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?

It has been working efficiently in your opinion. And when you are the employer your opinion counts. Until then the employers opinion counts and they clearly disagree. They have "clearly stated" that employees are returning to the office so you clearly stating that your job is diable from home is irrelevant. You are entiled to find a job that is working from home, or to do the job you have. You are not entitled to dictate policy to your employer.

That is not about whether working from home should be permitted. It is about reality. Your reality. Flouncing into work "clearly stating" things will get you some clear statements back. And I can guarantee that you won't like those statements. Instead of demanding an entitlement you don't have, you could try compromising, and being flexible yourself. You might get somewhere. You might not.

But women have managed with pregnancy and work for decades now. You are no doubt too young to remember the days when women often had to give up work when pregnant - not because they needed to, but because employers wouldn't employ pregnant women, and the law entitled them to decide that. There were little or no protections for pregnant women in work. Things have changed maasively, mostly on the back of women who fought back by pointing out that pregnancy made one neither stupid nor weak. It does concern me that I increasingly see that despite those victories, we now seem to be constantly dealing with "I can't do that, I'm pregnant" that plays into all those negative ideas about women in employment. And don't assume that the clock can't turn back if and when employers get fed up of it.

This!!!!

If you gave genuine concerns such as not being able to access a toilet in the workplace that is worth raising. Complaining that you now have to make the journey to your agreed workplace while pg is not. You can take time off for antenatal appointments which may make it more effective to wfh on those days, so perhaps request that.

Unfortunately the wfh revolution is over and a lot of companies are back tracking on this now. Shame as it was the best silver lining of the pandemic imo.

I was a union rep for many years so for sure I was more on the workers side. Some people will always take advantage of situations though. The job was never advertised as a WFH post so unless your PG is a safety risk then you need to return.

Employers do not really care if your commute is easier or harder as much as they may pretend they don’t. Very few people are indispensable.

it’s all very well for established people liking WFH I know my neighbour does who has a toddler but she is a settled person with a family and DH, people need to actually mix it is to the detriment of society when everyone is in their own little bubble.

Do you realise that “protecting the employer” as HR is ensuring they treat employees properly, legally and fairly so they don’t get sued? I thought not.

Taking away WFH is a shitty ableist thing to do.

It has given millions of people the opportunity to have a job at all.

Large companies have invested in the real estate to provide office space and they don't want to lose that money.

This is a tricky one as your job wasn’t a WFH one pre-covid, so I kind of think you can’t really complain it’s reverting to the pre-covid norm. Can you have a look at your work’s work-life-balance policy. Pre-covid I was able to work at home 3 days per week anyway due to the carers clause in my work’s policy - which I asked for as I didn’t want to put my DC in before and after school club everyday which was a good enough reason for my employer.

That's a very simplistic view of HR!

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. Does that make sense?

It makes sense in that it's a plausible explanation of a stupid view, but it's not a sensible take in itself. It's just plain fact that people can be unwell in a way that makes travelling, being at a desk and doing all this in set hours a problem, but that doesn't necessarily preclude them from doing at least some work and they may well be able to do all of it. This is going to be especially true for some groups like pregnant women: I'd have definitely had fewer sick days if I could've wfh, as for me it was moving about that tended to set me off.

Given that in most sectors there's a shortage of good staff at the moment, it's a bit of a self own to choose no work over some work. I wouldn't assume this policy is coming from a place of sense or logic, particularly not an employer who thinks it's acceptable for staff not to have proper toilet access.

If the employer requires staff to work at the office, and assuming your contract states the office is the place of work, and you aren’t be singled out, being pregnant or not shouldn’t come into the decision.

Employers did the right thing by allowing wfh during the pandemic, but the landscape has now changed.

Myself and many other pregnant women before me worked at the office throughout our pregnancies, it can be done OP. I agree it isn’t easy, but it’s what you have to do.

Regardless of whether you think working in an office is an outdated concept, if it had proved to be a success for your company, why would they have cause to change it?

@DD0923

My advice would be to speak to your boss and HR and just explain your concerns, ask if provisions can be made. You're going on MAT leave so it's not like they're signing up for it indefinitely, I'm a director and I would have no issues with this. It might help your case if you offer to do 1-2 days in the office a week (flexibly) to account for the 25% you say can't be done effectively WFH.

But in my own opinion, my thoughts would be along the lines of "she's going on MAT leave soon anyway, pick my battles".

From my own experience, I don't care where staff work as long as they're productive and I don't believe in making a whole team come into the office because a few members of staff are taking the piss. That is what PIP is for. If they can't improve then they come into the office whilst their colleagues WFH. I leave that decision up to my managers. I'm only interested in results, not minor details but will step-in to override in either direction if needed.

