You ‘must’ WFH if you can do so effectively

[LittleRen]

So how many people on here had made the switch back into the office and do you think you will be going back to WFH?

Last time I’m sure it was if you can work from home you should, it seems more certain this time.

I’m sure employers will find ways around it. Our company is busier than ever and has everyone back in a ‘Covid safe’ environment. We are perfectly able to work from home (office staff not warehouse staff) but communication was poor last time... one director hates WFH the other director agrees with it, so here comes the fight.

Will you be WFH? I quite like being in the office but understand the need to be at home... I think on balance I would rather be in work as it’s gives a nice difference for me two days a week, when everything else is the same day in and day out.

[newpup123]

@ginberry4

newpup123 I read the guidance which says

1. Stay at home - ‘you must stay at home except for work purposes where your place of work remains open and you cannot work from home.’
   

And also says 6. Going to work
‘To help contain the virus everyone who can work effectively from home must do so. Where people cannot do so (eg manufacturing) they should continue to travel to work’.

To me this means staff on the factory floor should travel to work as they cannot do their job at home. But office staff who can do theirs from home surely should? Presumably the use of the word ‘effectively’ is the legal loophole which many companies will use to avoid sending staff home. It just doesn’t seem in the spirit of the guidance - in fact it’s in blatant disregard of it.

Yep. DH company has sent email saying everyone is staying in as cannot be effective from home. Absolute rubbish, it's just the MD is a anti-every-kind-of-flexible-working control freak

[WhiteChocTwix]

Having a moan.. temping, terms of the contract said 4 days per wk from home, 1 day office, this was before lockdown.. office now remaining open. I'm down to go in 5 days a week! I have a very rare medical issue which makes me worried how I'd be if I got Corona. Feel like no one gives a crap tonight. Seriously tempted to quit which is so disappointing.

[ginberry4]

newpup123 I read the guidance which says

1. Stay at home - ‘you must stay at home except for work purposes where your place of work remains open and you cannot work from home.’
   

And also says 6. Going to work
‘To help contain the virus everyone who can work effectively from home must do so. Where people cannot do so (eg manufacturing) they should continue to travel to work’.

To me this means staff on the factory floor should travel to work as they cannot do their job at home. But office staff who can do theirs from home surely should? Presumably the use of the word ‘effectively’ is the legal loophole which many companies will use to avoid sending staff home. It just doesn’t seem in the spirit of the guidance - in fact it’s in blatant disregard of it.

[newpup123]

@ginberry4

I’m in the offices of a manufacturing company - been told today that as manufacturers are allowed to remain open, we carry on as normal & must all still go in. We did wfh for a short period last time but the bosses claim we didn’t do so ‘effectively’. Can they do this? It doesn’t seem right to me?

Same here. Including for the clinically extremely vulnerable. But the guidance hasn't been updated to reflect a need to stay at home so I don't think there's anything can do

[m0therofdragons]

Dh is working from home until March and I’ve just moved back (3 weeks ago) to 2 days at home and 3 days in, alternating with boss. In reality, first lock down I rarely worked from home as colleague was off sick so I was covering and wfh was decided on daily basis which was very stressful and horrible for dh who was homeschooling 3 dds and working full time. This time I’m at home much more regularly.

[ginberry4]

I’m in the offices of a manufacturing company - been told today that as manufacturers are allowed to remain open, we carry on as normal & must all still go in. We did wfh for a short period last time but the bosses claim we didn’t do so ‘effectively’. Can they do this? It doesn’t seem right to me?

[Confuzzlediddled]

We didn't go back, partly because our main office is in Bradford where there has been ongoing restrictions, we had it confirmed we wouldn't be going back until at least April a couple of months ago

[Crakeandoryx]

I've been working from home since March 16th. It's really affected me mentally and I want to go back to the office but there are so few people in I can't see the point. At least at home I can work in comfy clothes and walk the dog in my lunch break.

My DH can and probably should WFH now but I doubt he will, he likes to go to the office. He has very different views to me and is economy driven, but he works as an essential worker in the finance sector.

[Lurkingforawhile]

I think it’s harder this time because we know the effect on some people of WFH, and we know it might go on for a while. Last time our offices closed for months. This time they are staying open, and there is an acknowledgement that some people are needing to go in for their well-being. I feel that that’s a really good balance. We are all working from home by default if we are office-based, but they accept there are some people who really struggle with that MH wise

[CoffeeCreamandSugar]

I’m a therapist. Many people don’t want to or can’t talk openly about their situation and feelings freely in their own house when others are home. I will still be offering online support, but will going in for those that still need to come into the office. Most people want to see me face to face and only a few have opted for online or telephone support.

