Why is new boss being such a knob?

[Buggeroffboss]

Our old boss took ill suddenly in December last year and died shortly after. They been the boss for 20+ years, so appreciate we were all very used to them.

Following their illness I became interim boss. In April I was offered the role permanently but declined as it would mean returning to full time work. I'm bitterly regretting not taking it due to new boss!

We're a remote team, have been since many years before COVID. New boss clearly hates remote working. We do have an office, but it seats 10 people and us open to the whole business (approx 300 people) not just our department (40 people). New boss wants everyone in the office 2 days a week. HR have told him to go whistle - we are all on remote contracts and live across the whole of the UK, including channel Islands and 2 in France!

New boss is now insisting we schedule any "coffee breaks" (you know, where you brew up between meetings) and that under no circumstances are we to appear on screen with tea/ coffee if it isn't adjacent to our scheduled break. In addition he's put an embargo on lunch time errands, such as laundry, popping to the post office or collecting the car from the garage. All time is to be accounted for.

As you can imagine, morale has gone down the pan. We're a high performing department, there is 0 issues with productivity. Our work is largely invisible most of the time, lots of thinking time and idea generation which makes monitoring our day to day workloads difficult, but we always exceed our targets at quarter and year ends - so people are clearly working. In the 6 weeks he's been in there's been a noticeable change in how people are working, fewer people on early or late, most just working to their hours.

AIBU to think he's being a bit of a dick and just needs to chill the fuck out?

How would he know what you use your lunch break for, as long as you only take the allocated hour? Not his business what you get up to during it.

Our dignity at work policy defines what your manager is doing as bullying:

Work-related bullying may include, but is not limited to:
a) setting up someone to fail by giving them unachievable tasks, an unmanageable workload or impossible deadlines, or making unreasonable demands;
b) inappropriate monitoring of work or overbearing supervision;

Have you looked carefully at Dignity at Work policy in the UK and how that applies?
It seems like this could be a situation where employees could feel harrassed and unsafe by him.

Have you spoken to ACAS?
They might have a different view to HR.

Presumably he knows that. I imagine what he means is that there will be no accommodation for flexible or extended lunch breaks to run errands etc

Yep. Report to HR and ignore, ignore, ignore

I’d start drinking every drink out of a mug.

New boss/new rules has happened twice to me in my working life, and once to DH. Resulting each time in our leaving. DH’s former department now closing!
OP, would you be able to get a similar or better job elsewhere?

that's not really a solution.

They are all professional adults, it's not sustainable to try to do things behind the boss' back because he's an idiot. No one can work in an environment like this.

Does he expect you to be flexible for him?

YNBU, your new boss is an arse.

Gather evidence, make notes, refer to the staff handbook and your contract, engage HR, be clear about the concerns.

Are you part of a union?

Regardless, if you're able to approach HR as a collective, especially with your evidence that your combined productivity was excellent before his demands and that motivation and job satisfaction have decreased, do that.

As someone else suggested, drink your water out of a mug.

Is he telling you that you have to be at your workstation and working during your contracted hours, and that you shouldn’t pop to the post office or nip away to do laundry during those hours?

lolz what a loser - your hour break is not paid so its not up to him what you do in that time! how can he even monitor that!

embargo on lunch time errands, such as laundry, popping to the post office or collecting the car from the garage.

How is he going to know what you do in your lunch time?!

I would make sure all 40 of you have a brew in front of you at your next team meeting and make sure any pets give a bum flash to the camera (my cat likes to flash his bum when I'm on team meetings)

Again

Even if unpaid… he has no control over what the op does over her lunch break

Yes that’s a good point

and i asked whether the example the op of him ringing the op after her DH delivered a coffee during a zoom involved external clients and her DH appearing on screen… which would be unprofessional

What about if someone else in your house brings you a cuppa? Is that allowed? I don’t see how he can monitor what you do in your lunch break?!

He'd know if people extend their lunchtime. What they do within the time is up to them, but I suppose it's possible that employees have treated lunch breaks as flexible.

A lot of this doesn’t make sense

What a twat!

Perhaps your DH could dress like a butler if he's going to deliver a drink to you during a meeting?

Whether I am in the office or remote, I often use my insulated mug as I don’t get to drink my coffee immediately a lot of the time - so I could have a coffee that’s 2 hours old but still warm enough to drink and would being it into a meeting room or a VC as the chance to drink between my contributions is priceless. How would he know if you’ve just made the cuppa, or have been sipping like I do?!

And my boss can’t tell me what to do on lunch in the office - so how does he get to do that when remote as long as you are working when supposed to? I mean, you could run a short errand at home - but you could meet a friend in town from the office and be gone the full time allowed!

I'd tell him/her politely but firmly, grown up to grown up, that things like policing what drinks you can have at your desk are really not on. I'd also be asking them why they don't seem to trust the team or are micro managing them/treating them like children? Is there a specific reason for this or have they found this effective/necessary in previous roles?

Oh he doesn’t want to supervise a remote team, it’s not in his skill set, but there’s no way to force you all back in the office with no space. So he’s trying to enforce controls like he could physically monitor you.

Play along, there may be an element of attacking you if he knows you were offered the job, you are his obvious replacement

He sounds out of his depth so is trying to throw his weight around.
It sounds like you have more then enough to go to his manager in the first instance then HR especially if he's put stuff in writing!