Change in conditions?

[Quiltingmama]

I am going back to work after DS2 and am having fun with my employer - do you think they can do this...
I work 4 days a week and prior to this ML was doing 2 days in the office and 2 days at home. The days werent officially fixed but as I orgainse my own diary they we in effect always the same unless I had an unavoidable committment. I have never had any complaints from colleagues or clients. In fact I have been praised for my 'seamless' working.

I now find that I will have one day nominated a home work day and fixed. THe 2nd day now becomes floating with no guarentee of when in the week it will be. THis means I cant plan childcare and DH will have to be on call in effect 3 days a week for emergency cover.

Is this a change in conditions? Can they do this? None of my earlier arrangments were documented but I worked like that for years. I feel very disappointed at the moment.

Do you mean the second 'home' day could be literally any day of the week? Or could be any day out of the four you are designated to work?
If its the latter, I can't see a huge problem, as presumably you have the childcare in place anyway - it's just a case of where you go in the morning! If it's the former, then no, I don't think they can do this. Sounds like a nightmare to expect you to be available on a designated non working day.

its the latter but it is a nightmare because I dont have c/care in place for as long on my home days cos I dont need it. Now will have to pay for more hours even if I dont end up using it. My T&C letter doesnt even mention the 2nd day (I got it after my OP). Not happy.

But surely if you are being paid to work, whether from home or out of the home, then you should have childcare in place for all of those hours. I don't think it's unreasonably of your company to do what they're doing, particularly as your previous arrangement was not an official one.

Littlefish - I guess the OP means that working in the office + travelling time means you need childcare for longer than you do on "work from home" days. I certainly have to pay for before/after school clubs for ds1 on the random days I have to go to the office, thanks to the 2 hour commute, but not on my working from home days.

Aaaaaah . Thanks LunarSea.

I see what you mean now. However, if the original arrangement was never official, I still don't think they're doing anything wrong. However, this is just my personal view - perhaps Flowerybeanbag is around to advise on whether a working practice becomes contractual after a certain amount of time.

When I work from home we've agreed that St unavoidable client needs I can pick up from school so I don't have c/ care for those 2 afternoons at the moment. DH will help on the hopefully rare occasions I have to travel. I'm hoping that everyone will be sensible and give it a few weeks to bed in.

My concern is that I'm not going to be given that chance. They have already changed how I am paid, to my detriment. I pushed back hard on that and came to an agreement in the interests of being able to work amicably on my return. I then find out that the work I am expected to do is different to what was discussed before I agreed to that change. And now this. I want to be reasonable but want to understand what the legal position is just in case