AIBU about husband’s work?

[OmnibusOwl]

My husband has a job he could very easily do from home. He works for a luxury goods retailer (sorry for the vagueness).

I WFH already so took my children out of school over a week ago. We’ve stayed in ever since, with the odd walk to open fields near our house and back, meeting no one. No play dates, no visitors, not even my mum who lives just round the corner.

My husband was told a couple of weeks ago that plans were being put in place for everyone to WFH as soon as possible, which as I’ve said would be easy for him. But they’ve changed plans this week so now the physical shop is closed to the public, but all the staff are still going in every day to work on a new project which makes it possible to still engage with customers online.

I’m really uncomfortable with all this social contact my husband’s having every day with people whose actions outside of work I have no knowledge of or control over. But then again, this new project could well keep the business afloat during this crisis, and this is our (and other staff members’) main source of household income. Does that make it “essential” social contact, even though he’s not a key worker?

I can’t do a proper poll but:

YABU — this is essential contact, it’s keeping the business and household income safe

YANBU — only key workers should still be going to work, he should be WFH

Sorry that was long! Thank you for any opinions.

[OmnibusOwl]

Bumping as I’m really worried about this!

[lechatnoir]

No idea what to suggest but I've just posted something very similar. I do feel like isn't taking either his social or his family responsibility seriously.

[PinglePongle]

Employers are behaving really poorly at the moment

[OmnibusOwl]

He also has a cold! Sorry for the drip feed.

[babypossum]

PinglePongle you have no idea of the pressure employers are under at the moment trying to keep their businesses and livelihoods afloat. They're not all huge corporations that can handle a closure or lock down and they're also just as frightened as everybody else is.

[lechatnoir]

If your DH has to self isolate will he still get paid? In his situation I'd just do that. Unfortunately my dh is self-employed so doesn't have that option but I'm almost at the stage of saying fuck the money, we've got enough food to last a few weeks with a delivery booked the one after and can always take mortgage payment holiday and go overdrawn/use credit cards for a bit. This feels so much bigger than aa bit of debt

[OmnibusOwl]

He’d get paid as long as the business survived, I guess. I don’t know how rocky things are financially at the business what with all that’s going on. I too think this is more important than that, but DH is not as engaged as me.

[OmnibusOwl]

I and our 3 children are literally home all the time. Click + collect once a week for groceries (I go alone in the car), we’re video calling friends and family. Outside time in an empty field or the garden.

I’m worried that he’s negating that by going in to work every day with other people from other households, putting us at risk, and also that he could be carrying the virus without showing major symptoms and pass it onto all of them.

I know it’s work, but it’s the opposite of what we desperately need to be doing right now, surely? Avoiding any face to face contact beyond immediate household? Especially when his regular job (ie. not this new initiative to get them through this period) could so easily be done from home.