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Forced to work from home

Padre_Pio

Just got word today that work is downsizing their offices and the COVID work from home policy is going to be a near-permanent WHF policy.

Basically, the new office will only have hot desks, maybe half as many as there are staff. Employees have to book a desk in advance if they need to come into the office, but your permanent desk is expected to be in your own home.

There's uproar from certain people, but the response is basically put up and shut up.
Personally, there's no mention of home working in my contract. I was looking forward to getting back into the office and I barely have the space for a desk where I'm living at the moment, never mind a full setup.

Anyone have any experience of this? Places like Google and Facebook have said they're looking at similar policies. Any ideas how that went down with staff?

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ineedeuro

oisinog wrote: »

You talk about the extra costs but dont discuss the offsets.
How much per week have you saved on you commute to work?
How much have you saved on Coffee/Tea/Lunch?

Time is my biggest saving. Sitting in traffics for hours just slowly wasting your life away. Or public transport getting crammed onto a train with no seat etc. Dreadful.

Why waste that time when I can get up in the morning, have a nice run. Get some breakfast and then take the long walk from the sitting room into my office and sit down for a day at work.

Lovely day today, so my last 3 calls I walked around the garden and got a little bit of exercise.

ineedeuro

irelandrover wrote: »

I dont see it as that unusual. Being able to do something and being forced to do something are very different things.

I will probably be back in the office 2 days a week when we go back. I used to be 4 days a week in the office with no WFH.

It is a change and it costs me money. I dont live in ireland so get paid 19 cents a km to commute to work, and i cycled so i had no expenses. Coffee was supplied by teh company and i bought a packed lunch most days anyway.

So now i have to pay for coffee, lose the travel money and have to heat my office.

I dont mind as i like the flexibility. BUt i can fully understand why someone would be annoyed by this.

Which company pays you to travel to their office? I have never heard of that in my life. Any jobs going?

Mango Joe

irelandrover wrote: »

To see who contributed the most to the thread? Does it matter why you would want to? Its very easy to see how many posts a contributor has without counting them individually.

I just think there's a nice little irony in certain Posters on here ranting away for post after breathless post about the trials of life as they supposedly work from home when the reality is they're muttering away in a back-slapping echo chamber where the person who shouts their nonsense the loudest wins the heartiest guffaw from their Admirers.

Ditto for misunderstanding a basic function on here and posting oh-so clever memes like a snarky 15 year old high-school girl...Obviously.

floorpie

oisinog wrote: »

But its not when you are saying you are more or less taking a paycut.

Both myself and my wife are working from home I commuted to work by bike so I had no cost but I childcare costs.

Working from home has saved me childcare costs and also reduced my spend on food and coffee (I even bough an espresso machine for home).

Using your logic I have had a payrise as I have more money in my bank account at the end of each month.

What you spend in your personal life has never been your company's business. Some people bring lunch from home to work, some people buy it out, some people walk, some drive. So imo whether you're saving or spending more in your personal life by WFH is irrelevant.

If you have a business cost it should be covered by the business. E.g. I don't pay for my own flights, hotels and food when I'm abroad for work. Using posters' logic here, I should pay myself because I get the benefit of seeing other countries.

oisinog

floorpie wrote: »

What you spend in your personal life has never been your company's business. Some people bring lunch from home to work, some people buy it out, some people walk, some drive. So imo whether you're saving or spending more in your personal life by WFH is irrelevant.

If you have a business cost it should be covered by the business. E.g. I don't pay for my own flights, hotels and food when I'm abroad for work. Using posters' logic here, I should pay myself because I get the benefit of seeing other countries.

Well then you should be speaking to your HR department and asking for a payrise! If they dont offer you one look for another job it really is as simple as that.

I get that not eveyone enjoys working from home I don't either but at the same time working from home has given me more time to do things with my family and at the same time make cost savings. I turn my laptop off at the end of the day and forget about it untiil the next morning. Now that classes have reopened up here in the North I can take my Daugher to Gymnastics for the first time and get to watch her.

Not all things should revolve around work if work is a big part of your social life you should be concerned for yourself as that is not healthy.

