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.

I’m sure people just look for reasons to complain. 3.5 miles is walkable for the majority of people (as long as it’s got safe footpaths).

Even if it was a typo and it's 35 miles, our other office is 35 miles away and occasionally I have to go and work there for a day shirt notice if I have a client meeting. Its just the way it is. No biggie and quite nice to have a change of scenery and see some different colleagues. OP is being vvu.

I don't see any problem at all here, it's a short distance??

Is this a joke? Being asked to travel just 3.5 miles to meet a senior person within your own business shouldn’t even be a discussion. And then we wonder why businesses are scaling back roles, this kind of apathy doesn’t help motivated people build careers. In my line of work, there would be no question that my team goes where they’re needed. I’ve personally been asked to fly to European countries at the drop of a hat, despite having three children and it being a logistical nightmare between me and my husband to manage.

I am often given 24 hours’ notice or less to be at our Chicago or DC offices when I am based in NYC. Most recently this involved getting up at 3:30am to catch an early morning flight to Chicago after being informed about it the day before.

So YABU as it’s only 3.5 miles, however it sounds like this job isn’t serving you well in general, so I’d accelerate the job hunt and get out of there. Good luck.

Are you autistic OP? I would find this very difficult to cope with at such short notice, especially if I’d never been to that office, though I would objectively know it wasn’t a big deal. It would cause me a lot of stress and I’d do a lot of mental preparing and finding out what the office was like, where I could park, etc but I wouldn’t let anyone know that and I would just do it.

I do understand your concern and anxiety but maybe you should just try and get on with it. I work as a nurse in a hospital and we are moved from our usual wards on an almost daily basis to cover other areas such as A&E. Sometimes this involves moving to another site. It used to be just a winter thing but since the job freeze it is a year round thing

3.5 miles away? Not unreasonable to ask you to go there in my opinion and i’d find it odd if one of my staff said they need more than 24hrs notice to come 3.5 miles. Obviously would depend on individual circumstances but it’s really not far. We have people who commute 1.5hrs each way.

That is a reasonable request unless you are physically disabled and it is not accessible.

@wondershallneverend how did you get on yesterday?

The location of the meeting isn’t a big deal at all. I assume you don’t have a lot of meetings! Meeting locations can change at short notice all the time,

it’s a little odd that he wants you to work there all day though - have you asked him why?

24 hours notice! Thinking of the times I travelled into work on a wet or snowy morning and soon after arrival was then sent off across the city because someone at another branch was off sick. Often I would volunteer to go because it was an opprtunity to go to the bank or pick up some shopping on the way. There were no ATMs back then and no mobiles to keep track of you.

If this is in addition to other things that have been going on (you mention a difficult culture) I would make a note of it, but still go as requested.

Yep, you're unreasonable. You're not at work to hang out with friends. If you need your team, I'm sure you can reach them by phone, email, or video call. Its not like we still have to endure snail mail and carrier pigeon. 3.5 miles is no big deal and will probably take the same amount of time to get to. If there are cost implications, ask the company to foot the bill. But yeah, this is work, not a free lunch so pick yourself up and go. Its not even like your complaining that it takes you out the way of childcare.

If you really want to go back to another office, do it on your own time, I.e. lunch break to sweeten the deal.

Check what it states in your employment contract as it may state that you are expected to work at other locations and it may specify travel costs you can claim etc

Just to clarify why I said no to going to the other office

My job has never required travel for meetings in the three years I’ve been there - it is a high pressure low level job- nobody goes anywhere for any meeting. All our meetings are virtual - one weekly team call, and nobody has ever been asked to go to another branch for a meeting before. You can work from any branch if you choose to but nobody at all does except senior managers.

My manager is fully aware that I don’t drive, I can’t use public transport for medical reasons, and I physically can’t walk that distance - knows my medical condition. Our family car which my partner drives me to work in was also stolen a couple of days (& he’s aware of it) before he changed the meeting location to a location that is further out for me knowing that I have kids in different schools in different directions - we have discussed this before ( kids schools, normal office and the other office he called me to are all in different directions)

— I went to my usual office and said I was happy to do it virtually (as we always do) or when he’s next in the normal office. Given the circumstances and the established way our team works, I don’t think it was unreasonable to decline travelling to the other office. I know he intentionally did that to rattle me because I have always spoken up against some of the things colleagues are too scared to speak up on eg we all have OT running into 40 even 70 hours for some - it is unpaid, and then manager is saying we need to reduce them to 10 hours or loose them but then we are not allowed to leave work early but forced to work till sometimes 6pm or longer to keep on track which means OT is constantly building up- if you leave before the task for that day is complete it will be your head on a platter the next day. Low pay job - there are lots of other things in that very toxic environment and even a colleague physically broke into tears from the unfairness & demoralising workplace all colleagues are just suffering and smileing & too scared to speak up at all etc but I question things & had to report manager to HR at one point . I am only there for now but will leave soon. So it was not an essential meeting at all it was intentionally changed to rattle me and I refuse to be rattled for speaking up. The other manger knows it’s all toxic and told me he is watching me closely and to be careful because of the manner I speak up against the unfairness etc and said he told him I am dangerous 🤦🏾‍♀️🙄🤷🏾‍♀️anyway we had meeeting and it was not important at all and I was not fired for those who said is to fire me. It cant be to fire me as I haven’t done anything other than call out unfair practices affecting the wellbeing of employees and i have never had any queries - I am top performer at work. & if they do decide to fire me, I surely will take appropriate steps to stand up against unfair dismissal.

I don't drive. So unless it was reasonable to get to I'd be saying no.

Thank you OP for the update. Not surprised that an allegedly important meeting was nothing of the kind.

As your update details, the issues go far beyond a meeting.

Sorry all for the extremely long post — I think I’m just blowing off steam at this point.

But honestly, tell me how this is meant to be right: everyone in the team is building up loads of overtime (which the company insists is unpaid), then we’re told the hours will be removed if we don’t “reduce” them… yet we’re also made to stay working past closing time. We’re not allowed to leave when our shift ends, but we’re also told off for having too many OT hours. How exactly are we supposed to reduce them when we’re being kept late every day?

It just doesn’t sit right with me, and I genuinely struggle to understand how this is supposed to be fair. I am sure not allowed under employment law but then my manager is got a problem with me for speaking up and I guess if I do speak up again when he tells everybody to remove the OT numbers - I will be told to come to a meeting 100 miles away for no reason 🙄 very toxic bad place to work. I need to intensify my job search 👀

I have to travel to an office 30 miles away, sometimes on short notice from the one which is only 2 miles from my house. Annoying but not sure what the issue is. I have commitments outside of work with my children so made it clear when I started that I was fine to do it but I would have to leave earlier for the office further away to be back in time. I walk at least 3 miles a day pretty regularly so that to me is round the corner.

Sorry just read your update - I would just get a cab and go there and not make a big deal about it and then look for another role. Nothing in life is worth the stress of a toxic workplace.

also expense your travel if asked again if the place of work isn’t your base.

wondershallneverend

Next time (if there is...) agree on the basis that he organises a taxi transport between offices.

That way unless he has a company credit card or cabbie account he has to pick up the cost and organise his own expense claim.

3.5 miles? I thought you were going to say 3.5 hours! You're being totally unreasonable - suck it up!

You haven't read the OP's updates have you.

@wondershallneverend you would have had a completely different set of replies if you had said why travelling elsewhere was such a problem. That was quite the dripfeed. I'm glad is was something or nothing though.

I did, and it was a massive drip feed after the OP didn't get the answers she wanted. Get an Uber.