Working from home advice needed.

[Thequeensfool]

Our situation is changing dramatically in that I will be starting a uni course in the next couple of weeks. We have childcare pretty much sewn up, except for two mornings a week when there is noone to take dd to school, and to drop off and collect ds to and from his nursery session.

Dh has put in a request to work from home for these two half days so that he can do this. His employer has agreed to this for a period of six weeks after which time they have said that they will look to reduce his hours and pay.

We cannot afford for this to happen.

Dh works in business development for a finance company. He is aware of several colleauges who regularly work from home (usually on a friday)

These people do not have a pre-arranged agreement to do so but seemingly do it on an ad-hoc basis. [attempting not to sound bitchy]. There is a bit of an 'old boys club' culture going on, so this obviously adds to dh's frustration.

His line manager has admitted that they don't want to enter into this sort of arrangement as it will bascially "set a precedent" (despite the fact that working from home goes on informally anyway!). It has essentially been interred that they don't trust him to work from home basically.

In dh's opinion doing his job from home for these hours would not be detrimental to the business or impede his work in the slightest. Emailing, drawing up documents, talking over the phone etc can all be done from home.

Does anyone know where we can go from here? I know that they have a duty to consider it by law; but surely "It will set a precedent" is not a sound reason for refusal?

Working from home ad-hoc and working from home twice a week on a permanent basis are very different.

I presume they want to reduce his hours/pay as whilst he is droppping off/collecting he is not actually working from home.

Can you not book a childminder to cover the days?

No, we are unable to get a childminder on these says who is able to do our particular nursrey and school. It is literally a ten minute job dropping to and from both nursery and school, so it's not as if he wouldn't be working (except for approx 20 mins max).

What about after he has done your DS's pick up from nursery? Would he be trying to work with him at home, or would that be after his working hours ended?

No. Ds's nursery session starts at 9. He would then collect him at 11.30 and bring him into the city (where I am at uni and he works). I am off on these afternoons, so it would be a hand-over, after which he would continue on into the office for the afternoon.

Maybe I am reading this wrong but if nursery starts at 9 and finishes at 11.30, your dh is not actually working from home for two half-days, is he? He is actuallly working from maybe 9.15 to 11.15 and then the rest of the time is spent travelling in work time to get to you for handover and then on to the office. If his work hours are being lessened with this arrangement, then I am not surprised that his employers want to reduce his hours and pay. Or have I got that wrong?

Dh drops ds off, starts working at 9.10. Leaves to collect ds at 11.25 and would arrive into the office by 12.15 maybe? So as I see it he is still working a full day!

Could he suggest working an extra hour at the end of the day to make up for the dropping off faffing?

But is his commuting time between 11.30 and 12.15 not then counting as part of his working day? If he was working 9-5, he would be expected to be AT work by 9 and work through. This way, it looks as if he is travelling to work during working hours? Unless, he then doesn't take lunch and count that travelling time as lunch?

I'm sure dh would be willing to stay a little later on those days and/or count travelling time as hie lunch break.

Tbh I really don't think that they are splitting hairs over the minutes he will spend travelling. They don't want him to work from home full stop. They have unofficially given him a (as far as I can tell), rather invalid excuse for refusal.