[Deleted User]

Imagine being the type of individual who goes around counting posts and keeping arbitrary scores on boards forums...

I'll continue to post my opinion, regardless of your feelings or personal attacks.

Don't like it? You are free to ignore me.

Cheers.

jester77

floorpie wrote: »

What you spend in your personal life has never been your company's business. Some people bring lunch from home to work, some people buy it out, some people walk, some drive. So imo whether you're saving or spending more in your personal life by WFH is irrelevant.

If you have a business cost it should be covered by the business. E.g. I don't pay for my own flights, hotels and food when I'm abroad for work. Using posters' logic here, I should pay myself because I get the benefit of seeing other countries.

You are free to look for a new job that won't have these demands. They cannot force you to stay.

ineedeuro

jester77 wrote: »

You are free to look for a new job that won't have these demands. They cannot force you to stay.

See above, some company pay's for you to commute to office. Has to be on your list of options

Allinall

jester77 wrote: »

You are free to look for a new job that won't have these demands. They cannot force you to stay.

They also cannot arbitrarily change your working conditions without your express agreement.

ineedeuro

Allinall wrote: »

They also cannot arbitrarily change your working conditions without your express agreement.

Once its in the contract they can do what they want

Allinall

ineedeuro wrote: »

Once its in the contract they can do what they want

I know that.

floorpie

jester77 wrote: »

You are free to look for a new job that won't have these demands. They cannot force you to stay.

Sounds like you've just solved every workplace grievance. Shut down the forum.

Padre_Pio

oisinog wrote: »

You talk about the extra costs but dont discuss the offsets.
How much per week have you saved on you commute to work?
How much have you saved on Coffee/Tea/Lunch?

How much have I spent outfitting my office? About 400 euro so far.
Needed to buy a desk, lighting, a second monitor, a webcam, extension leads etc.
Got a chair, laptop, dock and monitor from work.
Lost the use of half my bedroom.

How much will I need to spend? Well, I'll probably need to move to a bigger house and rent two rooms, bedroom and office.

Or buy a house or apartment.

[Deleted User]

floorpie wrote: »

Sounds like you've just solved every workplace grievance. Shut down the forum.

Is jester wrong? Different companies will have different approaches and people are free to look for work in one that suits them

floorpie

Padre_Pio wrote: »

How much have I spent outfitting my office? About 400 euro so far.
Needed to buy a desk, lighting, a second monitor, a webcam, extension leads etc.
Got a chair, laptop, dock and monitor from work.
Lost the use of half my bedroom.

How much will I need to spend? Well, I'll probably need to move to a bigger house and rent two rooms, bedroom and office.

Or buy a house or apartment.

Just change jobs man. Then change house. Then when your new job moves to WFH, change jobs again. You should also factor in the joy you get from sleeping and working from the same room for 18 hours a day into your package (this is like a 20% pay rise when you factor in all of these intangibles). Boards.ie has it cracked.

[Deleted User]

Padre_Pio wrote: »

How much have I spent outfitting my office? About 400 euro so far.
Needed to buy a desk, lighting, a second monitor, a webcam, extension leads etc.
Got a chair, laptop, dock and monitor from work.
Lost the use of half my bedroom.

How much will I need to spend? Well, I'll probably need to move to a bigger house and rent two rooms, bedroom and office.

Or buy a house or apartment.

Or just book one of the hot desks :rolleyes:

floorpie

Deleted User wrote: »

Or just book one of the hot desks :rolleyes:

"Your permanent desk is expected to be in your own home"

ineedeuro

Padre_Pio wrote: »

How much have I spent outfitting my office? About 400 euro so far.
Needed to buy a desk, lighting, a second monitor, a webcam, extension leads etc.
Got a chair, laptop, dock and monitor from work.
Lost the use of half my bedroom.

How much will I need to spend? Well, I'll probably need to move to a bigger house and rent two rooms, bedroom and office.

Or buy a house or apartment.

