Asked to work from a different office with less than 24 hours’ notice

[wondershallneverend]

I’m looking for some perspective please.

My normal workplace is Office A, which is where my role and team are based. I have a meeting scheduled with my manager that was arranged a few days ago. However, today just before midday, he emailed to say that he will be working from a different office tomorrow and asked me to meet him there and work from that office for the whole day.

This other office is not one my team works from and it isn’t my usual base. It’s around 3.5 miles away from my normal office. The notice given to change work location is under 24 hours.

I’m not happy to attend the meeting there, I’m uncomfortable with being asked to work the entire day from a different location at such short notice, especially as this wasn’t mentioned when the meeting was first arranged and there’s been no prior discussion or agreement about changing work base.

Is it reasonable to push back and say I can meet him there but then return to my normal working location? Or am I being unreasonable given the distance isn’t huge?

I’d appreciate views on what’s considered reasonable in a work setting.

You sound like a nightmare employee….

its 3.5 miles, 15 mins drive…

yes your being unreasonable

You might not like the job, but the request is entirely reasonable.

I wouldn't like this either. Nothing to do with the distance, but office environments can be difficult when you don't know the people there - where to sit, who to have lunch with etc. Personally if I could get away with it I'd meet him there then head off.

YABU. 3.5 miles is nothing. It might be worth checking your contract, mine says I'm expected to travel to other offices as and when required. My last job also had that written into the contract.

You’re really going to make a fuss about 3.5 miles?!

Not liking the job and the culture is one thing, and you're right to look for something else.

If you take this in isolation then it's not a big ask - 3.5 miles is negligible. I understand it's part of a bigger picture, but this alone is not unreasonable.

YABU

Just go and crack on with it

Is not like o don’t like my no. But the management of it is HORRIBLE. There is back story to this and. Ordinarily this is not an issue but then there is back story hence it’s an issiue. Also I do not appreciate the less than 24 hours notice.

I’d put money on the fact you are going to be terminated tomorrow @wondershallneverend. This is classic management behaviour to hold the meeting away from the rest of the team so you can be exited without drama in front of them. The very short notice is also textbook and you’ve clearly been in conflict with your bosses for a while.

I agree with @Katrinawaves .

Do you know what the meeting is about?

Do you have at least two years service?

Have you been told you can bring a Trade Union rep or colleague?

What’s the actual difficulty though? You have not explained this, just that you don’t want to. Apart from a ‘it’s the point of the matter’ argument, what is the actual difficulty associated with this?

@Katrinawaves I am not worried about that. There are formal procedures that have to be followed for any dismissal, and none of that has happened. This looks more like poor communication than anything else.

I think you’re overthinking this. It’s not that far away from your usual place of work, you’ve got to go for a meeting anyway so if you then returned to your usual office you’re factoring in additional travel time.
I’d say to them ‘yes I’m happy to attend the meeting but will return to my usual office during my lunch break’.

Gosh this happens to me all the time and has done for years in various multi site businesses. It’s 3.5 miles and one day!

One day somewhere else is not a real issue to get upset about. Poor communication and someone making a decision when it could have been made a lot earlier, if a regular pattern, is valid.

You could ask for more notice in future for anyone, noting that for some people things like childcare may have to be amended.

You are being unreasonable

3.5 miles is a long walk or 5min drive.

Yab ridiculous just go.

For heavens sake just arrive in tine for the meeting If quizzed you had trouble parking/traffic problems/public transport issues. Just leave early enough to get home at your usual time. I often took an age when I was sent to other locations because I dont know this area/the bus driver put me off at the wrong place/etc. Dont make an issue of it - just pay yourself back for the extra travelling time and cost.

@wondershallneverend is it a meeting about you, as pp and query re disciplinary or one you’ve been asked to be at?
are you quite young and new to the workplace? I’ve noticed some of the newer staff don’t seem to understand yet that they are at work, where they are paid to do tasks and that their managers will often decide what these tasks are to be, and get very upset or frustrated when they are asked to do well, anything!

Thanks for the perspectives. In a healthy workplace this probably wouldn’t feel like a big deal, but there’s some backstory and the environment isn’t straightforward. For me the issue is the very short notice rather than the distance, but I appreciate the replies

Why is a full days notice for a 15 min journey not enough?

YABU. It's a complete non issue.

On the surface the change is nothing - some university campus could be a couple of miles across and that’s all the same “site”.

If it’s hugely out of the ordinary I would be preparing myself for a difficult conversation. It’s a classic tactic to announce job losses etc off site.

I don't think it's an unreasonable amount of notice for a short distance. Might be unreasonable if it was for trip with an overnight stay.

Clearly the backstory which you have declined to share is relevant here because without it everyone agrees this is a non issue.

@WonderingWanda no one ever shares the really really relevant back story though.. too outing remember ..🙄