Work announced a move from 2 days to 4 days

[Everanewbie]

Hi all. I'm looking for some suggestions of what avenues I might have.

I started a job just over a year ago. It is company that I worked for some time ago, but had to leave due to personal circumstances, which was with regret. I was thrilled to be offered the job. I applied and received the offer where I was told at both I was obligated to be in the office twice a week.

I left a job that was entirely remote (well, with the exception of trips in to London maybe once a month) to take up this role, accepting two days in person because I was excited by the role. Pay incidentally, is much the same, above the average, but only HRT if a decent bonus is paid. I now pay to park in a city centre twice a week and drive maybe 10 miles or so to get there.

I have child that is full time in nursery and my husband works long days. He is the main breadwinner in a job that is very well paid, think 6 figures, but only just. This means that I do the majority of nursery drop offs and pickups, however, he helps where his hours allow. We also have a dog. He is great at home on his own, but I only resort to that one day a week as a try to work my other day when my husband is off or on a shorter day.

So now, out of the blue, my firm have announced they expect people in the office 4 days per week. This will not work for me. Days will be too long, I'll be £60pw on parking, plus I will need to employ a dog walker 4 days a week. The salary no longer looks decent when you consider this.

I've heard about flexible working requests, and heard that these are considered on a case-by-case basis, but does any HR-y posters have any thoughts on the merits?

Would you be weighing up other options? Speaking to my manager, or holding my cards close to my chest?

I really don't want to leave this job, but I don't have the energy to be a mum and husband to do this, and the salary will no longer be competitive.

Sorry not sure why this quoted pp.

I went to work today noone in my team or part of business in so spoke to noone, I took a desk and parking space someone else could have used, was in less time than I would have been wfh as had to leave earlier to do school run (reduced hours today) and due to sensitive nature of role spent loads of time running round trying to find somewhere to have calls discreetly as no meeting rooms were available.
This return to work for the sake of it is madness

Though fully expect any flex working request to be denied op they've told you their expectation so they'll find a way from the statutory reasons to refuse it.

Urgh OP. I feel your pain. This would irk me too and they should have made it clear the hybrid arrangement could be withdrawn. Was the job itself advertised as two days a week hybrid or just hybrid?

All of this! 👏

I agree 100%. During Lockdown when everyone was "wfh" people bought dogs thinking their lives would be forever like this. Now employers are wising up to people taking the Mick and want them back at work, rather than doing the school run/ walking the dog/ pegging out the washing etc etc
It was never going to be this good forever. Many people I know are now being asked to come back to work in the office.

I’m pretty sure that your offer email protects you as under contract law, they made you an offer and you accepted it. However practically this is of little use, you’re presumably not thinking of hiring a solicitor.

I would go with the request for temp flexibility as someone else has suggested, and I would be informally letting my manager know I’m looking elsewhere. I would say this is because you had been offered two days when you joined and that the commute plus parking costs no longer made the salary competitive.

if they want to keep you, they can then offer to extend your ‘temporary arrangement’. They save face and you won’t set a precedent.

This. In my current role, I'm 100% in the office (but it's walking distance,) and there are definitely those who take the piss and just disappear for ages. It's really annoying when I actually need to talk to them about something.

It's currently fairly easy for employers to change terms based on 'business need' although set to become a lot harder. So many employers will be putting changes through now, if they can.

Sham/ speedy consultation period
Terminate and re engage
Job done

Look at what’s in your contract. Also I’d probably request a meeting with HR or your manager or both and say pretty much what you’ve written here - that you accepted this role on two days a week presence and that it’s no longer attractive to you if they insist on four. I’d make sure I was ace at my job and I’d say you keep it at 2 days for me, or I’m off.
And I’d start looking for a new job! When they realise the reality they might change their minds. I despise presenteeism. It’s a complete lack of trust in your work force and infantilises people. Especially in this scenario. Vote with your feet-this demand on their staff will cost them more than they gain from these stupid strategies to exert maximum control over people.

@Wendarl AMEN 🙏

Good luck. I see why you are peeved.

The company (and a lot of companies like them), make this 2-day-a-week offer just to bait new hires, knowing full well they intend on pressuring staff or insisting that they come in. I wouldn't be concerned about 'abusing' the system, when companies like them think nothing of lying to their staff, subjecting them to stress and worry like, once they know they now have them in their pocket.

People either care about their job or they don’t, doesn’t matter where you sit them. Whether the people you describe ‘should’ have been working from home or not isn’t immediately obvious from the fact of them doing something else. Not every wfh job requires you to be sat at your desk 9-5 and plenty of people wfh work well beyond their hours precisely because they are set up to home.