Have you gone to your manager/HR and asked them for a desk?

ineedeuro

floorpie wrote: »

"Your permanent desk is expected to be in your own home"

Unless they totally shut down the office you have options. In both cases here they haven't yet nobody seems to confirm if they have approached a manager or HR.

oisinog

Padre_Pio wrote: »

How much have I spent outfitting my office? About 400 euro so far.
Needed to buy a desk, lighting, a second monitor, a webcam, extension leads etc.
Got a chair, laptop, dock and monitor from work.
Lost the use of half my bedroom.

How much will I need to spend? Well, I'll probably need to move to a bigger house and rent two rooms, bedroom and office.

Or buy a house or apartment.

So working from your rented home had Cost you 4OO more.

How much has your commute reduced?

jester77

floorpie wrote: »

Just change jobs man. Then change house. Then when your new job moves to WFH, change jobs again. You should also factor in the joy you get from sleeping and working from the same room for 18 hours a day into your package (this is like a 20% pay rise when you factor in all of these intangibles). Boards.ie has it cracked.

You could just get your company to pay for a We Work subscription so you can work from there. I have a friend that works for a 100% remote company and they offer We Work (or the local equivalent) to all their employees.

oisinog

WFH does not suit everyone but neither does working in an office full time.

Try and see the positivity in a hybrid working system and you might learn to enjoy it.

If you dislike it speak to your Manager and see what they can do for you.

[Deleted User]

I'm looking forward to hybrid. Too much of office or home is a bad thing. I think all of our work/balance will improve because of it.

Padre_Pio

oisinog wrote: »

So working from your rented home had Cost you 4OO more.

How much has your commute reduced?

Not much, my commute is only about 20 mins each way driving.
I chose my accommodation because it was close to work.

The bigger cost will come if I need to move somewhere more expensive and further away.
But I'm not looking at this purely from a financial POV.

Mrs OBumble

floorpie wrote: »

"Your permanent desk is expected to be in your own home"

The WFH fans really seem to have difficulty with this.

And with math: if a company says "everyone must work in the office 2 days/week" and also cuts office space to 40% of current space, then NO ONE is getting a permanent desk. Because if some do, then others will be prevented from meeting the 2 days/ week measure.

[Deleted User]

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

The WFH fans really seem to have difficulty with this.

And with math: if a company says "everyone must work in the office 2 days/week" and also cuts office space to 40% of current space, then NO ONE is getting a permanent desk. Because if some do, then others will be prevented from meeting the 2 days/ week measure.

Not WFH fans. Flexible / hybrid working fans in the most part

And the fact is that I’ve seen these teething problems before in London years ago as hybrid working was introduced most everywhere. People on both sides, with all the same arguments and fears. There is nothing new in this thread

And everything gets worked out over the first few weeks....the numbers of desks needed, who needs a permanent desk, whether you have zones or groups that share a desk block etc. It took us a couple of iterations the first time around

But then it becomes 2nd nature and everyone slots in appropriately. This whole thread is much ado about nothing IMO

floorpie

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

The WFH fans really seem to have difficulty with this.

And with math: if a company says "everyone must work in the office 2 days/week" and also cuts office space to 40% of current space, then NO ONE is getting a permanent desk. Because if some do, then others will be prevented from meeting the 2 days/ week measure.

Yeah, perhaps there'll be extra capacity in the short term, but if the motivation here is to reduce wasted space then I imagine capacity will reduce such that offices are essentially full at all times (likely filled with the people doing their mandatory days).

average_runner

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

The WFH fans really seem to have difficulty with this.

And with math: if a company says "everyone must work in the office 2 days/week" and also cuts office space to 40% of current space, then NO ONE is getting a permanent desk. Because if some do, then others will be prevented from meeting the 2 days/ week measure.

Not really, most wfh will only want to be in once a week or twice a month. That works in with ur maths.

average_runner

Allinall wrote: »

They also cannot arbitrarily change your working conditions without your express agreement.

They can and offer you redundancy as a way out.
Same way a company can change office location

Padre_Pio

Deleted User wrote: »

But then it becomes 2nd nature and everyone slots in appropriately. This whole thread is much ado about nothing IMO

I've calmed down a bit since I started this thread and as another poster said, you have to find the positives.
I think I need to take a look at my own job and see if I can apportion certain tasks to certain in-office days.

Thanks everyone for your feedback, its nice to get a variety of perspectives.