Working From Home- Forced into the Office

[DancingintheSpoonlight]

Hi- hoping someone can advise!

My partner took a permanent job with a large, well known company in April. It was a bit of a pay cut but previously his job was a temporary role that was renewed regularly, but it started to become a little temperamental so permanent was the best idea. We also found out we were having a baby so stability was key.

The job was advertised as working from home. The company had by this point closed offices as WFH was working so well. The job also boasted quick pay progression so even the bit of a pay cut didn't seem a problem as there were good opportunities and DP was saving considerably on travel.

Fast forward to now- yesterday the whole company were advised they all have to return to the offices for 3 days out of 5 a week...starting next week or the week after. It is an hours drive plus £10 pm for parking. We're looking at around £200 extra unexpected outgoings (diesel car, parking, city centre, no train and bus would be about an hour and a half).

Baby is due in 2 and a half months so funnily enough with the nature of his original job advert we hadn't anticipated this and we don't have an extra £200 simply for travel.

Please can you tell me what you'd do or advise? TIA!

Has he checked his contract to see what it says about WFH?

*hour each way

Yes his contract should specify his place of work. Does it say wfh?

@AssignedNorthern I asked him this and I don't think it mentions it either way...so really just basing it off the original job advert. In hindsight that seems naive

His situation is different to the others, in that it was advertised as wfh. I suppose it boils down to the contract.

I agree with pp.
This does sound different from other jobs which moved to WFH and are now being asked to go back.

Practically though, even if he forces their hand and continues to work from home, how will that work in practice when everyone else is in the office. Could it actually work? Will they find some excuse during probation to get rid of him?
Is it worth making a fuss? Perhaps it would be easier in reality to get another job.

Does he have the job advert saved? What is the exact wording on that?

The contract should normally specify the place of work. Are you sure it doesn't?

Thanks everyone for replies!!

He was frantically looking for the advert last night but couldn't place it. He'd have not bothered originally if the original advert had even mentioned temporarily wfh.

Hes been doing his job role fine from home with no issues. He had a review where the manager admitted some were taking longer to do certain tasks but that didn't apply to DP. It was mentioned about going in once a month to check in, which didn't seem unreasonable.

He is entitled to paternity leave providing I'm not too early, so I said about scraping by until this as much as possible but then looking for another job ASAP. As much as I'm upset about this (so little notice, unexpected etx), their paternity package is good despite DP not being in the role long.

There's not a probation period but I believe employment law is a bit more sketchy if you've been in a job less than 2 years?

Not that it makes a difference to DPs situation, but I know others working for the company who have for much longer, including managers who are very unhappy and surprised at the expectation. The company is one of these publicly boasting how they plan to keep WFH across the board for financial, environmental and wellbeing reasons. The short notice has got a LOT of people's backs up considering this message being drummed in for so long.

All depends on the contract he signed.

He should check his contract but fair chance it will say something like at the discretion of the management
No job protection within 2 year period unless on discriminatory grounds
Does seem that a lot of people who thought they would continue WFH won't be

The advert is irrelevant, it will be Ts & Cs of the contract that count.

My husband was WFH when the lockdown in March 2020 happened and our DS was born. We had to move as well due to personal circumstances and with wfh we could manage fine. He was home until May 2021 when his boss said you need to come in 3 days a week again and with travel that was £500 a month which we couldn't afford so he managed to find a permanently wfh job that paid significantly more as well. We've been very lucky.
If your partner can't go in, definitely re check the contract or if its possible change jobs?? My husband was only in his previous job 2yrs total when he left.

I would look at exactly what it says in the contract.

He also needs to think about things like whether he wants career progression in that organisation or not and plan what he does next very carefully

So looking at the contract in better detail without stress eyes...it says base is the office in the city. I can see signing this means "it is what it is" but still do feel hoodwinked at it being advertised and discussed as working from home.
Having the base in the city makes sense in terms of checking in etc, but the advert, interview and company's stance of wfh thus far never made us question it.

But since signing the contract after the interview stating he'd be looking at a payrise within 6 months based on certain things which he's since done, they've changed the goalposts for that, too. So regarding your message @KeyboardWorriers he's doing just that! He's lost faith in them keeping to anything originally advertised!
@abbs1 - he's looking already! Fingers crossed he has the same luck as your husband!

It seems like places have adapted to the last 18 months but now changing their minds from their original positive stance without thinking what this means for employees.

2 months before baby and stress noone needs

@Dancinginthespoonlight I really hope he gets something very soon. Its definitely not the stress you need. When my husband signed his new contract he had to work a 3 month notice period and told his boss he would be working it from home and wouldn't come into the office. We couldn't afford the £500 a month commute fares so there was no way he could go in. We had no choice to move during the pandemic so knew we'd have to deal with his commute issue at some point. He had asked for permanent wfh as his job he doesnt need to be in the city at all but his boss said no so he had no choice but to find something else or we'd be homeless with a 1yr old.
I think its ridiculous asking people to come back in the office when wfh has been so successful for so many esp the cost of travel has increased for so many or financial circumstances have changed etc.

Does the company have a worklife balance policy? Maybe that's an option to reduce the days In the office.

Thank you @abbs1!

£500 is crazy money! Glad he managed to wangle it for the last 3 months. I wonder if it was even worth trying to enforce for his company when they lost him anyway!

@ScrumptiousBears I'm not sure! I'll tell him to check- thank you!!

It's ironic that my job was never wfh until lockdown (call centre), but I'm back home til maternity to reduce my risk but his was always meant to be wfh and now he's back in an office! Almost cancels out what I'm doing to reduce any risk but that's another story...

@dancinginthespoonlight he was a manager of his department within the company and tried to negotiate but his boss said there is no way hes letting people have a choice of office or wfh. But his boss lived like 5 miles from the office where as he lived nearly a 2 hour commute just to get there. Hes left a huge gap in the company and they hadn't even found anyone to replace him when he left as his position was so complex and he had so much to do in his department so theyve lost out massively.

Keep us posted how your husband gets on. I really hope everything comes good for you before baby comes to take away the stress. 🤞