5 days in the office - rant!!!

[DonnyDoris]

My company mandated 5 days in the office a couple of months ago, which in principle I have no issues with. However, my commute is just over an hour on motorways that have long term roadworks, so massively tedious and today I have no meetings so absolutely no reason to be here other than presenteeism. Could have got so much more done and also all my housework if I could've worked from home 😖Just needed to get that off my chest!!!!

Could have got so much more done and also all my housework if I could've worked from home 😖

that’s probably why they want you in the office

I don’t know a single person who is in the office more than 3 days a week, unless they choose to.

You can't argue with that logic ...

If you went in everyday you wouldn't have had half the issues.

Your main complaint is the commute which I assume you would have known about when you started working there.

Well, I’m sure the OP is very diligent about only doing her housework in the commuting times, short breaks and lunch hour and is very careful about actually working the same number of minutes as she would in her office but unfortunately not everyone is that conscientious and as it’s difficult for employers to distinguish between the two groups of employees, the easy solution is to have one rule for everyone.

Just to be clear to those who are not getting it - I don't expect to WFH full time, never have and never will. I am used to some level of flexibility around WFH when that makes sense (and have been since about 2013, so nothing to do with Covid), and on days - like today - when I have no meetings, and don't particularly want to sit for over an hour in queuing traffic, I'd like that flexibility back again!!

Beneficial all round? If no-one is in the office, how do you mentor new/young employees? How do you share expertise and build relationships with younger staff? How do you, as a manager, keep an eye on, and support, staff who may be struggling with work/individual projects/personal issues that they feel uncomfortable discussing with team/management because they don’t actually have a relationship with anyone in the team. In many (perhaps most) jobs, the benefits have been proven by multiple studies to be in the favour of office based working. Just because YOU can do your job from home doesn’t mean it actually serves the majority of companies and industries.

I’ll leave it there as we’ll have to agree to disagree on this.

@Finteq why? Why should workers accept shitty conditions just because companies "say so"

Workers don't owe companies anything - and vice versa but asking for more favourable conditions has been a normal part of negotiating terms with a workplace since the Victorian era and "just get over it" is a really crap attitude to have.

It isn't a race to the bottom and we can always ask to be treated better.

Or should we have "gotten over it" when women weren't paid equally, or had no mat leave, or unsafe working conditions, or or had no annual leave or any other benefit that workers have actively pushed for.

I used to do commutes between 45 mins and an hour as I suspect I lot of people do. Companies used to pay people to move home now people prefer to stay where they are and commute longer.

This is total bollocks.

My role has peaks and troughs throughout a day. All my work is time critical, so as long as my work is done (it is) I can put washing on, load dishwasher etc.

My company is fully aware of this, if I was in the office I would be talking, making coffee, twiddling my thumbs.

Also while the kettle boils you can shove a load of laundry into the washing machine. Shove it in the tumble dryer on the next break or at lunch. This isn't rocket science.

Or you could be getting on with the job you are being paid to do. I'm not surprised employers want you where they can see you. They know people are taking the absolute piss.

Well you don't have to accept it.

But again it's up to thr employer.

If they can find someone else who will accept the terms then they will.

Obviously if you have skills that are niche and difficult to find then you've got more room for negotiations.

But if you haven't then you've got to like it lump.

I don't understand all these posts where someone has been working all this time. And now it's suddenly an issue.

We have to be in the office/on site with clients 3 days a week. My commute is short and there isn’t much traffic so I can’t complain about that but I end up sat in the office on my own (my team is small and we are geographically located around the country) which feels somewhat pointless to me tbh.

I wouldn’t mind if my team were close by and we used the same office but I see no point in driving into town to sit alone in the office instead of sitting alone at home.

Luckily I have a lot of meetings with clients so they count towards my 3 days in the office and are a lot more productive so I don’t really spend that much time there.

Totally agree. Mine only needs me in the office one day a week thankfully.

Anyone who abuses a wfh role is an idiot. We also have people “coffee carding” as whilst we need to swipe in on entering, you exit without having to. I’m
not suggesting they aren’t logging on when they get home, because their output is very easily monitored, but it does seem to be a tolerated practice.

@StinkyCheeseMoose I guess you have never had an office based, computer facing role as you would know that employees are encouraged to take regular screen breaks throughout their day, to protect their eyes.

My work place suggests things for screen breaks - a 15 minute walk, make a cup of tea, clean and tidy your space, water any plants around you, stretch.

Or - you have just had really shitty employers who don't care about following bog standard H&S advice.

I liken WFH to term-time holidays. At the individual level, it’s beneficial and shouldn’t be a big problem. But when you look at the effect on the collective group, then it isn’t beneficial at all.

Oh come off it everyone does their housework when they're working from home. it takes two mins to pop on a wash while you're waiting for the kettle to boil, 5 mins to chop the veggies for dinner in the food processor. I've even been known to whip up a dinner first thing in the morning and stick it on low for the day. It's massively time saving. I doubt OP means she's scrubbing her skirting boards while she's supposed to be working.

Do the professional office goers sit at their desk for the entire day and never stretch their legs? Never have a sneaky look at a flight price or add something to their tesco order?

Workers don't owe companies anything

Yes they do. In return for their salary, workers owe their employer a day's work in accordance with business needs and it's up to the employer to decide what those business needs are. That is the contract between employer and employee.

From some of the piss taking answers on here, I completely understand why companies want their staff to work from work.

My kettle is in the kitchen, my laptop is upstairs. I can either stare at the kettle waiting for it to boil, or I can take 30 seconds loading up the washing machine and setting it run. In the office, I don’t return to my desk whilst waiting for the kettle to boil.

I do think there is a lot of envy around wfh from those who aren’t in a role that allows it. I don’t blame them because wfh is amazing from both a productivity and work/life balance pov.

Are folks not allowed a tea break where you work?

Why are you so bothered if someone WFH shoves a load into the washing machine whilst on a tea break?

It can take hospital staff an hour to leave the hospital in traffic in the evenings, should surgeons just give up and not bother operating? Or carry out operations from their homes instead? 🤣

@StinkyCheeseMoose workers can always ask employers for more beneficial conditions - this has been the case for centuries.

Or are you against equal pay, maternity leave and paid annual leave?

Because workers demanded those things... were they "taking the piss"

It's understandable, you want the WFH days to do your housework whilst being paid by your employer.

And people wonder why employers want people in the office 5 days a week.

@Lispbon 100% its the green eyed monster - some people earn loads more than me, oh well they have a different job. I don't begrudge them for it, not sure why WFH sparks such rage from people.