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

Have you told him "mouse jigglers" are available? It's a real thing apparently. He can set it going while he goes for a run or whatever and his boss will be none the wiser!

My company sold the office after the pandemic and we WFH now. I feel very tied to the house; my job is full of deadlines and I'd be missed within ten minutes if I tried to go out gallivanting. Every job is different, and being shut in can be very stressful too.

Does she get paid more than you as well?

I'd complain if i were you

I had just as much flexibility working in an office as I now do wfh 2 or 3 days a week. My office job had core hours 10-12 and 2-4 and as long as I did 37.5 hours a week it was up to me when I started and finished. I could also work up to 42 hours a week, bank the difference and have a day off each month on top of my leave allowance. Now, wfh I often find myself starting at 9 and working until 6 with only a very short break. In some ways office based was better because it I wasn't there I didn't work.

Your job, your choice.

I wfh with a choice to work from the office. This week as an example, I went in for 4 hours on Wednesday as I had 2 f2f meetings.

We also have an agile working policy. So you might think I’m ‘gallivanting’ when I’m out during the day, but I might also be catching up on work in the evenings.

I wouldn’t work anywhere without these flexible options.

Ermmm....life isn't fair?

I, for one, do understand what it's like to have a full-time office job and a mostly wfh job.

And also what night shifts etc are like.

Because I've done it all.

That sort of flexibility is just one of the perks of being senior. It's partly why I think women should think quite hard about dropping back career wise when having kids. I have basically total control over my own diary and never miss sports days or whatever and I'm glad I slogged through when mine were tiny. It's not always the case that better paid jobs need longer hours or more stress.

Work from home in a call centre environment.

It is not exactly cushy.

Lunch break 45 mins - and at very much different times each day along with the actual work day patterns, you can get followed up if you are to early or late taking a break.

I've tried to do many things during a lunch break but it always turned out near enough impossible and just can't rely on it. When I attend a medical appointments I am often asked exactly how long I'll be and now we're being asked to seek permission to answer a medic's calls during the work day even! Out of sight I'm convinced our employer think it must be so easy to get medical attention out of hours or at a time which suits. I don't remember it being such a way in an actual physical workplace.

I’m pretty sure they do get it and hopefully feel very grateful. I know people who have stalled a bit in their career as they dont want to leave their wfh job. There are pros and cons, focus on YOU.

What makes you think she doesn’t understand?

YABU @Ugriap The vast VAST majority of people have not always worked from home you know. And shocker - most people do actually work as hard if they work from home. Yes, they have a bit more flexibility, but not loads. My DD works from home, 50% of the time - middle management - and she can't just fuck about doing what she wants, she has a busy job, and many tasks involved in it.

Do you think people like her are just lying in til 10am, popping out for a Costa with a mate at 11.30am, coming back in at 1.30pm, and putting the washing on, taking the dog for a walk, and resuming work at 2.15pm?! Then finishing at 4pm?!!

No employer is going to allow this!

If life is a bit easier for people (because of WFH,) like a better work/life balance, and sometimes the ability to go to appointments when they need to, I think it's a good thing. Why be so angry and bitter that other peoples lives are a little bit easier?

YABU @Ugriap The vast VAST majority of people have not always worked from home you know. And shocker - most people do actually work as hard if they work from home. Yes, they have a bit more flexibility, but not loads. My DD works from home, 50% of the time - middle management - and she can't just fuck about doing what she wants, she has a busy job, and many tasks involved in it.

Do you think people like her are just lying in til 10am, popping out for a Costa with a mate at 11.30am, coming back in at 1.30pm, and putting the washing on, taking the dog for a walk, and resuming work at 2.15pm?! Then finishing at 4pm?!!

No employer is going to allow this!

If life is a bit easier for people (because of WFH,) like a better work/life balance, and sometimes the ability to go to appointments when they need to, I think it's a good thing. Why be so angry and bitter that other peoples lives are a little bit easier?

