Partner wants to quit his job... now

[MonaLisaDoesntSmile]

I am currently 32 weeks pregnant, we have a 3yo daughter in not best health.
My partner has a very long commute. His job is one of those he could do from home (and has multiple times in the past, albeit for shorter periods of time). There is funnily enough NOTHING at all he cannot do from home and which would require him going to work.
The big boss in his company clearly is either not watching news, or does not care. The guy drives to work and sits in his office all day, isolated from everyone and all.
Yesterday my partner made an official enquiry if he can work from home, at the end of the email he asked a small question relevant to another project. At the end of the day he got a one liner reply... concerning the project, totally ignoring the main request.
DP has worked for the company for 15+ years, working unpaid overtime, weekends if necessary. He felt like it was a kick in the teeth. He feels like it's saying he is expendable, our family is expendable, and that after years of working hard they still find him (and other employees) worth nothing.
The downside- he will be out of work now, right before what looks like a big economic crisis and just my maternity pay.
I so angry at his work, for my DP and for all the people who unnecessarily need to drag themselves to the office every day. The insecurity worries me- having no money, having to pay mortgage, not even mentioning the health aspect when it comes to giving birth.
I realise a lot of people need to turn up to work every day and cant work remotely. But why not remove from the equation those who can? It's not just out family who can be a collateral, other people on public transport, co workers who may suffer, hospitals who already often dont have enough beds...
Just venting really, but prepared to be told we are being unreasonable at being disappointed with what is going on?

He would be nuts to quit right now.

Other than the manager, is there anything to stop him WFH? Because if he's got the laptop, network connection and anything else he needs, I would just inform the manager I am working from home henceforth. That will probably stir things up, but it means there's still the option of quitting later. It seems ridiculous that if someone has the capability of WFH that they're not insisting on it anyway.

He would be a fucking idiot and a bad father if he quit now. He needs to walk into the office of the boss and say IN PERSON 'hello, I have a vulnerable adult at home and need to be working from home until it is safe to come back to work, this is supported by the unions and I will be doing so from tomorrow. I hope that is OK because I now have no choice.'

Or at least try more than one pathetic email.

What @EBearhug said. Just tell him that in line with official govt advice, he'll be working from home until further notice. What's he going to do? Agree it would be madness to quit in the current situation.

I now it's madness, and so does he, but he feels really hurt that after so many years of service and many sacrifices, he gets the middle finger.

@CorianderLord It's not just one pathetic email, he has enquired informally before, to be ignored. His company for a long time were laughing the crisis off like if nothing was going on (kind of like the government). And then they clocked in things were going a bit pear shaped. The official email was so that this time round hopefully he won't get a non response. All he gets is nothing.

@EBearhug - no, he even paid from his pocket for some equipment to make sure he has good Internet connection in his office room in the house. He can do everything from there. He's done it before on odd days of transport strikes with no issues and even managed to get more done than when in.

@EBearhug His company management is full of idiots it seems. Lots of people can work from home, but they are made to come to work. We can't figure out why. People worked from home before and it was no issue, now when it's really important they do it becomes one.

Could he write a more formal email stating : following the national guidance he will be working from home from Monday, & that he is completely confident he can do his job to his normal high standards.

Then reference gov/PHE advice

I would strongly urge him not to quit despite his hurt feelings you needs the security of his pay atm.

Does his company have an HR department that he could speak to? It's an awful situation but I really think his quitting would make life very hard for you all right now.

What @EmergencyPractitioner said seems much smarter than just quitting outright.

Stuff whether he thinks he’s been let down by his employer he’d be absolutely mad in the midst of all of us to quit

He should just start working from home. Not ask or wait for permission.

If he is keeping up with his work reasonably well then it will be very difficult for them to fire him for not coming into the office. Especially in current times.

Why doesn't he just tell the company he has a cough and will be following government advice to self isolate. After 2 weeks the UK will be in such a dire situation everything will be locked down anyway.

It all boils down to one thing. Can he afford to quit? Do you have any savings to fall back on?

I can imagine a lot of employers behaving like this, unfortunately. They might take a different view in a couple of weeks.

I’ve sent you a PM.

If he us determined to quit. How about trying just going ahead with WFH and see what happens? Worst case he can threaten them with a tribunal.

To answer the questions, no, we can't afford for him to quit. He thinks he can find another job- but it's not a field where loads of opportunities come up, and jobs are drying up by the minute.

But if he does get ill and no predictions how he will take it, we have literally no support network and no one to take care of my 3 year old. And going to hospital with CV seems very difficult. In couple of weeks time they will most likely be totally swamped (if they are not so already), so we're concerned like many others about the care which is stretched at the best of times. I am not leaving home at the moment at all to minimise any interaction with other people...

He would be irresponsible to quit now with no other job lined up.

He needs to have a formal conversation/make a formal request as per previous posters suggestions.

He may feel aggrieved but this is not the time to leave long term employment, where I expect he has sick pay etc.

He would be crazy to quit now. Even sectors that are usually pretty secure are going to feel the economic impact of all this and there will be redundancies. After 15 years he shouldn’t walk away assuming he’ll get another job.

If his employers really are so oblivious or unconcerned then the obvious thing to do is tell them he’s showing symptoms and has been told to self isolate. He can still work from home.

Blimey, do not quit, that would be foolish.

If they aren't answering then he should just tell them - they'd be hard pressed to argue with him in the current climate, especially given your status.

I agree with others that he should start working from home with immediate effect.
I'd guess that others in his office will follow and the company will have no choice but to allow this.

To add insult to the injury, he cant talk to his boss face to face because the boss is working FROM HOME!!!
I think he will just stay in and see what happens...

Is he a trade union member? If not he should join. And not resign!!!

Tbh if his boss is WFH perhaps he should just WFH anyway. After all his boss didn't say NO, he just didn't say yes.

He could call in sick or say he is self isolating because of your daughters health issues.

What is actually stopping him from wfh? Have they said 'come in or you are fired'? I feel like there would be a case for constructive dismissal if so

As others have said, he should just send a simple email saying 'as per government guidelines I will be wfh' and then just do it

If all else fails he can say any one of you have a cough or fever therefore you all have to self isolate for 14 days