Annoyed with colleagues comment

[Cluelessfirstimer]

Been at my job for 10 years. We went fully remote during covid. I relocated. Not a million miles away from the office, but a good 2 hr commute and a pretty hefty train fare.

Anyway 2 years ago they changed from fully remote to 2/3 days in the office a week. 2 days for certain roles and 3 days for more collaborative roles. Its not a strict rule, if you have plumbers or appointments in a week they dont mind if you dont hit that. Its not particularly checked.

I had a chat with my boss and said I wouldnt be able to do this. They agreed that given my role (think like a dev type role. I have very little collaboration) and the fact they really needed me, and I moved during the time they were remote this wouldnt apply to me.

I go into the office about 2 times a month. Sometimes less sometimes a little bit more. Whenever I am needed for an in person meeting im there.

Anyway sorry a lot of waffle! As I was leaving Friday a colleague commented "oh there goes 'Sally' finishing her hobby job" I turned and said what and they said "oh nothing just your special treatment" or something like that.

I was livid but was running out the door. I have been doing this for the last few years and the person who said this lives a 11 minute walk from the office and as far as I know hasnt asked about flexibility needs or wants it.

Should I say something Tuesday? Leave it? I can take a joke but the tone really bothered me.

Do you actually care about her opinion? If not, no point expending energy justifying yourself.

Well if you get treated better than everyone else, they are going to be jealous.

Do you think 2 days in the office is a lot? I do 5 days in the office

Do you have a Go Fund Me I can contribute to?

Your "joke" doesn't make any sense

Op cop on and realise how lucky you are. Many people are not allowed to work from home AT ALL

Then it's up to them to apply for the same through a flexible working request which everyone can do by law. It's then up to tgeir manager to decide if their request can be accommodated.

Remember that flexible working requests are specific to the individual - and just because one person has one arrangement does not mean that everyone in the organisation has to be given the same.

You're very angry, was your flexible working request declined recently?

I would of laughed and said yep sucks to be you

Even before Covid we had people who had negotiated home working, it works fine for certain roles, so I don't know why some posters here are rankling about "special treatment". I think it's rude for her to imply that you are shirking work and that's what I would have picked her up on.

I'm not angry. And I didn't apply. As I'm sure you know, many jobs cannot work from home at all.

Does you think nurses can work from home, for example?

I don't think anyone is stupid enough to think a nurse can work from home - which is why tgeir request to do so would be turned down.

It doesn't sound like you know how flexible working requests work.

I just think the op should why others may be envious of her two days a month in the office gig

@Cluelessfirstimer wfh threads always attract people who are either jealous or don’t understand how it can work really well for certain jobs.

I wouldn’t say anything on this occasion but have some replies worked out in case it happens again.

Being envious of what someone else has is petty and childish - if they don't like it then they know what to do (and it doesn't involve making stupid comments about hobby jobs).

I used to work somewhere that had a member of staff who turned up in the office once a month. She obviously had some arrangement or other, and I couldn't have cared less.

People are envious of all sorts of things but it’s rude to openly mock people.

The OP has a job that can be done 98% fully remote - that doesn’t make it a hobby job or a ‘gig’.

The colleague doesn’t have the same job so can’t be granted the same flexible working - that’s not the OP’s fault.

I can see why she is annoyed. You choose to move and are now getting special treatment.

Nothing is as divisive as some colleagues allowed to wfh and others not for no real reason.

You say she lives a short walk from the office. I bet if she decided to move 2hrs away, she wouldnt be allowed to just wfh because it's too much effort to go in.

I'm quite aware, as I am a nurse! The majority of my friends work from home and (unlike you) I am not jealous. If I was, I would then find one of the few non-clinical roles that does enable home working.

Did you miss the part where the colleague and the OP have different jobs - it’s not like for like.

Colleague can retrain and move to a job that suits wfh all week if they want to.

I'm not jealous! What I did write is I'm surprised that she thinks two days a week in the office is a lot. Everyone I know, is doing more days in the office than that.

Apologies, it really does come across that way. The OP didn't mention twice a month being a lot.

And again, they need to take that up with their own manager and appeal the decision if needed.

There seems to be a few people on here who don't understand how flexible working requests work. Decisions are taken based on the reason for the individual request and whether the role can support it within business need. Everyone has the legal right to apply for flexible working and just because one person has their flexible working request granted does not automatically mean that everyone else making the same request will also have their request granted. If your request is declined and it can be clearly shown why it was rejected then it's up to you whether you want to stay within that role or organisation - and comments like 'hobby job' could very well put you in front of HR.

...but its not just "too much of an effort" for me to go in. It costs me £100 a time in train and tube costs. I also have a child and on those days im in the office I dont see him. I wasnt prepared to do that 2/3 times a week. Plus I couldnt afford the train fare to do it!

As mentioned i said to my boss im sorry as you know I've moved its not possible for me to do that. Im happy to look for something else. I didnt demand or expect to keep my role.

Also yes we have very different jobs and theirs definitely requires in person collaboration. Its not comparable.

And in the meantime?

Work places cant have one rule for one and another for someone else. The OP chose to move and she's lucky work accommodated it. It doesn't mean other people can't be pissed off about it.

One of my colleagues never comes in. You can bet your life, her team mates have lost respect for her because she thinks the rules dont apply to her. Before anyone acuses me of jealousy, I'm really not, I chose to go into the office far more than I'm required to.

It was THAT comment that really annoyed me. "Hobby job" is incredibly insulting when I work huge hours and they know very little about what I actually do.