Working From Home Megathread

We got a general email (public sector) saying things are under review and there would be an announcement in the coming weeks. There was talk of a day a week in the office for everyone, so I would say it will head that way probably in a few weeks. One issue they have is one of the offices has been closed (and not likely to reopen)...so not exactly sure they will be able to accommodate everyone, so a few days a week might be max.

I work in IT so zero need to be in an office 99 percent of the time. Back to wasting 2+ hours a day going to and from the office...joy!

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Sorry, I misread that as March. They probably weren't the only ones to make a mad decision around then I'd imagine. Crazy though, the payout in a genuine case and then frivolous claims get massive payouts.

I do like Leos line on the new legislation, will put the craps up a few employers I'd imagine, easier and probably cheaper to accommodate WFH than deal with a WRC case! I feel a bit more confident in my staying WFH now.

All this health and safety stuff is nonsense as it didn't matter the last two years.

Why not leave the decision to employees if they want to continue to work from home or prefer to come into the office?

We are talking about office based positions so there's no need to force people back.

H&S is nonsense - until it's you with the musculo-skeletal injury fron 8 hours a say hunched over a laptop.

H&S didn't really come up during the last two years because there was no way to force employers' hands. If someone hated working from home and wanted to make a claim on H&S grounds, their employer couldn't just open the building and bring them back in again.

But that's all going to change. Employers handing young people a laptop and sending them off to WFH out of a flat that they're sharing with 4 others, won't be allowed to fly. All it'll take is a ruling from the WRC from someone who's desperate to get back into the office.

Working hubs will likely see a boom on the back of this new legislation. Some more traditional companies might just start pulling people back into the office on H&S grounds, but other companies are more likely to sort out smaller regional working spaces for staff rather than dedicated huge offices.

That's what I mean by working hubs though. Serviced offices where the SME leases out a room. All they have to do supply is some computer hardware and maybe the chairs. The working hub takes care of security, maintenance, kitchen facilities, etc.

They've been around for a few years, but not heavily used for the same reason that many companies didn't allow WFH. They would have been quiet during the pandemic because lots of people would have no interest in sharing office space with total randomers.

I expect they'll become very popular now though. It'll give companies more regional reach; they don't have to hire people in a city or looking to relocate to one. If you had some shared office space just outside Athlone, then you can take candidates from all over the place, not just those who want to WFH.

I’m saddened to see lots of rigid inflexibility here re the WFH from some employers. Though not altogether that surprised. I did suspect these might happen

They might be forced to if its an employees market though.

That's the important point underlying all of these conversations. If we were in the middle of a recession with low employment, employers could dictate the terms. But we're not. Employees have that bit of leverage now.

Not it wouldnt, you are missing the tax saver element, its in the name, it comes from your gross pay, so its costs you a net 520. Do you get it now?

It's not just about being able to WFH though.

If you're an SME with an office in Sandyford that serves as your HQ, then you're limited to 2 kinds of employees:

1. People who can/want to WFH
2. People who can be arsed commuting to Sandyford

At the moment, and for the foreseeable future, there will be a lot of employees voting with their feet and turning down work where you have a long daily commute.

If that company gets some serviced space outside of Cork City, you've got an extra half million potential employees available. Another place in Athlone and you're up to a million.

And all without the overhead of needing to have an official presence in those areas. Literally, "Go here on your first day with your computer and they'll show you how to get connected, then call us".

I do think that the right to appeal a refusal of request to WFH is a game changer. If your job is clearly suitable to WFH on a hybrid basis, and that hybrid basis is refused by your employer, it will be difficult for them to defend themselves at the WRC. If the request is to fully WFH then I can see employers being in a more solid position, as the whole collaboration/team bonding requirement etc etc would come in.

That's up to yourself to ensure you have an ergonomic workplace set up at home.

If you don't have space for this then you will need to go into the office.

That being said I have worked in a quite a few places where the employer couldn't give a toss about your workplace set up and you had to beg for a proper chair in HR.

But I imagine if you can appeal on those grounds and you have evidence that wfh is efficient based on your productivity in the last two years then you have a good case with an appeal

What kind of organisation are they working in ? Some shock to the system I’d say after two years. So inflexible but as I say, I’m not very surprised

I know right? I was quite surprised that they were allowing that, but our CEO isn't Irish so I suspect that had something to do with it. It also means that during school holidays, they could waive the WFO requirement, so that you could drop kids to summer camps which never seem to start before 10am. I think they'll get a lot of interest from people in the private sector who might be paid more but won't have these benefits.

50% wfh and the flexibility that offers n choosing your days is a good outcome in my opinion.