’ve worked has been the same but there may still be too many people off if they need a skeleton staff