To think people who work from home don’t understand this?! And they’re paid more usually

[Ugriap]

I work in a job where I can’t work from home. I get that’s my choice but when I trained, working from home was not common. Now it is in a lot of places. I know I can re train but it’s not that easy!

I can’t just go to appointments during my lunch break. I can’t ever do this. So I have to book leave if I want to get my haircut or dental appointments. Or I go on a weekend so I’m basically having less free time.

A close friend is a high earner and she is always galavanting round during the day then catches up on her work in the evening at her convenience. I can’t understand why people like this don’t get that I don’t have this flexibility?! My time is so much more limited. I feel really isolated from the friendship group these days

You choose to do the job you do. You have a choice to do something else. That’s not the problem of people who get to wfh. No idea why you think you should get extra annual leave. What a bizarre self pitying attitude. And no I don’t wfh, I can occasionally and do sometimes.

I work from home, I keep my own diary and time and I work solely on commission! Do I got for nails appointments at 11am on Wednesday yes! I stop working around 2.30 get my kids from school take them to the various activities. But also I had to call a client at 8.30 on Thursday night. I have done loads of admin today, I am probably going to have to do some work tomorrow!! Just because we are flexible with the hours we work doesn’t mean we aren’t working as hard/as many hours

Since Covid. There seems to be some god given. unwritten right that people should be able to work from home.

Well get this . There isnt.

H

I'm pretty sure most people who WFH will have had 'in person' jobs before, so know exactly how inflexible it can be. Not everyone working from home can take time for appointments in the day and there are plenty of negatives (work creep, worse work/life balance, lack of social side, being the default parent, missing out on opportunities as they're not 'visible' in the workplace). It's not about it being 'unfair' - every job and workplace is just different?

You sound jealous and it comes across in a very immature whinging way. Often people in senior roles have more flex to work from home and in the hours they work but what you don’t seem to appreciate is how they’ve earned this position and the flexibility goes both ways so whilst they may nip out for a haircut, there will be many evenings and weekends they are having to work that you aren’t .

I used to be in a WFH role where you were logged into a system 9-5. You had to log out for toilet breaks, so management could constantly monitor how long you were logged out and make you work time back. I couldnt even go to answer the door during my shift. Not all WFH roles are the same.

Yep, many a time I’ve worked past 11pm at night and on a Saturday morning in order to meet deadlines - and I’ve seen other colleagues online doing the same. And outside core hours so I can’t claim them back. But the anti-WFH brigade conveniently fail to acknowledge that.

Try working in a school- I'm not even allowed to take time off unpaid for funerals unless it's an immediate family member or take a day's holiday for a wedding or other event that is not in the normal school holidays- so no opportunity to ever go to Ascot, The Yorkshire Show or anything else which falls on a school day!

Covid made people realise that other ways of working are often just as feasible as office work. I’m far more productive at home. Laptop on and off I go. No travel disruption, no office politics to navigate, or office ‘banter’, having to listen to other people nattering when I’m trying to focus. Office working is often just about ‘presentism’ and justification of premises costs by having bums on seats in the office. Just because someone is sat at a desk in an office, doesn’t mean they are getting anymore done compared to if they were sat at a desk in their own home.

Some people are just stuck in the past, and not capable of moving with the times. Either that, or they’re just jealous.

I WFH the majority of the week and it's not much nicer than working from the office. There is so much downtime in the office but it counts because of presenteeism. Plus you are expected to work later at night WFH, 9pm is not unusual or missing your lunchtime because there is a meeting. This doesn't happen in the office.
Yes sometimes it's easier to clock off for an appointment, but it's also very easy for them to stretch the day and if you are away from your desk using the toilet or making a cup of tea it shows that you've been away from teams after 5 minutes. In the office people know that you are in the building so don't question it.

I work from home but definitely don't gallivant around. YABU to suggest everyone who wfh does so, on the basis of your very limited sample.

I wfh and don’t galavant about, I need to be available during office hours

Why?
You said yourself your friend has to work in the evening if she takes time out of the day for appointments.

Nonsense. Everyone I know whoworks from home, works the hours they are contracted to work. People who have to go into the office may have less flexibility, but they certainly don't work harder or deserve more leave for the same amount of work.

Why should it be fair? Jobs are different, employers are different, how could it ever possibly be fair?

Agree that it depends more on seniority rather than WFH or not.

You would probably have thought this of me when I was FT and would sometimes have a dentists appointment in the daytime during the week - what you wouldn’t have seen is me working 9pm-midnight (if not beyond) every night after my DD was asleep, nor the fact that I worked every weekend. Being senior comes with flexibility, yes, and a decent pay packet, and enormous demands. I averaged a minimum of 80 hours a week. That is normal in my industry, so flexibility is just a quid pro quo.

My partner works from home 2 days a week and is in a managerial position. He does ‘galavant’ and multitask as he is able to structure his day that way. I also wfh 2 days a week and am chained to my desk. I’m not in a senior role. I do think it’s more about the pressures of the role rather than everyone who works from home can skive. Certainly not in my case!

And we only get to go to the toilet or drink a coffee at set times!

OP I think you’re confusing working from home with level of seniority. As a home worker whose colleagues are home workers, we certainly work hard when we are at home and don’t go galavanting. In fact we probably work harder at home than when in the office as you can pack more work in.

Hair appointments and the like are booked for evenings or weekends or annual leave is booked. If your friend who you’re basing your entire assumption on is very senior, it is likely that this is the reason for galavanting rather than her working from home

I started working from home around 2012, when nobody did. I worked there 13 years, mainly shifts requiring me to sign in and out, with strict quality control and productivity requirements.
It did allow me to be a parent full time though, while also working enough night and evening shifts to also work full time at a meagre wage.
The last few years before they made me redundant I was a manager, so it was mainly 9 to 5 and I could organise my time better, more flexibly, but it did still spill into my off hours often.

I think it really depends on the job and role.
I don't think one could expect extra holidays to become common practise for workers who cannot work remotely, because it really depends on the job.

I could imagine it to make sense within some companies though, with extra holiday or some perks being offered to workers who cannot be offered to work remotely, because of the commuting time and expenses. But then, if a company know that workers are desperate to work anyway, why should they bother?

I worked from home for 3 years. At my desk at 8am till 5pm. There was definitely no gallivanting. Its soul destroying not seeing anyone. Back in the office now, different project, same company. So much more fun. Be careful what you wish for. I could not go anywhere. So my weekends were the same as they are now. If you really don't like it, and you sound very bitter, get another job.

Are you a teacher OP (have not read the full thread)

My teacher friends spit bile about people who can work from home. It’s off the scale.

A former manager of mine used to take the absolute living pss! Never spent a full day in the office or online when WFH, always either having her hair/nails done, events at her children’s school, out walking, fictitious work calls, you name it. She didn’t make the time up in the evening and openly told my colleague she would put delays on her sent emails so they’d arrive at random times in the evening, to make it look like she was working. She was also a horrible person. There’s flexibility and there’s taking the pss. I think she’s a Mumsnetter so I hope she recognises herself, she’s got the insight of a dishcloth and thinks she’s entitled.

I am in my sixties and have never worked anywhere where you didn’t get paid time off for medical and dental appointments.

It sounds like you’re just jealous of your friend.