‘Everyone is taking the piss’ smacks of sour grapes and isn’t borne out by the evidence which shows hybrid working is generally better for productivity and staff retention.

Then escalate it. Poor performance will occur in any setting at times and if it’s affecting your performance (ie you can’t complete tasks on time) then it will affect you. Don’t let it slide.

Exactly-having children/where you live is also a choice! And most people get some free childcare-not the case with a dog. If you only accepted the job because you were told it would fit in with your lifestyle (whether that's dogs/children/elderly parents etc.) and then they've changed the conditions, I can understand why you're annoyed. Maybe ask your union/a lawyer/employment experts. Lots of younger employees, who have always worked from home, will leave any company that's trying to act like it's the 20th century. For my job, I can't wfh at all, but my first job was an office job-and as far as I know, they all wfh at the time now.

The point is OP accepted the job on the basis of the company's assurance that she was only required to be in the office two days a week, and now that position has changed. It's completely irrelevant to OP that other people have jobs that don't allow for WFH. If you're one of those people and you're jealous, start applying for WFH jobs.

Hi if the 2 days hybrid is laid out in the offer email and you accepted on that basis, they need to give you reasonable grounds as to why there is a change. You are within your contractual rights to point out you can't accept the job going forward if the days in change due to childcare and you wouldn't have accepted the role in the first place. I feel it would be hard for them not to reconsider your case as it could leave them open to a tribunal. Ask for a meeting with your manager in the first instance and explain the above(not the tribunal bit) see how they respond. If you need free advice/ help try the ACAS website, they also have a phone line, very helpful.

Flexible working is now a day 1 right I think so I would hop on it immediately. Go with the fact that you recently accepted the role thinking it was 2 days in office and worked your caring responsibilities around that with your husband.

I would leave the dog and the cost out of it.

They can say no. In which case I would probably look for another job.

My work are doing this actually. It's changing from "come in when you want" to "be in 2 days" I've refused given the distance I live from the office and the fact I have a toddler and pre school closes at 4 so my office days would be very short (2hrs to get in, 2 hours to get home!)

I didn't do a request though just told my boss it's not possible for me and he just said that's fine... but I'm like a solo department so don't do massive amounts of collaboration.

Good luck OP. It's really frustrating when you expect a job to be X and it suddenly changes to Y. Especially when you have young ones and both work etc....

Yes, some companies seem to be having their cake and eating it with hybrid. Use it as a perk in recruitment and then pull it when it doesn’t suit and refer to contract terms. Of course, the smart thing is to get it nailed down in your contract but most will take it on trust, not wanting to spoil the relationship before it has started. I did. I had negotiated so many other elements of the job offer that I was wary about asking for other changes. Thankfully, no sign of them changing the hybrid pattern that was much touted at interview but is not contractual. Having heard many stories like the op’s in the last few years, though, I think I’d be a lot more cautious with a new role.

It really isn’t relevant that the op’s reasons for wanting hybrid aren’t deemed worthy by other posters. The job is changing for the worse from what was accepted. I’d be resentful too.

Everyone has protected characteristics, you don’t ‘disclose’ them. If you’re referring to disabilities that doesn’t give you employment rights ‘from day one’ either.

only HRT if a decent bonus is paid

What does this mean?

i don’t know when people become so hellbent on sticking up for corporate in these scenarios.

It’s a long-standing theme on here. There’s always a strong appetite for trying to stick the boot into posters dealing with petty or onerous business demands by crowing that if they don’t like it, they can get another job. Often with a comment that there are bazillions lining up to take their job, so good luck with finding anything better.

This is not correct, as the contract may have had a clause that stated it superceded any previous correspondence. Check your contract.

I can tell you that your year 1 consultant surgeon husband on £105,504 won't be able to do flexible working, however he should have be able to review his PAs so he could for example that he could always collect from nursery on Mondays and drop off on Thursdays.

Can you not reduce your hours? I.e. go part time? Either do 6 hour days or 3 or 4 days a week. If you’re married to a surgeon, you probably are in a fairly comfortable position. Most families are managing on much lower incomes.

ACAS will most likely have advice on their website if you aren't in a union. Apologies if this has been mentioned before, I've just skimmed OPs responses. Ultimately, it will depend on your contract and whether your offer email can be held to change those terms.
Ive just swapped from 1, perhaps 2 wfh days to 4 in a new company. I didn't think I'd like it but actually the work/life balance has completely flipped and I would now fight back on this. My commute is only 15 minutes (including a 10 minute walk) with no parking costs but in the office would take away my school drop offs, my parents will do it but that's not the point! Before I'm jumped on, if DD isn't in formal wraparound/childcare I go into the office. Some of my colleagues travel for 2+ hours each way.