Receptionists demanding to work from home

[Chickenleggs]

We have three receptionists where I work who were all immediately sent to work from home at the start of the pandemic. They couldn't wait to return when it was announced that the office would re-open mid last year. They came back to the office under flexible working conditions as the occupancy levels were pretty low and there weren't many face to face meetings, however, we have seen an increase in people coming back to the office but the receptionists are demanding to still work from home. They come into the office on a rota basis but they're not willing to cover each other in certain situations which means we are sometimes left without anyone manning reception. We have two other offices and their receptionists are back in full time but it's a struggle to get ours to return and there is not enough work for them to do at home. How do we approach getting them to return without it causing uproar?

Ahhh, I answered you other thread where you hadn’t posted the full scenario
😂

Was their contract changed to say they can hybrid work? If not then they are most likely contracted to work at x place then you tell them that they need to be on site or they are not fulfilling their contract and can be dismissed.

Its harsh as I bet a lot of the rest of the company can hybrid work, but certain roles miss out. Maybe give them a day or two extra leave to sweeten the deal.

I’m still shocked that people got to work from home during this pandemic. I was a teacher and private tutor up to covid, and during and since have worked in admin in the care industry ever since.

I think I worked remotely (just in another building alongside main building for a month) then was back to normal in the office following this, with others.

They're being absolute CFs at this point. If there’s not enough work for them they should be back in the office or looking for another job.

Signed someone not bitter for not getting furlough/right to work from home/not a penny from government during bloody covid! Not bitter at all…

What does their contract state?

we are wfh 3 days and home 2 days and we did have one or two people push back on this and disciplinary procedures were started

one person complied and one has gone off sick long term

Haven't they got contracts that state that they need to work from where they were employed to work from when they started their roles? It's absolutely within an employer's rights to insist that employees stick to the terms of their contract.

If there's any uproar, it won't be you creating it, will it. You'll just be calmly telling them they need to come back to the office now. If they create uproar because they're being asked to stick to their contracts, do you actually want them as employees?

Unless it’s in their contract that they have the right to WFH, then you tell them to get their arses back into the office or they lose their jobs.

If they can’t/won’t do the job they’ve been employed to do, then don’t keep employing them. There are plenty of people looking for jobs that aren’t lazy fuckers.

My mums work realised they only needed 2 receptionists instead of three, they were all clamouring to be in the office when the threat of redundancy happened

I would try a softer approach to start with, 2 in every day on rotation. But warning them if that doesn’t happen then all 3 will be held to the terms of their contract, will have to be in 5 days a week or disciplinary procedures will be started.

We had this.

Arrange a meeting. Let them air their grievances. Clearly state you have returned to business as usual. Set a date when they will no longer WFH. Anyone not turning up from that date will be managed according to the absence policy.

(obviously doesn’t apply if contract has been changed)

There contracts have not been changed or altered since they joined the firm. It still states that they are expected to be in the office 5 days a week with no exceptions but obviously they have benefited from flexible working as this was introduced in response to the pandemic and keeling everyone safe. They are generally just being difficult and keep asking why hybrid working doesn't apply to them. I hate how the pandemic has shifted everything and dealing with people is so challenging now.

How does a receptionist work from home? Don't the majority of the tasks need to be done in person, especially when there are other employees and visitors in the building?

Sorry, no useful advice but it sounds tiresome.

Not seeing the problem here. Management should just tell them to return to working from base.

They sound insane. The whole point of a receptionist is to work in the office building!

Management need to be clear that home working has now ended, receptionists in other branches have returned and the same is expected of them if they wish to continue their employment

I'm still working from home. I go I one day a week. My company got rid of all the receptionists completely!

If my job meant I needed to go in then I would. I would only argue if there was no real need for me to go into the office. And a receptionists role, imo, is pretty much office based?

They absolutely do need to be in the building but they are saying they can carry out their duties from home and that it doesn't require all three of them to be in together?! They can certainly do limited duties from home (booking visitors on our system and sorting car parking) but a receptionist is supposed to be the face of the business and you can't do this from home.

Your management need to do their jobs better and tell them to come in.

the clue is in the name - receptionist - someone who receives and deals with people coming to the office!

they probably should be made redundant

I’m still shocked that people got to work from home during this pandemic

Why would this shock you?

But with these receptionists, I don't really understand the issue - wfh is no longer an option, they can just be told that? I'm sure some people where I work wanted to continue wfh full time, but we were told that was no longer allowed, so everyone came back in.

They are generally just being difficult and keep asking why hybrid working doesn't apply to them

Because people have different roles? That require different things? They must be able to understand why they can't all be at home.

However, having said that, if wfh did work for their role over lockdown, is it possible to arrange it so they all wfh one day a week for example - different days so there are always two people in in person? Or does it not work at all?

time for a meeting with HR present for them to discuss their concerns and for the business to make it clear that they are entitled to individually make a request for flexible working outlining their reasons for requesting this but as a business you have every right to refuse should this not meet the needs of the business.

a receptionist is supposed to be in the building front of house to answer phones, queries, keep the reception area tidy, meet and greet both staff and visitors- most of which cannot be done from home.

Cross posted. They need to just be told that roles are different and that theirs is not remote. What other people in the company have isn't relevant.

They need to be told under no uncertain terms that their official place of work is the office and it's a privilege to work from home and to get their arses in when they are needed or go and find another job.

The pandemic is over. There is no need for this pussy footing around.

I used to be a receptionist, pretty much the only person who can't wfh. Totally ridiculous request.

That's irrelevant. If management want them back they just tell them. There's no need to give a reason.

I think the problem lies with ‘they want to know why hybrid working doesn’t apply to them’ essentially they are seeing everyone else in the office enjoying a benefit that doesn’t apply to them, which is a difficult one to swallow. It makes total sense that they can’t work from home, but I can see why they want to do the same as other employees.