Aibu - manager is refusing working from home

[Iwant]

Saw the message from the PM last night, as I think we all did.

My husband works for a large company (A civil service department, so a government one!) but in a senior HR role, so he isn’t front line service iyswim. He has a laptop and works from home 1-2 days a week anyway.

Flurry of messages from his colleagues (geographically dispersed team) this morning to say one of them contacted their manager this morning, assuming they would all now be working from home following the PM’s directive that all who can, should. She said absolutely not and she expects everyone to be in their sites. No ifs, buts or maybes.

There is NO work my husband does that cannot be done via email or telephone. The ‘sites’ she is taking about have thousands of people in them that CANNOT wfh.

Half his colleagues are as worried as he is, half are not bothered in the slightest and think the whole thing’s a fuss over nothing.

I can’t believe the manager has said this. It seems completely unjustifiable and will endanger the vulnerable people in our care and families. Aibu?

That's completely against gov advice, which the civil service should certainly be following - has his boss not seen the email from the Cabinet Secretary?

We have a policy in my work (global corporate) that some people are working from home for the foreseeable and some (mainly business critical) staff are working from the office for the foreseeable, also from a business continuity site that has been set up. This is to mitigate the amount of people (in the thousands) who usually work at one site.
This may change rapidly but at the moment people are still being told to stick to their assigned locations whether it be in the office or elsewhere.
It boggles the mind but schools are also still open and for me that’s a worry even thoguh I am wfh/social distancing.

The manager is clearly being unreasonable and needs to be told that officially by a senior HR manager.

What did you say your husband’s job is again?

If it were me I would wfh anyway and get as many other colleagues as I possibly could to do the same.

I’m also CS and if I were him I would just WFH (I’m on the vulnerable list anyway). His manager won’t have a leg to stand on if she tries to force him in for no reason. What is she going to do if he refuses to come in?

My dh’s company have said exactly the same. He can do every aspect of his job from home, but they won’t have it.

I am Civil Service also, this manager is not following policy and this needs to be reported to her seniors. By your husband?

The manager is clearly being unreasonable and needs to be told that officially by a senior HR manager.

It sounds like he is a senior HR manager!

OP, this is no help to you or your husband, but I used to head up internal communications teams in civil service departments, and the policy for this should have been decided and communicated well before now - and it definitely shouldn't, at this point, be left the the whims of individual managers.

I'm also CS and most of us are capable of home working due to our roles (visiting staff). Our Chief Exec has said we're to come into the office and await further instructions.

Our office have ignored these instructions and we're all at home.

The manager should read the email from the Cabinet Secretary which went out to all CS - "you should take sensible measures and discuss working arrangements, including working from home, within your team/department" - she's being an idiot. I work for a gov agency and we're all being advised to work from home as of today, although you can go into the office to collect any equipment or belongings. Crazy to have any other policy for non-frontline staff.

It sounds like he is a senior HR manager!

That’s where I was going with that

My DHs company is also dragging their feet with this. There are a huge number of people in his company who can't wfh, so to protect them, all people who can work from home should!

YANBU manager is a bellend.

That’s where I was going with that

Sorry - missed your second line!

This is one of the (many) things I don't miss about being employed (I'm a freelancer now). Managers will always look for ways in which blanket policies don't apply to them and their teams, because following them might make their own jobs a little harder.

I was a senior manager, and I get that it's a pain when big changes like this come in - but dealing with them, and ensuring business continuity throughout, is pretty much the definition of your job.

DH also civil service and the comms have been late, messy, dangerous and generally DIRE. It also appears the network can't cope with more people being re ore as he hasn't been able to get onto the system all morning.

My DH found himself in this situation last night. He can do a lot of his work from home and usually wfh one day per week.
As soon as Boris Johnson made his announcement I commented that he is at home for the forseeable future. He then contacted his boss to confirm and was told he was expected in today as there had been no directive from the company.

Having relatives in the vulnerable bracket, I said that surely the Prime Minister's directive trump's her view. Cue some words from me about my family's health and safety being more important. Fortunately for them, he decided to stay at home despite his boss' displeasure.

Thankfully, this morning the company's executive, based in France, have asked everyone who can work at home to do so.

It wasn't nice for him to be in the position of having to decide to go against his boss though. I have sympathy with anyone up against the boss in this scenario. It's very awkward but our families are far more important than any job will ever be.

My DH's working from home has all been cancelled as of today, because one person in the office is pregnant and now isn't in, one has asthma and isn't in, one is on restricted duties (it's an office desk job she does and a physical injury so I've no idea why she's on restricted duties) and one is retiring so they don't have enough staff. Everything he does could be done from home. I have asthma and DD has a weak immune system. I'm worried.

He is senior HR - she is even more senior...

She has seen the Cabinet Secretary email. Her response was that she has not been given any directive (!) and that therefore she expects people to continue visiting sites. It’s madness. My dh feels like he’s between a rock and a hard place.

I’m civil service and DH is military, we work on the same base. There is NO guidance at all considering we work at one of the services HQs! We have laptops so can work from home and normally do one day a week.

Not everybody in the MoD has laptops, many only have access to pool laptops.

What will happen when the government order a complete lockdown?

She sounds like an idiot! Tell her your self isolating for 14 days as one of you has a dry cough.

Is he a member of the Union?

If not then he should be!

If so a quick chat with his Union rep should sort it.

Bloody hell, DH is civil service and it's been optional for them to go in for at least a week and they are now being told unequivocally to work from home. BJ's speech sounded like a directive to me! Naively I guess I thought all civil service departments would be first in line to set an example on this. I know many civil service jobs are customer facing or need in-person interaction but a huge number don't.

He is senior HR so he’s above her? Does he have any authority over her? If so he needs to overrule it.

My dh feels like he’s between a rock and a hard place.
The only rock is her. Realistically what’s the worst that happens if he upsets her?

I’ve only been in my civil service job a couple of weeks. I have asthma but I’m really not in a position to say I have to work from home am I? As I’m always reminded on MN, employers can dismiss you at any time within the first two years!

Unbelievable. You'd think that of all groups, HR in the Civil Service would be setting an example.