No power all day, in tier 3 & WFH??

[Ethelfleda]

Office isn’t open, we have had a letter to say the entire street is being cut off on Friday from 9am until 6pm. I WFH Mon - Fri...
We are in tier 3 so no household mixing or cafes open to work in... and obviously not supposed to travel to a tier where I could sit in a cafe.

What on earth am I supposed to do??

I think this would be a case for going to someone’s house for the day if work will not allow you in to the office. Otherwise do you have a work phone that you could tether from? Or they could arrange for a dongle to be sent to you.

@everythingthelighttouches

I’m amazed at all the people bending over backwards here at personal expense.

If the power went down in your office you would not be able work. If there was a fire alarm you would not be able to work.

Due to circumstances beyond your control, for one day, you will not be able to work. The end.

That's great. Hope op doesn't mind not receiving her salary and pension contributions for this day. She has a contract to work her set days/hours. Her current place of work is home. Office is not a possibility. So she needs to find a way of working around the situation and I don't for a moment think that the suggestions are unreasonable. And tbh, if she paid for tethering if no work mobile, that would still most likely be less than the travel costs she's saving....

Now if this was an unplanned cut, there would be more negotiation room. Though even then they could insist on taking as an unpaid day.

No, the office is a possibility. Its not against the law to work in an office. If her employers choose to not let her work there for the day they will have to accept the fact she can't work. If she's offering to work and they decline they can't dock her pay.

That's great. Hope op doesn't mind not receiving her salary and pension contributions for this day. She has a contract to work her set days/hours. Her current place of work is home. Office is not a possibility. So she needs to find a way of working around the situation and I don't for a moment think that the suggestions are unreasonable

Luckily I have a boss who has more empathy and understanding than you do

There are a number of new companies which have sprung up which hire out office space for the day, have you checked out them in your area? May be nice to check them out just from a break from the wfh monotony in any case.
Eg (choosing a tier 3 city)
www.manchestersfinest.com/eating-and-drinking/cafes/best-co-working-and-freelancing-spots-in-manchester/

That's great. Hope op doesn't mind not receiving her salary and pension contributions for this day.

She has a contract to work her set days/hours. Her current place of work is home. Office is not a possibility. So she needs to find a way of working around the situation and I don't for a moment think that the suggestions are unreasonable.

Christ, well I'm glad you're not my boss

Most decent managers with a modicum of common sense would understand that a power outage is not OP's fault and would offer sensible solutions for her - a day of annual leave, the option to make the time up another day, paid leave due to circumstances beyond her control, or the option to use the office as a one-off.

Punishing employees for circumstances beyond their control by docking their pay is not the way to foster positive relations and a good working atmosphere.

Most decent managers with a modicum of common sense would understand that a power outage is not OP's fault and would offer sensible solutions for her - a day of annual leave, the option to make the time up another day, paid leave due to circumstances beyond her control, or the option to use the office as a one-off.

Punishing employees for circumstances beyond their control by docking their pay is not the way to foster positive relations and a good working atmosphere.

Well said

There are a lot of suggested solutions but surely you explain the situation to your boss and see what they suggest. This must happen every day to numerous employees at the moment, I wouldn't be tying myself in knots before even having a conversation about it.

Tell your employer that you can't work due to no electricity. They may give you a days special leave as what exactly are you supposed to do about it.

Unless you can sign in via a dongle or phone hotspot it's exceptional circumstances!

One of my colleagues had a similar issue - she had no wifi for two days. Work were fine about it. Told her to read any paper research documents she had at home, sketch out some planning, and actually have time to stop and think.

If your phone is fully charged then you can have phone conversations etc.

I can't see it's a huge drama to be honest.

If you were my employee I would say take the day off and make up any online work (not meetings of course) another day. And for phone calls I would expect you to have a fully charged mobile phone and back up batter pack (can get from supermarkets at the moment) so can take and make calls

Employers have to be understanding during this difficult time. It's hardly your fault.

Any employer taking @MotherExtraordinaire's view of this situation is behaving twattily and deserves to lose all their employees.

Contact work right away to let them know the situation and see what they suggest. The power cut is not your fault & it's not like you are choosing to work from home so I absolutely would not be using holiday for this or making up time out of hours etc.

The responsibility is with your employer to either provide somewhere else suitable for you to work or find an alternative way for you to work from home that day without power. Otherwise they will just have to accept it's only one day & just one of these things that comes with the strange situation we are in.