Employee's rights - Covid

[mellongoose]

We are re-opening our office to the public next week and I have a query about one of the team.

For other reasons Pre-Covid, this team member worked from home. By her own admission, those reasons no longer exist. However she is refusing to come into the office to work and wishes to keep working from'the safety of her own home', citing concerns over social distancing etc.

The office has plenty of fresh air ventilation and all staff can sit well over 2m apart. Plenty of communal space etc.

I am assuming we cannot make her come in. Is this correct? She is not, nor ever has been, shielding. She is, however, in a bubble with an elderly lady. The rest of the small team could really do with her in if possible.

Please can anyone advise how best to handle sensitively? Thanks

If she was working from home due to a flexible working application then that's likely to be a permanent change of contract so it's not reasonable to amend that without following the correct process. If it was agreed for a temporary period and that period has now expired then she should return to the office. So really what her employer can do now depends on what was done previously.

Are you her manager?

It depends whether her originally working from home was agreed as a temporary measure or whether she went through a formal flexible working process.

If it was a temporary arrangement and she is now needed in the office then she needs to come in. Of course you can’t make her come in, but you would be within your rights to start disciplinary processes.

As to how to handle it tactfully, you could start by explaining all the new safety and hygiene measures which I presume have been introduced.

Just to add, if the change of contract to home working was open-ended then changing that is not terribly complicated if the employer wishes to do so. It will take a few weeks if she refuses a change, and involves giving her the opportunity to agree to a contractual change of location. If she then won't agree you have to swerve her notice and offer her a new contract with the change in it. She either signs or her job terminates. That does leave the employer potentially open to a claim of unfair dismissal, but if there is no good reason for her to refuse - so the office is Covid secure and she has no reason to shield or be at higher risk - then that is unlikely to succeed.

Thanks all. I am her manager/employer, but have recently inherited her and another team member from previous employer. Slightly complicated situation!!

I'd give her a choice.

Office or P45.

Many people out there who are crying out for jobs. Given her attitude, I'd be looking to fire her ass pretty damn swiftly.

@mellongoose

Thanks all. I am her manager/employer, but have recently inherited her and another team member from previous employer. Slightly complicated situation!!

It doesn’t sound complicated, unless you mean there are things you have missed out. You need to find out if she has a permanent flexible WFH arrangement. If she doesn’t, you tell her she needs to come in to the office if she wishes to remain employed.

You need to find put on what basis she was working from home i.e. formal, informal but for a long time etc. That will dictate your next move.

I'd give her a choice.

Office or P45.

Why do people with no knowledge of relevant processes and no empathy always turn up on these threads spouting their Victorian workhouse lines?

I hear this a lot. For example, if someone has been working part time, originally because of small children. Children are now older and the original reason for the hours no longer exists. Employer assumes that the change in the employee’s personal circumstances mean they get to unilaterally change the employee’s contractual hours. But those hours are permanent and the employee doesn’t need to justify wanting to keep them!

In this case, if the working from home was specifically agreed to be temporary and would come to an end when the ‘circumstances’ no longer exist, you can insist she returns to the office. If not, then you are hoping to change her terms and conditions of employment, which isn’t nearly as straightforward.

@FartingInTheFence Totally agree with you,

If she worked from home pre-covid and this wasn’t a lockdown specific, and everyone was fine with this and she was getting her work done, what reason could there be for requiring her to come in now? If she had specific arrangements over lockdown that would different, but this is a pre-existing arrangement.

@BuffaloCauliflower

If she worked from home pre-covid and this wasn’t a lockdown specific, and everyone was fine with this and she was getting her work done, what reason could there be for requiring her to come in now? If she had specific arrangements over lockdown that would different, but this is a pre-existing arrangement.

Unfortunately, it doesn't matter. " Business need" trumps most things, and it would be a stupid employer who can't think up a " Business need". If the employer wants it, with a bit of thought and a clear process, they can get it. We may not have entirely reverted to the Victorian attitudes that some posters here think are appropriate, but we also aren't that far removed from them either. In the end a job doesn't belong to the employee. It isn't "their job". It is always the employers job, and it's on "loan" to them as long as it suits the employer.

@Moondust001 I work in HR. Point is if it was fine before covid there needs to be a pretty good reason why it’s not fine now. OP hasn’t said if it was an agreed contract or what the issue was though.

@ClaudiaWankleman

I'd give her a choice.

Office or P45.

Why do people with no knowledge of relevant processes and no empathy always turn up on these threads spouting their Victorian workhouse lines?

ODFO.

Least my post was relevant to the thread at hand and all you can do is have a pot-shot at me instead.

🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️