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?

So if you have all been working efficiently why change? Maybe you all haven’t been working as efficiently as you think you have so your employer has decided they want you all back in the office.. just because you think it’s ok, doesn’t mean it’s true!

You have taken my post completely the wrong way. My ultimate concern is suddenly having the option-flexibility withdrawn when it has been such a godsend to be able to wfh 1-2 days a week. The balance has been great for my productivity also, tasks I need 110% concentration on, I save for WFH days. I arrange my task list by if I'm at home or office as the office is distracting.

I completely get all these comments about how it was before covid etc but we are not there any more we have worked through and evolved the way we work (office work).

It's swings and roundabouts I can do part of my job from home and would likely get more done. But if I'm at home the newer members of staff don't benefit from my experience and ability to teach. We also need to stop expecting people to work when sick, it's better to take 2/3 days to pull yourself together than spend two weeks putting in half the effort.

If efficiency is an issue then managers should be tackling that at an individual level - by making everyone come in because a few are slacking will simply breed resentment. If companies want to place blanket requirements, then yes they can but they shouldn't be surprised when the good employees leave!

Well I know which employers will lose out.

I am so fed up with idiots not understanding that working from home literally means that - actually working, just from home.

Or should you be physically in an office to prove that you aren't sitting around watching This Morning?

You would soon be managed out for any underperformance at my employer and actually I spend most of my day on video calls with people and they can be at any time. No room for slacking at all.

She’s saying she can do it from home, I wonder what her employer says about it, maybe they are finding it not productive to the company, I know things changed because of covid, but the world has passed that now and times are changing again, just because it worked then doesn’t mean it’s working post covid

Yes maybe the OP isn't efficient at home - but we have no way of knowing that, so I am offering an opinion on the situation the OP has described.

If she is being efficient and hasn't had any performance issues then what is the benefit to the company of making her come in?

Also a point about being off sick.

Lots of people don't get paid for being unwell beyond a statutory amount which frankly in this current crisis would lead to massive hardship.

I was really poorly with Covid - took 9 days off for the first time ever in my career.

It left me with only 1 day available to be Ill and paid for the whole other 11 months of the financial year.

So guess what, I worked at home whilst ill. Luckily not having to commute meant I could do that. I did my work so from an employer POV they were happy. I also managed not to miss out on pay.

Some people here will just get more and more entrenched so I know my voice is going to fall on deaf ears - good luck OP

but we are not there any more we have worked through and evolved the way we work

I'm not sure everyone's view is that WFH has been highly successful. Most of us still experience delay in service due to companies not fully operational. There are genuine costs and concerns over wfh. IT security & data security are genuine issues. If you sit over the business you might be able to see the overall view.

Your company may relax wfh once the general principle of being in the office is reestablished. I also think you have a case due to pregnancy and toilet issues. Do you have someone responsible for H&S? These people are often better than HR, who job it is to protect the employer not employees.

I'd ask them to redo your risk assessment. At the same time have a chat with the gp or midwife to see if you can get a fitnote for wfh part of the time.

I had terrible pgp in 2 of my pregnancies. During the second I was walking 30 mins to work and the physio said that had to stop so work paid for a taxi. During the 3rd I had moved and had a 45 min drive each way. Again the physio said they had to stop and I negotiated 1 day in the office, 2 at home. That was in 2015.

I don't see why you should be forced in to work if there is a genuine benefit from wfh.

Why on earth companies wouldn't prefer staff who are infectious with a cold or something to wfh is beyond me. If they don't want to go off sick because they're well enough to work, they go in to the office and spread it around. Madness.

I'd be concerned at flexibility being taken away when I'm about to have a child. Flexibility is a godsend with kids. I'm a 5 minute walk from school, or a 20 minute drive. Parking is that difficult I'm as well parking at home meaning realistically I'm leaving work at least 30 mins before pickup, vs logging off 5 mins before pick up. Wfh makes my life immeasurably easier and allows me to give more to work too. Win win.

