Going to break lockdown rules

[DoOneCovid]

Please be gentle with me I am really worrying about this.

DP and I stick to the rules, we don’t socialise, we hardly go out and definitely no parties.

Our son lives on the other side of the large village we live in, around a 15 minute walk away. We live in the old part and he lives in the newer part.

His internet is not very reliable, he complained to BT several times but is pretty much told it’s tough, there is no room in the cabinets and what he has is the best he can get. It’s pretty rubbish.

We on the other hand have fantastic broadband, very reliable, hardly ever drops out.

Son is being investigated at work for dropped calls, where his internet has cut out during a phone call with a customer, which I am sure is very frustrating for the customer.

His team leader who likes him has suggested he puts steps in place to tell the disciplinary what he is doing, it’s still 50/50 if he will be sacked.

One option is to work from the office, but they have reduced the office size to a maximum number of people, some people work there full time still. He went of Friday but the office was at capacity so he had to come home again. The problem with this is that he has a desktop so has to dismantle everything to take, monitor, keyboard etc so it’s not a quick process.

His only other option is to work here. We have stable broadband, but it’s breaking the rules. Son needs to work to pay his mortgage. DIL works part time as the have a young child (my grand child who I have missed so much during lockdowns) so her wages won’t cover the mortgage.

I am really worried about it but don’t know what else to do. I feel his company are being very unfair. He had 10 dropped calls in 8 weeks so roughly about 1 a week.

Please reassure me that if the neighbours inform the police that the police would be understanding, we don’t know what else to do to help him.

We will be breaking the rules but my anxiety is going through the roof because of it.

Regular poster but name changed as it’s a lot of info about my son.

I would let your son work from your house no question about it. Please do it if it saves his job.

In this instance I don't think it's really breaking the rules. He's going to yours to work, no different to going to the office? Especially as there will be paperwork from the disciplinary to prove that's what he's doing. In the event of a fine (unlikely) you'd have a strong case to argue.

Absolutely do this. It would be ridiculous for the police to fine you under these circumstances and on the small chance that they did they you would certainly get it overturned. Hope it all works out

I'm an absolute stickler for the rules and I would do this. He can't lose his job. His employers are being absolute gits, tbh.

Is child under 1?

Is the bubble option viable?

I would do it.

If possible I would try to avoid household mixing, so could he for instance set up in a spare bedroom so that he comes in, goes straight upstairs, uses the upstairs bathroom and brings his own drinks / lunch / snacks?

You would not go upstairs while he is there, use the downstairs toilet etc.

Of course if that isn't possible I would still do it anyway, just trying to keep physical interaction as low as possible

Sorry just to be clear, son will be working here, he will be coming round today to set his kit up ready for tomorrow.

Child is over 1 and goes to nursery, DIL has a child care bubble with her Parents, we can’t offer the same sadly as DP and I both work full time from home.

@Yecartmannew

I would do it.

If possible I would try to avoid household mixing, so could he for instance set up in a spare bedroom so that he comes in, goes straight upstairs, uses the upstairs bathroom and brings his own drinks / lunch / snacks?

You would not go upstairs while he is there, use the downstairs toilet etc.

Of course if that isn't possible I would still do it anyway, just trying to keep physical interaction as low as possible

That is a good idea, son has a home office in his spare room with a desk etc. We have a spare room which we are decorating, we can get it finished and set up him up there as an office which would reduce contact with him.

Even though our chances of catching COVID are very low as we never go anywhere, our grand child goes to nursery so there is more chance of son giving it to us!

This is totally the right thing to do. Please don't stress about it. There is no other option. People have to work.

He also needs to be clear with his employer that they are not putting reasonable steps in place for him to wfh or from the office.
He could always ask for a hotspot dongle.

I wouldn't even question this. You work from home - if you can!! Your DS is unable to do that so he is coming to work from your house. So long as youre not clinically vulnerable, its fine. You can socially distance.

Have work not offered a wifi dongle?

My daughter has been round ours to work if her broadband has dropped out. Wouldn't give it a second thought and really the police have more to worry about.

On the other hand had he looked at other broadband providers like Virgin? BT is known to be horrendous.

Sorry but can someone fill me in on the dongles? Our internet is dire, DP is talking about getting one when or Talkshit contract runs out. Im worried they'll be limited?

I guess that would be a better solution for the OPs son too if they work well? Much easier for him to work from home than traipse to his parents anyways.

I would absolutely do this for my son

Your son cannot “stay at home” if he loses his houses from being sacked can he? I would absolutely let him work from your home.

@DontGoIntoTheLongGrass

On the other hand had he looked at other broadband providers like Virgin? BT is known to be horrendous.

Unfortunately it doesn’t matter who provides the broadband as it’s the cabinet that is the problem. He doesn’t have fibre as there isn’t room in the cabinet to upgrade, he is not the only one as there are lots of complaints on the community Facebook page about the lack of cabinet space.

In the village we have had hundreds of new houses built, and the infrastructure has not been put in place to support the growth. BT need to put new cabinets in.

I think his employer should be sorting out the issues: my husband is wfh as is a good friend (public and private sectors). Both have been supplied with technology and technical upgrades.

Of course do it. He can’t work from home - so he’s working in your house as his office. Be clear with everyone about this. It’s not breaking the rules.

Your DS employees are appalling and what they are doing to him sounds illegal - they should be either providing him with office space or better home connections. If he doesn’t have a union (he should) get him to contact citizens advice so if it turns nasty he can take them to court. And make sure he charges them for using your broadband.

At the moment he wants to get through his disciplinary and say that he is working from our house then if he doesn’t get sacked look into how the company can support him, we have a feeling that they will make him go back to the office full time.

But it’s better than losing his job in this current climate.

Do it. Give it no more thought.

Don't give it another thought.
You'll be as distanced as you can and it seems it is essential for work.

It doesn't mean you can get together now as two families. Just your son using a spare room as a place of work

Just think if you lived in a remote house with no neighbours, you probably wouldn't even worry. It's just horrible sad little snitches that are causing people added problems. Just do it, he's your son.

No brainer - just let him come round.