to think some people think WFH should be a constant nose to the grindstone?

[Yodeloo]

I think some jobs are like that definitely. Heavy workload, helplines etc

Some people think all WFH should be like this and get horrified because someone hung some washing out or helped out a family member for a short time. Plenty of jobs have flexibility and it is about getting the job done not just being present in front of the computer non stop.

I get all my life admin done throughout the day around work. I do an exercise class most mornings and then start work later on the days I WFH. I will meet up with friends, work on my side business. Nobody cares at my work. All targets are met consistently.

Is it jealousy that people get so upset?

Where ever you work - at home or otherwise- you do get breaks, lunchtime and time for comfort breaks - so when you make a brew between calls you can put a wash on while the kettle boils - or other quick tasks like emptying the dishwasher etc. While my soup in cooking for lunch I can whip the hoover round downstairs or sort the bins.

Today i stated half an hour early, finished 1.5 hours late and didn't have my unpaid lunch hour- I did tidy the kitchen while making a brew and took 10 mins to eat soup for lunch - when I am in the office I always go for a walk at lunchtime and start and finish on time. - personally I love hybrid working- I enjoy my office time and appreciate the work life balance that wfh offers plus it is better for the environment (less journeys to the office).

Hate to break to you, but some jobs are entirely wfh based. There is no office to go back to.

I WFH FT. I work hard, spent the vast majority of my day at my computer. When I make a cup of tea I generally do a bit of housework but that's it. It's not different to working in an office productivity wise.

Plus, as remote work existed pre-covid and March 2020 was 5 years ago, there are people in jobs that were never office based in the first place. I not only don't have an office but also don't have a 'back'.

It can't be long til the majority of the workforce aren't in the same job as they were when lockdown started, if we aren't there already.

Why do you care what others do? Get on with your own job.

All these people saying wfh people should be back in the office probably weren't complaining when they were furloughed for months on end whilst we were wfh.... how times have changed...

And before people come at me to say 'what about Dr's, nurses, shop workers'...my response is that hundreds of thousands of people were furloughed and they weren't complaining about me wfh then...they were quite happy sat at home with their 80% pay.

Possibly because what others do can have an effect on our jobs.

Not sure why think people would be happy to have lost 20% of their salary? I certainly wasn’t.

Everyone I knew that was furloughed was more than happy to be paid 80% of their salary to sit at home and do nothing. I would have been.

I don’t know anyone who was. My colleagues certainly weren’t best pleased.

You must know some affluent people who can just lose a fifth of their salary for six weeks and not blink.

Don't you ever take breaks when you're at work? Make cups of tea? Go to the toilet? Have a chat with colleagues? Do a bit of filing or go for a walk around the building to stretch your legs? Etc etc.? What's the difference between that and spending literally 3-4 minutes loading a washing machine?

You realise that you're actually supposed to take a screen break at least once an hour to stop eye strain-so why can't you spend that time completing a quick household chore?

I'm contracted to do 30 hours a week and work exclusively from home. My day generally looks

6.15am-6.45am morning work admin
Get kids up and ready for school

9am-2.30pm I work but I stop for 10 minutes to sort my laundry, 20 minutes to eat and 10 minutes to faff the dishwasher.

4pm after getting home from the pick up I will log back on and do another hour. If things are crazy that often becomes two or even three hours (and build up TOIL).

My job is really intense, I have to break the big block up to make it manageable so 2 x 10 minutes and 1 x 20 minutes which is made up (and more) later works well for me. If I have to take a personal phone call or run a personal errand then, again, that gets made up.

Yes I have flexibility, yes my job gets 100%, yes it suits my life and I earn less in the public sector than my private sector equivalent. If it works all round then why does it matter.

My WFH days aren’t like that. I’m expected to be at my desk working, except for short breaks to use the loo/get a drink and take my lunch break. I’d probably get sacked if it became known I put the washing out or did my own admin on paid work time. They can tell if you’re not there generally as we’re on chat a lot.

If you're in an office, there's going to be a bit of time chatting to colleagues, making coffee etc. I view putting the laundry on etc as a similar use of time. And I get faaaarrrrr more work done when I wfh because there are fewer distractions and my output is significantly higher than when I'm in the office - mainly because people stop by for a chat etc which I don't get at home.

It's swings and roundabouts and if your core hours are covered, you have the trust of your company and you deliver what you're supposed to, then it's all good I reckon!

No, I think the people I knew that were losing a fifth of their salary were probably making a bit of a saving because they weren't paying for petrol, train tickets and other expenses involved in commuting to work. They were stuck at home, only allowed at once a day, so their expenditure naturally reduced. Whether that was you or not is neither here nor there. I know people that were in that position and it's those same people that are kicking up a stink about people wfh.

This.

Sometimes you also just need to take yourself off for a 10 min walk round the block to be more productive!

Exactly. We go in once a week/ once a fortnight depending on holidays etc. There are over 800 people based in my office and 156 desks. We wouldn’t physically fit, the company has saved loads by downsizing.

Same here, there will be no way there won’t be a degree of hybrid working 🤷🏻

crashingly disappointing for some posters I know

No doubt. Office space is expensive. There's a reason loads of public sector staff had hybrid enforced on them during austerity. The bottom line is the bottom line!

I definitely do think people should be able to wfh and I do agree flexibility is important. I used to put out the washing, too, when I did. And I stacked the dishwasher at lunchtime. Why not?

But honestly, I do also think there are also a ton of skivers who wfh. Not everyone plays fair. There was a thread recently where plenty of people admitted it. It ruins it for others.

I think there should be clear standards or targets/expectations/milestones, and people should expect to meet them.

Maybe your employer will find renting an office in Bangalore is cheaper yet, or replacing half of the staff with AI? 😂

Yep, the local authority i work for sold all but the main building off. We literally don't have an office space as legally my team can't share space with any aspect of children's services. If we want to borrow an office space for a team meeting we get charged £60 per hour, to use local authority owned office space that doesn't belong to my team!

I WFH due to a disability. The office is a very long commute, which was fine when I was in perfect health: now it’s not doable. To support me, my employer also allow me to work flexible hours part time: they also encourage me to take time for my sons school things like sports days: parent visits. I don’t take the piss. During January I worked lots of extra hours to get a time sensitive project complete. However, it’s calmed down a bit now, so yeah, some days I have taken it a wee bit easier..

So your employer is paying you for only one hour's work?

There can't be many employers who are in a line of work where offshoring would be feasible, but have somehow not realised this in at least half a decade of remote working. Realistically that's got to be quite a niche group.