If your original contract did not include you working from home than they have not taken anything away from you. You might not like the change but it’s your employer that pays your wage so they have the right to revert to what your contract says.
that said they may make exceptions for pregnancy so rather than stay upset just ask them

Not all jobs are the same but I hate phoning a business and getting someone at home with kids crying and the radio on. Frequently told they can't do this or that as they need access to something in the office. I did one call where the woman was blatantly giving me wrong advice, I was quoting stuff off their website and she hadn't got a clue, I asked to speak to a supervisor but couldn't as she wasn't in the office so couldn't transfer me although the supervisor was in the office, she would have to send a message and I'd get a call back within 24 hrs. Six months later I'm still waiting.

They are entitled to ask you to come back into the office and stop working from home.

If you want a WFH job, apply for one of those. This is not it.

"Why on earth companies wouldn't prefer staff who are infectious with a cold or something to wfh is beyond me."

Well it is commonly claimed not that if people/ your staff are not regularly infected by various infections you'll end up with waves of more serious illness.....

I think saying tackling underperformance with individuals is easier said than done.

People do like WFH and I understand why, but I do think there’s been a shift back from it in the last 6-12 months because of inefficiency. That might be harsh to those who don’t take the piss, but on every thread like this those who WFH say how efficient they are and those who are trying to get through to companies complain about how impossible it’s become. There’s definitely an element of seeing what we want to see.

That is a very good point, experienced staff being around newer staff is really important int he long term. OK during an emergency like covid but might not be appropriate in normal times.

Don't fight the general policy decision, which you won't win. They will have already assessed and balanced the negatives of losing out on productivity when good employees work diligently at home and will now have to take additional days off, vs the prevalence of other workers using WFH arrangements to frankly take the piss. in some companies the balance is fine, and in others it makes good business sense to just stop it all.

Instead, approach it as a reasonable adjustment connected to your maternity status which they are legally obliged to accommodate as part of equalities rules. Be clear that it's just temporary over the next few months until you go on Maternity Leave, and that you are perfectly well enough to achieve all your full time workload with just the small concession of having (eg) Tuesdays and Thursdays WFH, enabling you to avoid the tiring and lengthy commute.

They may well have had other people abusing WFH concessions to try to combine childcare with work so making it very clear that it's only a temporary request might be better received.

They will have to re do your pregnancy risk assessment.

If there are days you can’t go in, you will have to take sick leave. Be careful with this as you near the end point though, as they could make you start maternity leave early.

Use time off on maternity leave to find a job where you can wfh if that’s what you prefer.

It is not unreasonable for you employer to want staff back in office working. It is unreasonable for an employer not to have toilets available for staff to use. I would complain if there is no toilet that is accessible. Surely if that was the case all employees would be complaining. I do get it would be less stressful and easier to WFH as no commute but Covid is no longer a threat and as a country we need to get back to full pre Covid production.

If your employer wants people back in an office, there must be some staff taking the piss and negatively affecting productivity.

If you get a sick note maybe they will agree to work from home as part of your pregnancy risk assessment ?

I completely get all these comments about how it was before covid etc but we are not there any more we have worked through and evolved the way we work (office work).

It evolved successfully for you but maybe not so much for the company. And that's why they're moving back to a pre-covid working set up. Maybe you're not all as efficient WFH as you think.

I've noticed that. If the pandemic hadn't have happened then people would still be going in to the office as usual. If people took a job on outside of home then they can't expect to WFH.

Some people see it as a skive. I'm sure if productivity had stayed the way it had done in the office then companies probably wouldn't be pulling back now.

Pre-covid I was office based 5 days a week, and since March 2020 I've been 100% home based. Currently almost 27 weeks pregnant and I've been so grateful for home working. I have no idea how pregnant women used to hide their pregnancies during the first trimester when you're vomming and half asleep! I've been able to have naps at lunch time etc and generally be a lot more comfortable. If it was taken away from me now I'd be devastated!

If they won't negotiate any home working for you then you're better off sucking it up. How far along are you? I think as long as you're there in the week that is 15 weeks before you're due then you're entitled to statutory mat pay so if you can afford to, you could leave work at 25 weeks and still get your pay (definitely double check that tho!)