Pregnant and now work are stopping work from home flexibility

[DD0923]

Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with flexibility of working from home being taken away? We have been able to work flexible between home and office since covid, now they are switching the rules back to basically pre covid. We are no longer allowed to WFH if feel unwell for any reason, you have to take the day off sick.

I'm half way through my pregnancy so I am torn between just sucking it up and getting on with it as I don't want to raise any negative attention before I go on mat leave but equally I am now full of worry about days when I am struggling with the commute, or having toilet problems and the toilets are horrible in the office so just want to be at home to use my own toilet.

I can do 75% of my job from home but I do need to be in the office for the rest. I just feel on edge now to have the option taken away, I'm constantly exhausted still and the wfh days I have been doing have been a god send.

Anyone have any similar experience or any advice at all please?

Yep, glad someone reported.

There are additional costs and IT security costs/concerns for WFH so companies are rethinking. This is especially true if they are still paying for offices.

However you should have allowances made for your pregnancy so toilets need to be dosxusses. I assume the directive was to all staff, rather than specific to you?

What is your relationship like with your manager? If positive I would contact him and say you need a risk assessment. Access the HR information your company provides so you have knowledge beforehand.

Many many many folk managed to get themselves to and from work for many many many years pre-Covid.
If you don't feel well enough to work from the office then call in sick

I was with you until you revealed your misogyny. So tiring.

This. Unless OP has missed some info out about having a high risk pregnancy I can't see what is so unreasonable about being asked to return to the office?

So in other words if you are to say that you want to WFH because of tiredness/illness then in many ways that proves what your managers believe which is that WFH is ‘easier’ and therefore less productive

It's easier because you don't have to commute there and back, and you can have a proper rest at lunchtime - lie down if needed.

I think that’s the thing, people have come to see going into work as largely unnecessary in some way as they believe it’s the same at home. It’s not a dig at the OP: I’m sure some people are genuinely as productive as in the office but the fact is a lot are not.

I can’t WFH so I’m in, unless I call in sick - I think that’s just how it is really.

Well, before WFH became "a thing" pregnant women went into work just like everyone else. Please don't undermine women by making out that you are somehow a special case. Perhaps ask your employer what their provisions are if somebody who is pregnant feels unwell at work?

Welcome to the real world of people not having the ability to work from home. How do you think doctors, nurses, shop workers, vets, police, fire workers etc etc cope as they can’t work from home and don’t even have the option of sitting at a desk all day. People who work from home and heave been told ‘no more’ think they have it so hard. Struth …..get back in the real world!!!

Exactly @PlaitBilledDuckyPuss , it is easier, which is why people like it.

But it probably isn’t going to elicit massive sympathy if you say that you want to lie down at lunch.

I get that usually @Mindyourfingers but if you are suffering with pregnancy fatigue I don't see that it should be an issue to rest for 30 mins at lunchtime

It's up to the employer whether they want to stand on principle or be pragmatic.

Stand on principle - you either come into the office or phone in sick - employee phones in sick - 0% work completed.

Be pragmatic - you can WFH if you are feeling too unwell to travel but well enough to sit at your laptop - some % of work completed even if not 100%.

It’s not if everything else was the same. Problem is, not everything else is always the same.

I know this has happened in DHs company. They were fully remote during covid and initially it was fine but then they started to insist everyone came in for at least one day, then two, now they can only WFH one day of the week. (I can’t WFH in my job - I’m not doing that annoying ‘well my DH …’ thing.)

It is worth asking but I think the response would probably be along the lines of if you’re so exhausted you can’t get through the day without lying down then you need to be signed off.

I do sympathise though, I remember in tri 1 nearly crying and wondering how I’d get through the afternoon.

I'm not a nurse though, my job is doable from home as I clearly stated. It is actually much easier to do from home without constant distractions. We are in 2023 now not 2019, there is no need to revert back to 2019 when all has been working efficiently!!!!!

These threads always bring out the jealous people who hate that others can do their job from home, along with jobs-worth middle managers who hate that they can't spy on their employees in the office and make themselves feel useful.

OP, you should be able to submit a request for flexible working, and get a do tor's note if necessary for reasonable adjustments. They have let you wfh this far, they would be very unreasonable to stop this arrangement for the rest of your pregnancy.

If companies go back to being inflexible employees will vote with their feet and get another job. There are loads of companies offering flexible working now.

Sometimes it’s easier for someone to call in sick and then everyone knows where they stand than to have half hearted bits of work completed here and there, though.

Of course, that’s dependent on what you do, but it isn’t really going to be the case that you complete little bits here and there and your managers will respond with slavish gratitude!

Hmmm yes, and before childcare became a ‘thing’ women used to leave their small children at home with a plate of sandwiches and crossed fingers whilst they went out to work. Before medical advances became a ‘thing’ women used to regularly die in childbirth….. hope you’re not undermining those women by using safe childcare and medical resources.

Is the OP making out she’s a special case or simply questioning why traditional expectations are the baseline expectation?

Now technological advances make a lot of jobs possible from anywhere but you’re right, we’d be pissing all over anyone whose ever gone into an office in less than ideal circumstances if we took advantage of that.

honestly, the 21st century is wasted on some people.

I’m not sure @IconicKitty . Some are, but a lot have definitely started to insist at least on hybrid working.

I think the problem for the OP is that sometimes employees and managers/ clients can have very different views on what constitutes efficiency.

Agreed @IconicKitty and @PlaitBilledDuckyPuss -

So odd.

Pragmaticism and trust for your employees usually delivers better outcomes.

Also as an aside more acceptance of wider WFH has largely been favourable to women in the workplace in progression and retention.

My experience is before covid, it was agreed with my manager I could wfh 50% of my time and go on the office the other 50% when I was pregnant. My pregnancies aren’t the easiest and if they hadn’t agreed to it I would have had to take more sick days to allow myself to rest.

I don’t see why they couldn’t put something in place for you too. Get an occupation health assessment done or just talk to your manager and propose a 50/50 split.

People shouldn't be working from home when sick. This nearly always comes back to bite managers, one way or another.

In the real world there are jobs where you can't work from home and some where you can.

In OPs case 75% of her job can be done at home (and let's assume she is equally productive at home as in the office), so what is the benefit to the company for making her come in 100% of the time?

Surely companies should treat their employees like adults who are able to judge whether they work better from home or in the office? I really struggle to see the justification of making people come in if they are meeting business need equally well when working from home.

Some of these comments are unbelievable. Things have moved on - why should a pregnant woman struggle into work every day unnecessarily just because others did? If the job can’t be done from home then fair enough, but that’s not the case here. It’s as if people don’t want better conditions for everyone!

As you say, it depends what you do.

If you have a 'processing items' job, for example, and you normally process 10 a day, but due to feeling ill you only get 5 done, that's much better than none getting done at all.

You say your job can be done more efficiently at home but obviously your bosses disagree. Take it up with them if you think they're wrong. Ignoring your pregnancy, this disbelief and anger that people should be expected to go into work is really irritating.