To tell them to sod this meeting

[Lazykitten]

This is the second time this has happened.

I have a weird set up where by I'm employed by the London office but work out of the Manchester office (live just north of Manchester). But as I'm officially part of the London office my client base is predominantly South East.

I have a client in Maidstone. We have an in-person meeting with them every quarter. It's been scheduled for....... 9.30 Monday morning.

The bit that's peed me off most of all is there's a massive email chain between everyone confirming availability that I wasn't included on. Then it gets forwarded to me as a 'FYI Lazykitten meeting is 9.30 Monday'. This happened last time, but was a Tuesday after a bank holiday.

I'm by far the least important person there in terms of rank, but the most important in terms of client relations and doing the actual work. I get I have to attend meetings but it's a 6 hour commute for me which I would have to do on a Sunday. I'd lose half my weekend because once again I'm an after thought to the important people who live 'down the road'.

I raised this last time. I have no reason why I can't go but tempted to invent a preexisting weekend break so they don't keep doing this. But will massively p off client to rearrange now it's confirmed.

Just 😡

Time to set boundaries. It's not your problem that they didn't include you in the email setting it up. It's not your problem that their lack of organisation will lead to an unhappy client.

Reply saying that it's really unfortunate that they did not include you in the email chain setting up the meeting, but as you hdd already pointed out, you are unable to make a meeting 6 hours away by 9.30am. Perhaps offer to join remotely or to rearrange the meeting for (your town) next time. Or if you would be willing, offer to travel up the night before next time (at their expense), providing you have notice.

Make it a them problem.

(Edited to fix terrible typos!)

Depends.
Are you on a London salary? Is it a dispensation that you’re allowed to work from Manchester?
If so, shift your backside and attend the meeting!

If not then, yes, I wouldn’t lie, but would say I can’t make the meeting at that time, travelling from your office base.

Could you get your contract changed to the Manchester branch and get local clients?
Can you take back time in lieu for the travel time and have a day off another time?
Can you expense the travel from Manchester, or just the distance from the London office site?
Are they paying for a hotel Sun night?

Not enough info. If you chose to move to Manchester but are contracted to London YABU.

I would email back to say that unfortunately you aren't available at this time and you should have been included in to the planning email.
Offer to call in remotely or offer travel and stay the day before if it's covered with pay and expenses but otherwise you will not be able to attend in person.
Boundaries are essential regardless of pay grade.

I think it depends too. I work in London and live in London (expensive) and have colleagues who moan about the expectation we should be in the office 2 days a week and how expensive their train fare is and how long the journey. I roll my eyes and bite my tongue. My mortgage is expensive but I would never moan about that. You pays your money you takes your choice.

So if you have a contract with your workplace as London but you have the benefit of living near Manchester you might need to accept this will happen sometimes. Of course if your contract says something else then this might not apply.

Did you know that you were going to be part of the ‘London office’ when you took the job?

If so, really it’s no one else’s concern where you live as you chose a job that will have London based clients and meetings.

Or, was becoming part of the London team forced on you?

Either way, sadly, if you are on a team with clients and the rest of your team in the London area they can’t be expected to make all meetings fit around your 6 hour journey time. And arguably there is no good time for a meeting that requires 6 hours travelling: leaving at the crack of dawn or getting home v late.

If London meetings are a regular thing can’t you ask to join the Manchester team?

To try and explain the set up, my management and 'team' (and salary!) are in Manchester. But when I there was only budget in the London office so lines got a bit blurred to get me through the door.

I can claim back travel and hotel on expenses no problem. Its more the time. And no I can't take that time back. Just a little consideration that when 5+ dates and times were on the table no-one thought to check if I was free to spend my Sunday travelling - it was just presumed

Sorry I don't think that was clear. I'm paid from the London office but I don't have London weighting. Client work is probably about 30% of my job

So from your update it sounds like a bit of a mess.

It does sound like some London/south east work was part of ‘the deal’ for you and that they didn’t offer paid travel time. Not a great deal for you.

But presumably better than not having a job there. (If they weren’t recruiting to Manchester)

I was chatting to a mate about this the other day, I honestly think we have all had it too easy since Covid and expect it to continue forever. We need to go back to normal days of working

i was complaining I now have to pay parking for 2 days, back in the day it was parking 5 days a week. I was also a junior member of the team that had to travel 2 days a week to London. They covered my costs but not any time off in lieu.

they moaned but finally agreed to let me work from home for one day a month in compensation

@Lazykitten this is the 2nd time in how many weeks?

Its the second time this year 🤣

To reiterate, it's not the meeting or the commute that I'm objecting to. It's that I'm presumed to have nothing planned on Sunday. And that I was the only one not consulted when I'm the only one who has to be there (I'm the only person with the technical knowledge despite being much lower down the food chain)

And I'm quite happy to stick my neck out and say if the others had a 6 hour commute never in a million years would this have been arranged for 9.30 on Monday.

I'm the only person with the technical knowledge despite being much lower down the food chain

this is the most very important bit. Sorry I change my view, let them have the meeting without you and let them see how far they get 😀😀

How important is the meeting? How difficult would it be to rearrange?

You could force the issue by claiming you have plans for Sunday....

...or suck it up this time but make it clear you'll be taking time in lieu for Sunday travel.

send a nice email including the client to say you will be there bright and early as you will be travelling down on the Sunday

Then remove the client from the chain and send another email saying that while you have rearranged your prior appt for this meeting as you do not want to cause any issues with the client, you do have weekend commitments and have only been able to do so with some difficulty. Please can whoever arranges the next meeting date check with you first that the proposed times are convenient for you to travel and/or be away overnight. Make a point of telling your line manager you are leaving half an hour early one day the following (or prior) week to attend a rearranged appointment.

if they do it again, decline.

If you’re technically employed from the London office then I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect you to attend meetings in London, and I don’t think others should rearrange diaries to accommodate your travel if that’s technically your base and where your clients are.

Annoying for you? Yes, very. But if it’s a problem you need to move to a local office/client base.

@SunshineAndFizz but the meeting is in Maidstone not London.

getting to London from Manchester is easy, to Maidstone it isn’t

Do they not pay travel and hotel expenses for you to travel the night before?

Has no-one discovered Teams or Zoom yet? I know it's meant to be in person but a 9.30am in Maidstone is asking for it.

Can you claim the travel time back in lieu?

So you say 'Sorry Mondays really don't work for me due to the fact I have to travel down the day before, going forward please assume my availability is Tues-Fri only'

"Sorry, the earliest I would be able to attend on that day would be x o'clock. If you're unable to rearrange the meeting, please let me know if you'd like me to send a deputy"

I think I’d simply decline and say that you’re unable to attend due to the commute and it being on a Monday. If you’re vital to the prep then they will rearrange.

I arrange lots of client meetings and I’d not think bad of you for declining or asking for it to be in the middle of the week or an afternoon meeting