Last lockdown I went straight into online / telephone support but this time unless something drastically changes I won’t be. We were a tier one area before the announcement.

[RichardMarxisinnocent]

Most office based work can, and should, be done at home. That’s why we’re having a lockdown. To stop people mixing including on public transport
I am offcie based, and while technically I can wfh, I can't do it effectively - last time I felt very unmotivated, found it hard to concentrate, was incredibly lonely, and cried at my "desk" several times a week. I hated it and it was terrible for my mental health.

I have a short walk to work so no more contact with anyone than there would be when going for a walk, and because most of the rest of the team are happy wfh I am usually in an office alone. I will be asking my manager if I can work in the office at least some days a week, so I don't completely break mentally. Last time I ended up begging to be allowed to return.

[Bwlch]

I can work from home but face-to-face is more effective, so nothing changes for me.

[EBearhug]

We hadn't been back in the office yet anyway.

[Frazzled13]

Our offices had reopened on a voluntary basis but we got an email yesterday saying from Thursday they were totally closed, and even if you were booked in to go before Thursday you should consider if you really have to.

[LittleRen]

I am on my way to the office now so I will see what this week brings and update back on here!!

[RishiMcRichface]

Yes if you absolutely can't work from home due to practical reasons office based or not, that's different from if your boss likes to have you in the office so he can keep an eye on you. The difficulty will be in that most employees won't want to cause trouble by complaining.

[Aragog]

I think lots of businesses who have already gone back to the office won't return to wfh. I know a few like this.

The instruction to stay home for such businesses isn't strong enough and so many will have a reason why they ought be to in the office.

Of course many, if not most, could work from home but won't unless forced. There is always some excuse.

[Dontmakemegoback2office]

The post opener machine is huge. Not all office jobs can be done at home. Our customers also post lots of documents in to the office.

Yes which is why the instruction is wfh if your job can be done at home. If it can’t it can’t.

But there is a difference between not being able to work from home because the job physically cannot be done at home, and not being able to do your job at home because someone says ‘because you just can’t’.

[Fizbosshoes]

I've been back at work pt since end of July and ft since september. I'll prob finish some things this week and then (I think) be pt wfh until lockdown is over.

[SATSmadness]

No chance of e-mailing letters instead of posting ?

We had our own stashes of headed paper at home to print letters on, then scanned letters to a folder for the relevant individual to approve and they were then e-mailed out.

I think lockdown pushed a lot of office based tasks to becoming more electronic and on the whole we still haven't reverted to the way we were despite being.

"Necessity is the mother of invention" and all that. As mentioned though, it has left less of a role for the managers.

[milveycrohn]

Although technically one MAY be able to work from home, your company or employer may not have the infrastructure for EVERYONE to work from home.
Hopefully, they will have been working towards extra server capacity or whatever, but it is not always straightforward. Not everyone has suitable internet capability at home - my DS has recently had to upgrade his internet for that very reason.
That said, some IT people may have to work in the office, if they maintain the servers, etc. Not everything can be done from home.

[ReginaaPhalange]

Never been allowed to work from home even though I have the facilities to do so. My boss is prehistoric and doesn't trust us to WFH as he can't see what we are up to! So in the mean time I am crammed in an office with 7 others (oh but we are 2m apart until someone hovers over you). and yes I work for the nhs but I'm in an outreach location so not clinical..... 🤨

[OublietteBravo]

I haven’t set foot in the office since 13 March. I hate WFH so much. But there seems to be no possibility of the office reopening any time soon. Last I heard, the chief HR officer was suggesting that we’d be WFH for at least some of the week until summer 2022

[maddiemookins16mum]

@Dontmakemegoback2office

The examples BJ gave of work that can’t be done at home was construction and manufacturing.

Most office based work can, and should, be done at home. That’s why we’re having a lockdown. To stop people mixing including on public transport. Making people go to an office for no good reason (control, obsessiveness) is hardly in the spirit of the legislation is it.

If your employer says you cannot wfh the questions that have to be asked are why not? What are the barriers? What can be done to remove those barriers?

We get business post delivered and collected. Up to 1000 letters a day (double on Mondays) that are opened on an industrial opener. It comes in large sacks. The post opener machine is huge. Not all office jobs can be done at home. Our customers also post lots of documents in to the office.