For the vast majority of people, I find I get the most from people by treating them like adults able to decide how to work most productively within the scope of the business requirements.

You think that everything has been working efficiently?

I know a few people who do the school run, clean the bathroom, order the weekly shop, do the laundry, do the garden and diy etc when they are supposed to be wfh

They think of themselves as being super productive but that applies with what they get done as opposed to what they get done in their job.

I wonder what is going to happen to all those people who during Covid moved miles away to work remotely convinced that there would be a new world order and people would never return to the offices

Problem is they cannot buy back what they had and no one wants what they bought and where they are the salaries don’t match what they need.

Ultimately, whatever happens here OP, I'd use maternity leave to look for something else. An inflexible employer is going to be a drag when you go back to work after maternity leave, and given that they apparently also think it's fine for a pregnant woman to have no bog access in their office, they clearly aren't great to work for. There's just no need to put up with that in an employee's market.

Contact pregnant then screwed. Workplaces being this controlling does not improve productivity. Mother Pukka does a lot of work around this issue too.

I think unless you have WFH in writing there's always the chance they'll go back to full time in the office. A lot of companies never put it in writing,my guess so it was never official and they can change their mind.

This is going to be especially true for some groups like pregnant women: I'd have definitely had fewer sick days if I could've wfh, as for me it was moving about that tended to set me off.

Me too, I used to do a London train then tube commute during my first pregnancy and I fainted quite a few times.
Second pregnancy was worse sickness wise and I was on sick leave for about 6 months.

We are hybrid working atm with the option to permanently wfh if we want to and I find that massively reassuring if I was to ever plan another baby.

I know - it's crazy! People getting outraged at actually having to go to work. These days everyone seems to think the world owes them a living, rather than the other way round!

That said, in your case Op, ask them to redo your pregnancy risk assessment and see how that ends up as that likely will show that you need more flexibility than a non pregnant employee. Your toilet issues don't sound normal though, so you may want to speak to your midwife about that.

We are hybrid working atm with the option to permanently wfh if we want to and I find that massively reassuring if I was to ever plan another baby.

And of course, employers like those are well placed to get the best staff.

Yeah in reality though the stats do show that sick leave has gone down with WFH, probably because people are just at home doing less than normal, rather than taking a sick day.

Your employers want everyone back in the office, irrespective of how productive everyone has been wfh. It’s their choice. I dare say there will be many who are upset by this. I would be especially as covid I’d still around.

If OP you have a talk to your gp / midwife they can sign you off sick right up to the birth. Mine did when I couldn’t climb four flights of stairs to my office when pregnant with twins. The single toilet was on the ground floor too.
It’s reasonable for midwife to do this

+1 to this.
Speak to the relevant department and ask about flexibility for the duration of your pregnancy.

FWIW I understand what you mean OP. I certainly had days in the past (not pregnancy related) where working from home would have been a godsend, instead of having to take time off sick, or whatever.

Trouble is there is always one who ruins it. Not you OP, but I wonder if someone else has been taking the piss.

I have a colleague like that and we are on the verge of having WFH heavily restricted as she does nothing from home and isn't even subtle about it. I tried to work with her for a while to get her back to productivity from home, but I'm not taking a bollocking for late, badly done work for her.

Speaking as a disabled person, no it isn't " ableist". A disability does not necessarily make one incapable of working anywhere other than at home. You are aware, are you not, that there are many different forms of disability? Whilst working from home may be better for some people with disabilities, it can be a detriment to others. So please don't lump us all in to one category and presume to speak for us all. And there is not a shred of evidence that working from home has increased employment for people with disabilities.

And please also don't get confused. Pregnancy is not a disability, so your comparison is both incorrect and rather offensive.

And employers aren't taking away anything. They never "gave" it. People's terms and conditions were not changed to permit working from home where conditions allowed - it was forced on employers by temporary conditions, and for some they have found it doesn't work.

I'm actually in favour of working from home and hybrid working in the right circumstances. But too many people have confused their opinions about their "entitlement" with reality. They don't determine the terms upon which they will work. The employer does. And if you don't like those terms you have choices. Join a union and organise and then fight for the terms you think you should have. Or jog on. But whining about what you think is your own personal entitlement and privilege is not what employment is about.

Absolutely this. You even see it from threads on here with people saying they have saved a fortune on childcare, or currently on maternity leave and not intending on putting their child in childcare when they return.

But it’s ok because they can catch up in the evening. Doesn’t work when you are supposed to be in meetings with your colleagues during the day