Being 'forced' back into the office

[PinkPeonies22]

Wondering whether anyone works for companies that after letting them work remotely for several years during the pandemic, have now told them they need to return to the office. How have organisations been policing/enforcing it, and has anyone been made to leave for refusing to go back? If so, how? (eg. was it via disciplinary?), and did you have compelling reasons why you wanted to continue to work remotely? Thanks in advance.

Does that mean you paid back the salary you 'saved' while wfh?

Yes. Some of the threads on mumsnet have made me a lot more sceptical about it.

Obviously it's not everyone (I WFH myself and am very efficient), but I've seen a LOT of people on here saying that they are perfectly capable of caring for a small child/ children and 'working' a the same time.

I also have an employee who I suspect is doing this and its extremely hard to do anything about it whilst she works remotely.

I can see why some managers just want people back in the office because there are quite a lot taking advantage and actually not being as efficient from home.

So people want to WFH when they choose too, have time off for pregnancy related illness, study commitments, menopause, period paid, mental health days, carers leave, child events not sure if I missed anything but when do people want to work?

I don’t want to work, lots of people don’t, I just have to. And I don’t see the problem with any of the types of leave you specified. Not sure what it’s got to do with WFH, though.

Unless you have a reason (such as being severely immune suppressed, so genuinely need to continue safeguards against Covid, which would count as a reasonable adjustment as the condition causing the immune compromise is highly likely to be covered by the DDA) then you'll need to comply.

I'm on mat leave, but was talking to a colleague the other day. My workplace enthusiastically embraced WFH, and also flexible hours. They're now starting to realise some people are taking the mick and it looks like they're going to roll back one or the other to some extent. We do have a policy about working while looking after children (not allowed!) but I don't know how you'd prove or enforce it really. If you hear a child in the background, the employee can always say someone else is looking after them.

I hope the roll back doesn't affect people like my colleague, a single mum who for years has worked 9 to 3, and then a couple of hours in the evening once her child is in bed. Technically this is against policy (as she's responsible for her child and working in the evening), but no one has minded because she does a good job and is doing all her hours.

Less clearcut where I work. Lots of people have joined in the past few years on home working contracts. Plus loads of technicalities around who is allowed to claim travel costs. Getting everyone back in the office would cost them millions a year.

If I am taking advantage of my employer working from home I suggest they stop performance marking me as one of the top 5%

Pre Covid I already did hybrid working but then company decided everyone had to attend office full time and I was put on 3 months notice to go in everyday otherwise I would have been let go. I’m back on hybrid working now - same company - but know they can request full time attendance and there’s not a lot you can do about it.

Recently a poster claimed their colleague wfh ft while looking after their 1 year old! (It wasn't nannying or childminding)

We got all our staff back to the office
The ones who didn’t want to resigned
Lots of people thought they were more productive at home
Mainly they were not
And far too many people were taking advantage

I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer tbh.

It’s a fact that a lot of people see “work life balance” as being able to do their housework, look after kids, cook the dinner, all while they’re being paid to answer a few emails. And if your presence isn’t noteable i.e. you’re mostly offline doing stuff behind the scenes then it’s that much easier to take advantage.

WFH is beneficial to a lot of people e.g. those with a disability who might have found it harder to go into an office, it does also mean that people are saving time and money on the commute. I work from home and I can be up and in my office on time, esp as I have to work weekends as wel, and with erratic trains etc it would be harder to go into the office.

However I have done all my training remotely, the only contact I’ve ever had with my colleagues has been on teams, I’ve never met my line manager or any of my fellow team members in person, and I can’t help but wonder what this kind of arrangement is going to do for people’s social abilities when a huge part of our interaction with people happens at work. I wonder if in ten years time we will have created a generation of introverts, and what the impact that will have.

That's a very vague post @PinkPeonies22. Lots of questions but no information about your situation. Is the deadline looming or, if you're not a reporter, can you give us some idea why you CAN'T go back to the office (or don't want to).

The question isn't really do some people take the piss when wfh rather do more people take the piss than when in the office

Where the wasters will manage to spend most of their time online shopping or just gossiping

Interestingly though, we had 4 new starters just before Covid who we managed to train really well. I made a couple of new friends via Skype too.

Unfortunately my work had commissioned a new office (in the middle of bloody nowhere) before Covid which is a further 15 minutes away than the old office was. It has to be seen to be used so we are told to come in 2 days at the moment.

The problem is that we also now have our own 'pipelines' rather than working as a team. That means that if I stop to help someone else who is getting things wrong, I don't clear enough of my own cases. If someone Skypes me at home, I help and we are done. In the office they then stand around chatting. Argh.

I literally clear at least 50% more cases per day at home. As well as being regularly disturbed I find that the background hum of people yakking to each other makes it harder to hear phone calls. I have suggested quiet floors but no. It is so infuriating.

I think some people think that whilst WFH is fine for them, they forget they are part of a business. Colleagues might not be coping and it’s hard to implement different rules for different staff. There’s also not point sending people back to the office if no one is there.

I had to make several calls to my bank after I discovered they had my DOB wrong. The staff were very professional but the quality of the sound on the calls was awful. It’s not the only company I’ve had that issue with.

Thanks all so much for your replies. My company publicy announced last year that no one would be called back to office, and many people made life decisions based on that. It is not that i dont want to go back as much as i simply cannot. I dont live commutable distance (5 hrs one way), now have a baby, and on top of that, it is nonsensical for me to go to the office when the colleagues i work with are overseas and in different time zones. Joining video calls at all hours is much more managable from home.
Many at the company are on a similar situation though, having also moved away based on what the company announced. And we have been told its a blanket no to exceptions and we must return.

The discussion about people not actually working while wfh feels a bit of a tangent. In this case the data has shown highest productivity while wfh at company level, and for myself i achieved my best results (easy to measure in my role) while wfh

Of course you can train and manage staff while working from home. Thousands of people all over the world have been working from home full time, especially those working for global companies, for a long time before covid. How do you think they coped?

I very much want to work. I love my job and team and want to carry on doing great work, remotely.

If your contract says remote they have to pay all of your travel expenses.

My company is mandating that employees attend at one of their offices 4-6 days a month. During the pandemic, they reduced office space altogether, so they could not accommodate everyone at once anyway. Some people are exempt for various reasons. I am for health reasons and am now classified as a remote worker. I am fully able to to my job from home as much of my work involves colleagues in other countries.

I meant to add that employees who don't book and use office space at least 4 times monthly (prorated for sick, holiday, part time etc) show up on the "naughty" list and are spoken to.

My team are based across the UK, Romania and Ireland. None of the UK team (8) are based in the same offices. I was offered wfh prior to COVID but turned it down. My office is 20-30 minutes drive away.

I have volunteered to work with a colleague one day a month at an office 1.5 hours away to support her (we use an office halfway between us). I have also submitted a proposal to work in the office of a group company one day a month to improve cross business support, which again will give me a 1.5 hour commute.

My team are being encouraged to work from offices, but not forced, but as we would still be remote from each other, this makes sense. Other teams have target days in office/working together in remote locations

4-6 days a month is nothing really. Its shocking how little some people have to go in.