You need to work out what it is you want.

fairness has nothing to do with it. A senior level will often come with flexibility whether at home or in the office, but it also comes with more responsibility, maybe being more available in evenings and weekends etc

If I need a dentist appointment, I try to book for 8am. They used to do Saturday appointments but stopped. Hairdressers work Saturdays and some late evenings.

Do you just want sympathy?

I was going to say that this is a prime example of people who don't have experience of working from home really don't understand what working from home actually means. When I have read the full post however, I can see how you have been influenced by your friend. Her situation is not typical for most people. I work hybrid and have to do as much at home as I do when I am in the office. The only advantage is I don't have to travel on those days. I think most people who work from home are in the same boat as me.

I work 3 days home/2 days in the office usually. Yeah I won’t pretend it’s not convenient sometimes but I definitely don’t “go gallivanting” during the day! I’d never arrange a hair appointment in work time and dental appointments are like twice a year and I tend to book them at lunchtime. The only thing I miss work for is to take my DD to orthodontist checkups or occasional school assemblies - but that’s an hour out of the day which I catch up on later.
I don’t like working in the evenings generally because it eats in to family time.
I do understand that some people can’t WFH but I can so it’s not my problem really.

I work from home 4 days a week, and my flexibility is the same as it was when in the office 5 days per week. I work flexi time. And it’s that perk that allows me time to nip out on my lunch break when at the office in the city centre for an hour to Primark, or to nip into Aldi also near my office to pick up ingredients for tea, because I can work until 6pm to offset that long lunch.

My flexibility is entirely to do with the policies my employer has around flexible working.

When I worked from home I couldn't use that time for a hair appointment, neither did anyone I know. We worked , in fact we worked far more hours than when I was in the office all the time because we were expected to carry on checking /responding to emails in the evenings too.

I am sorry . How old are you? It's not fair? Oh bless

What has fair got to do with life?

Is it fair that some children are born in Gaza but I assume you weren't? Is it fair sone people are born more beautiful than others or richer than others.

Fair ia a very childish concept unless.it.is applied in specific circumstances. Almost everything in life can be seen as unfair in some way

If you were in the same jobs and one was paid less then maybe that would be unfair though even then it would depend on different things like length of service etc

If you want a more flexible job, give some thought to how you might make that possible for you.

Why? You said yourself that people ‘galavanting’ around during the day are making up the hours in the evening.

for a lot of office based roles, it’s possible to be outputs focused not just on focused on hours inputted. My boss honestly does not care what hours we do as long as we’re available when needed and get the job done. As it should be.

and I think the vast majority of people who wfh understand perfectly well that you can’t do appointments during the day anywhere near as easily as you might if you wfh.

you just sound bitter and resentful tbh.

There are lots of jobs where you can’t even take time off for the dentist such as teaching. When I worked from home in HE, all phone calls were put through to our mobiles so we had to be available in working hours.

Why does it have to be 'fair'? Different jobs at different levels give different perks

You're just jealous that your friends have work from home jobs with flexibility and you don't.

We cant collectively condemn them to make you feel better. Find a WFH job or change your job!

The bitterness will eat you alive and your friends can definitely tell.

On the ‘more annual leave’ thing. I couldn’t take the leave I had as too much work to do, or had to take my laptop with me. Be careful what you wish for.

I've worked in offices where some people are never at their desk, they're out shopping or for coffee or pretending they're having an important meeting, desk hopping for catch-ups etc. also seen people sitting at their desk with a privacy screen or tucked into a corner and watching a film. I kid you not. Others start very early but spend the first hour or more nattering. Plenty of others are head down and working all day long.

I and some of my colleagues currently work from home and usually put in more than the paid hours. We also have breaks, go for a walk, have a natter to colleagues on line, put a wash on, chop veg for dinner etc but are always up to date with the work. If I was falling behind my manager would be having words.

Working from home doesn't always mean skiving, just as being in the office doesn't always mean you're working.