Does 'unable to work from home' work both ways?

[HettySunshine]

Just curious really.

My job is doable from home with the right set up; two computer screens, a work phone and someone in the office to scan things, print and post letters, check files etc.

However, I have three small noisy children, no work space - I would have to sit in the open plan kitchen/ living room at the table on a hard dining room chair - and my job involves talking to clients pretty much all the time on the phone.

Therefore it has been agreed by my office and husband (who is at home with the children) that I cannot work from home and I do need to be in the office.

Is this in keeping with the rules?

I would say you cannot work from home, my husband has conference calls that last hours with people in several countries, it saps our internet (2 kids and me working too) so when this happens he goes in to work.

He works in an office on his own

My dh is going to work. Unfortunately his job is incompatible with wfh. I did suggest he stays some days. But he said with start ups currently happening that isn’t possible. The company has done everything possible to mitigate the spread and luckily no one has brought it to work as yet. They were shut for a few months during the first lockdown and reopened once ‘safe’. It is a shame dh cannot wfh at least some of the time. We have an office and dd is in secondary school. Some of the admin staff are able to wfh a lot of the time. This helps with childcare / to allow for homeschooling. The guidelines are stay at home if you can.

If there really is no way you could set up elsewhere then yes go to office. It does increase your risk if catching and spreading covid so increased hand hygiene etc. And it would be a very last resort for me after trying to set up in one of the bedrooms first.

It might be that simple in some cases but not all. We don’t allow people to work in the office with exceptional reason. It’s not that simple.

If it’s fine by you and it’s fine by your employer, you really don’t need the approval of mumsnet to tell you if your doing the right thing or not. You’ve given the reasons you can’t work from home, they are valid.

I would try and set up a workspace in a bedroom. Borrow a proper chair from work? Or buy one? I bought a v comfy proper office chair and it was delivered v fast. Go into work once a week? It depends on how busy your office is and how you get there though.

I really really wish I could wfh. I'm admin in the NHS and purely have to go in because they won't supply the equipment needed. They save that for the managers.

There is no reason I need to be in the office but I need a software license to be able to access my desktop from home which the trust don't have enough of and a card reader which again they don't have enough of. They've had since March to get more.

Some people in my job have been given these because they've raised a grievance and brought the union in but the rest of us have to go into the office.

Same situation here, nowhere in the house I can go due to no phone lines and downstairs open plan. Currently using a small laptop but not able to fully do my job as some parts have to be completed in an office, and also much slower due to having one small screen rather than 2. We are both classed as critical workers though so will likely take a space at school so I can get back to the office

Our section of my workplace has effectively shut down physically as we have adapted our practice to do everything online or by phone. But our part-time receptionist / admin person is still going into work there.

Like you, she needs two screens etc and access to online files. She has three adult daughters doing university work from home and her husband also working from home. They have neither the space nor the internet capability for her to work from home as well, so she continues to go into the office to work there.

Your situation sounds similar. I think that is what the guidance means.

That sounds like a similar set-up to mine. Much of what I do is reliant on incoming physical paperwork, and it would take longer for someone else to scan it all in and email it to me than it would for me to actually do the job. Our internet connection at home isn't particularly great, and the internet security levels at work are so ridiculously high (necessarily) that if they set our home one like it, we would barely be able to use it for anything else. It blocks pretty much everything. So I don't work from home. My employer has given me a letter to carry with me in case I get stopped on the way to or from work.

@NailsNeedDoing

If it’s fine by you and it’s fine by your employer, you really don’t need the approval of mumsnet to tell you if your doing the right thing or not. You’ve given the reasons you can’t work from home, they are valid.

This.

My office is closed, but some days I just wish I could go in. I'm "managing" but not doing it as good as I can.

It is possible op. I have 3 children. I need 2 screens am also on phone to clients all day. Because of lockdown my job has become so much more stressful due to my role.

My partner homeschools my children in the same room as me. The kitchen is too cold and upstairs is not doable.

It isn't easy. Nothing about lockdown is. My children are far from quiet! But you do get used to it. In my eyes if your office said they will not allow you in, you would find a way to manage it.

@nomorecheese
My nhs trust is the same, they leased a load of laptops but nowhere near enough

I'm confused, so your DH wants you to go to the office whilst he homeschools and WFH? Wouldn't you both be able to manage home schooling and workloads more easily (and fairly) with you both at home?

I would feel bad (and concerned for my children's education) leaving 3 children in the situation you've described. Assuming they're school aged of course.

But I realise I've done that annoying thing of not answering the question you've asked and probably given an unsolicited opinion instead sorry!

Could you not set up upstairs? That would be my only thought but I appreciate this might not be possible.

It sounds as though you can work on your own in a private space within the office not directly interacting with anyone. During the first lock down I printed out a laminated a sign which I put on an office door with my direct line number and asking people not to come in but phone me.

Where I work the default is home working apart from a handful people who physically can't carry out their tasks at home. We are allowed to apply to come into the office if we can't work from home for well-being/ practical reasons which would cover yoyr situation. I have a colleague with 5 children and she comes into the office 2 days a week to get time to focus while her husband deals with homeschooling.

My employer has interpreted the guidance to mean that you only come onto site if there is a work requirement for you to do so. Which I think is probably the way round it is meant to be, as the overarching guideline is still "Stay at Home". We have people living in shared houses who are working on laptops sat on their beds; people working on the kitchen table with children (who are taken out by other parent if they need to make phone calls). In your case, I do think you should be wfh.

I'm pretty certain it's supposed to be if you need to work on site like a builder or engineer etc. I.e. if its possible to do your job from home you are supposed to be at home.

If you need someone in the office to scan your documents for you it makes sense for that person to be you I suppose. I think its a bit variable because if no one else is going in or you don't get public transport its fine. But if you need to get 3 buses, a tube and cram into an office with no masks or no ventilation then not really. So I guess you need to do your own risk assessment and make a judgment call

@shallbe

I'm confused, so your DH wants you to go to the office whilst he homeschools and WFH? Wouldn't you both be able to manage home schooling and workloads more easily (and fairly) with you both at home?

I would feel bad (and concerned for my children's education) leaving 3 children in the situation you've described. Assuming they're school aged of course.

Actually you've raised a very good point. I assumed DP was a SAHD.

If it was the other way around an the DP was going to work leaving OP to WFH and HS 3 kids he'd be getting called selfish and Op would be getting told to make him pull his weight.

Yes it does - we know this because the wording (which is designed to keep the economy and services moving) - doesn't say it doesn't.

If you can't work effectively at home and your company can provide a safe workspace then you can go to work.

You may get people on this thread saying it doesn't or shouldn't - but with so much fear around some people are ignoring the fact we have to keep as much of the economy moving as possible/provide people with the care they need, or we will face a far worse social and economic situation when we come out of it.

Yes my office is closed, but it isn't really, if people are hardship cases, ie they really can't work at home, they can go in. But they need special permission from HR and there are no facilities like canteen open etc.

In the first lockdown there was one guy using his car as an office because he has 4 children. I think it would be far too cold to do that this time round so I hope he's been able to go into the office!

Thanks @Grobagsforever but he's teaching his specialised subject live from 9-4:30 so it's easier in his classroom with his stuff and quiet. Not having contact with anyone, so not really an increased risk and very local too.

@MrsJonesAndMe

Thanks *@Grobagsforever* but he's teaching his specialised subject live from 9-4:30 so it's easier in his classroom with his stuff and quiet. Not having contact with anyone, so not really an increased risk and very local too.

@MrsJonesAndMe

Ah, didn't realise he was a teacher! A normal office worker could reasonably use headphones, a teacher not so much