Change to terms- is this legal/fair???

[Sleepingbunny1]

I am a single parent and for the last 4 years- since covid ive worked three days at home and 2 in the office and all of a sudden because our company are moving locations we are being asked to work fully in the office for everyone who works within 5 miles away and changing hours as they have decided to open the office later than it was used to be??
I have a disabled daughter and also an older daughter whos lives this will affect massively if i am made to do these changes, does anyone have any advice they can offer at all please x

Did you get the agreed time you would work from home written into your contract.
If not then there's not much you can do.
You can immediately put in a flexible working request?

Where is your place of work as per your contract?

Its not in my contract per-se, but i do have a letter signed by HR which details what days i work from home/office and my working hours

In which case they need to consult with you as the HR letter is essentially an extension of your contract.

They can still change your t&cs but they do need to consult first.

Its worth a call to ACAS for advice on the best way to proceed.

https://www.gov.uk/employer-relocation-your-rights

Unless it's specified otherwise in your contract they can request you come into the office full time. Again what hours are specified in your contract. At my work that bit would be a change of contract as they're specified (and I got mine changed as part of a flexible working request). There may also be something around the location change but given you live within 5 miles of it it doesn't sound like it would be worse than the old office.
If it is a contract change you can refuse but they may also be able to make you redundant. This happened when my company moved offices, people were offered a new contract with the location the new office (with difference in commuting costs paid for a year if you could prove you were materially worse off), or they would be made redundant as the old office no longer existed.

Speak to HR. It's in writing those are your hours/where you can perform the role.
To make that big a change is pretty unreasonable of them even if legally it's ok.
What business reason is there for you to physically be there 5 days? If your role has not changed then they know it can be done at least semi from home. Your family commitments should be taken into account too so definitely mention those.

HR would need to issue you new letter asking you to come to office daily.
If they do you can apply for flexi working and mention that your role did not change and you have caring responsibility.
Also, do they ask for a proof of address for this 5mile radius? 😏

there are no business reasons, we are moving to a nice new office, but those that work 5+ miles away can still work hybrid......... ive worked hybrid longer than that of f/t office work, and having a disabled daughter than relies on me mentally and physically surely they can take this into consideration as they all know too.

You could write to your manager citing your previous formal flexible arrangement and state you assume that is still valid. They can however change terms , with notice, if the business requirements change.

Was there a consultation done with all employees while they planned the move to new offices? Did they assess what the impact would be on people who have existing, agreed flexible working arrangements in place?

If not, that is poor management and poor communication.

You have an existing written document that confirms your WFH request was accepted so I would speak to ACAS or Citizen Advice urgently.

The company also needs to take into account whether a blanket policy for return to the office would be unfairly treating people with protected characteristics (disability for example) or would be discriminatory because they would disproportionately negatively affect female staff (who are more likely to have caring responsibilities).

I really wish employers would just stop behaving like dinosaurs...

Sorry no advice, but it feels deeply unfair to penalise anyone living within a 5 mile radius. That doesn't feel remotely fair.

If you have any family living further afield, I'd say I'd moved in with them