New job, thought I'd be working remotely but I now have to go into the office

Wolfiefan · 06/09/2021 21:18

Does the contract say you can be asked to work in any of the offices? Rather than you can choose?

converseandjeans · 06/09/2021 21:18

That's too far to go for your job. You need to speak to them and explain that you can't do this. Would they accept maybe 2 days a week with you staying overnight one night - so wfh Mon/Thurs/Fri and go to office Tues/Wed with an overnight?

Bluntness100 · 06/09/2021 21:23

They can’t be expecting you to do an eight hour commute each day surely? How many miles is it?

ChessieFL · 07/09/2021 17:54

Do you have in writing that HR said you could work in your nearest office?

Aprilx · 07/09/2021 17:58

It isn’t clear what your contract actually says. You say it says you “can” work in one of the offices, but what does it say in full, e.g. anything about the employers right to stipulate which office?

BrilliantBetty · 07/09/2021 18:13

My workplace took on several new staff over the last 18 months. Told all of them it was remote working. Would never go back to full time in the office again, those days were over. The maximum anyone would have to come in was a couple of days a week, in the future.
Sure enough they were then told in July that they must return to the office almost every day. Some of these people live a two hour journey away and would never have committed to a job requiring such a long journey so frequently.

At least one of them has handed in notice and I'm sure the others will soon follow!

Such a waste of time training them for months.

Original poster

stopstopstops · 07/09/2021 20:53

My contract says:

"[My] place of work is Far Away Office.

Company also has an office at Nearby Office

You may be required to work at both locations"

I'm just confused... I had a meeting today that said we were all heading back into the office full-time and in the next slide they were saying they are flexible with working at either office location or remotely but in an informal way unless you are needed in a particular location for face-to-face meetings.

OP posts:

Original poster

stopstopstops · 07/09/2021 20:54

@ChessieFL

Do you have in writing that HR said you could work in your nearest office?

Unfortunately no, it was said in a phone call

OP posts:

ThePlumVan · 09/09/2021 20:39

They’ll say anything to recruit the best candidates and then hope you’ve got no other option than to stay put and accept any crumb they throw you.

Talk with your feet and work for someone better.

ChicChaos · 09/09/2021 20:55

@stopstopstops

My contract says:

"[My] place of work is Far Away Office.

Company also has an office at Nearby Office

You may be required to work at both locations"

I'm just confused... I had a meeting today that said we were all heading back into the office full-time and in the next slide they were saying they are flexible with working at either office location or remotely but in an informal way unless you are needed in a particular location for face-to-face meetings.

That wording doesn't imply that you get to choose which one you work in unfortunately OP, the company may choose either or both locations for you.

It may be possible for you to work at the nearer office but it does sound as if you'll have to go to the distant one to see the rest of the team. Might be best to think about changing jobs sooner rather than later.

Hardbackwriter · 09/09/2021 21:04

At the moment I'm just feeling really frustrated and upset and want to just get another job and hand my notice in. I know I'm being illogical and immature but I just feel lied to.

I don't think you're being illogical or immature at all - it sounds like you were lied to, and that they knew exactly what they doing by telling you what you wanted to hear verbally but not in writing. And surely you do need to look for a new job, really - obviously that commute isn't viable but even if you 'win' and get to work remotely if you're the only one in the team doing it and you were allowed to do so only reluctantly that's unlikely to be a nice dynamic or one that allows you to progress. I wouldn't quit with nothing to go to but I'd be working on my CV this very moment if I were you.

Hardbackwriter · 09/09/2021 21:08

I'm just confused... I had a meeting today that said we were all heading back into the office full-time and in the next slide they were saying they are flexible with working at either office location or remotely but in an informal way unless you are needed in a particular location for face-to-face meetings.

And I would guess this means something like what we had in my workplace before covid, which is that you could work from home every now again because you were getting your boiler fixed/because you wanted to get your head down on something specific/insert other specific reason, as long as your boss said it was ok. Which is nice and useful but not going to solve your problem - 'informal flexibility' isn't what you need, you need to know you'd be doing the four hour journey very occasionally, not that you can occasionally not go in.

Katela18 · 09/09/2021 21:27

Unfortunately unless you have it in writing there is nothing you can do. I learnt this the hard way at previous roles, never trust someone's word at recruitment phase. If they aren't willing to commit it to writing they aren't willing to commit to it at all

Aprilx · 10/09/2021 10:03

@stopstopstops

My contract says:

"[My] place of work is Far Away Office.

Company also has an office at Nearby Office

You may be required to work at both locations"

I'm just confused... I had a meeting today that said we were all heading back into the office full-time and in the next slide they were saying they are flexible with working at either office location or remotely but in an informal way unless you are needed in a particular location for face-to-face meetings.

If that is the only wording relating to place of work, then you have no say in which office you work in. Somebody has clearly misled you verbally, but that wording is hard to argue with.

Regarding what you were told in the meeting today, it doesn’t seem confusing to me. They want to retain the right to be able to stipulate place of work, be it permanently or for certain events (e.g. we need you to come into your main office every Thursday for team meeting), but they are also keeping the door open for individuals to come to different arrangements with their managers. I think you need to discuss and consider with your manager what that might look like before making any further decisions about whether you can continue to work there.

HunterHearstHelmsley · 10/09/2021 12:20

It sounds to me that HR have been a bit tricky when they've answered you, as they haven't technically lied... you can work at any office, it's just not a day to day option. Definitely mislead you though.

I can't see you have many options if you can't do the commute, sadly.

dreamingbohemian · 10/09/2021 12:25

I would just go back to them and say, I'm sorry but it's not reasonable for me to work in Faraway Office, and I was told I would not be expected to. So if we cannot work out an alternative arrangement, I'll have to give my notice.

Then see what they say.

I don't blame you for being annoyed.

Original poster

stopstopstops · 10/09/2021 21:10

I spoke to my manager about it. He said I can work from the other office but I might want to come in when there are big team meetings (which is every fortnight). He seemed really casual and relaxed about it.

I think I will aim to go in once a week as I think I would start to feel a little isolated if I was missing out on seeing people in person. I wish I had been told that my department's offices were based at that particular office beforehand, as I would have accepted another job offer.

OP posts:

Hardbackwriter · 11/09/2021 08:54

@stopstopstops

I spoke to my manager about it. He said I can work from the other office but I might want to come in when there are big team meetings (which is every fortnight). He seemed really casual and relaxed about it.

I think I will aim to go in once a week as I think I would start to feel a little isolated if I was missing out on seeing people in person. I wish I had been told that my department's offices were based at that particular office beforehand, as I would have accepted another job offer.

That's good news, but I would still start looking for a new job if I were you, just in a bit less of a hurry. As things stand you've got a goodwill arrangement with your manager - he could leave, or just change his mind. If you had other job offers when you accepted this one you obviously could find another job without a huge struggle and assuming you don't have a history of job hopping I'd do that as this would have completely soured this job for me.

Hardbackwriter · 11/09/2021 08:56

Alternatively, you could talk to your manager about approaching HR to request a contract change to reflect the agreement with him (I would bet money that he won't be so 'casual and relaxed' about it, then, which might give you a gauge of how solid that arrangement actually is)

WeAllHaveWings · 11/09/2021 09:02

Agree with pp ask for a contact change.

If they do change your working office to the nearby office you might also be able to claim travel/hotel expenses, especially if it is possible you might need to be there a couple of days a week.