Working from home



gasman said:
I’m off this week and I’ve just replied to a few and arranged jobs etc. I had 45 minutes spare and it’s saved me the Sunday night dread wondering what I’m coming back too and a bit less work for Monday morning. Totally for my benefit.
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I was off last week. I'm not totally unreasonable though, I did start 10 minutes early on Tuesday to catch up on me emails.
 
Metalmicky said:
I use the Delay Delivery option sometimes to send emails... it gives the impression I am busy when I've actually closed down an hour before...

I am in work currently, but we are not that busy - so much so that I am currently watching the cricket on my phone while browsing through the internet on my laptop........ NZ are 327/8 if anyone is interested
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What happens when someone answers or discusses the same topic beforehand making you look daft sending the email? 🤣
 
spitfire said:
The tears are starting. Get your arses back in the office then, or just switch off :cool:
www.bbc.co.uk

Working from home: Call to ban out-of-hours emails from bosses

The UK government is urged to bring in a French-style law giving workers "the right to disconnect".
www.bbc.co.uk
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Shirley if she's got her phone/laptop turned off then it doesn't matter who tries to ring or send emails at stupid times. You won't see them until you log back on the following morning
 
Pnematic said:
On the smaller units it’s not possible to fit a study / office ( without screwing up the other rooms ). Zones are better than nothing at all ( or the dining table) - on larger units there’s a closed area , sometimes on the first floor....on the big types there’s a dedicated study / office.

These spaces are used for homework as well for the kids.
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Does you company do flats too? Just can't even imagine zones even being an option in a flat without sacrificing much needed space.

This is one of my big worries about a sudden work from home shift, is that it'll take time for housing to be suitable for it. And possibly a lot of housing will never be suitable for it. If I had a work from home job too right now it'd be hell in our flat.

Problem is I don't know how companies offer flexible working for all without effectively forcing in on more people as they'd end up with spending money on empty office space if more work from home than they anticipate, so downsize to the point where some have to work from home even when they wouldn't want to.
 
Charmless Man said:
Days like to today actually make me wish I was in the office.

My local pub is a bit mediocre and my office is in central Manchester. Clamming on a nice pint in a nice pub.
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Was in today. Quiet train at 0523. Pleasant dlr. Busy morning. Tube to green Park at lunch. Ate at bentleys. Came back. Launched a load of risk and chatted shit with colleagues. Only downside is commute home. Got a can to deal with the 17m of stress.

I really don't like wfh but I like having the option to.
 
RestlessNatives said:
I log off all my work devices when I finish for the day and don't think about it until I log on the next morning. I'm annoyed that I was added onto a team WhatsApp chat on my personal phone but I just have that muted.
I've done all the long hours in the past and you're no more productive. It's all about being seen to be working and for your managers to be able to show the team are working long hours.
If you can't do your work in your allocated hours, there is a problem. Either with you not being efficient enough or your workload is too great. Either way it needs to be addressed.
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Here here!

Too easy to get sucked into ‘never offline’ mode. You aren’t any better thought of for doing crazy hours and as you say, there’s a problem to be addressed if there is a continuous need…
 
PJH said:
Does you company do flats too? Just can't even imagine zones even being an option in a flat without sacrificing much needed space.

This is one of my big worries about a sudden work from home shift, is that it'll take time for housing to be suitable for it. And possibly a lot of housing will never be suitable for it. If I had a work from home job too right now it'd be hell in our flat.

Problem is I don't know how companies offer flexible working for all without effectively forcing in on more people as they'd end up with spending money on empty office space if more work from home than they anticipate, so downsize to the point where some have to work from home even when they wouldn't want to.
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Flats are an issue tbh . We are currently gauging demand and will react through design solutions.
I think WFH will be flexible - if people don’t want to WFH or haven’t got suitable facilities, they can’t be forced to do so.
Hotdesking ( hello Covid) will be more in use and based on WFH schedules.
It’s all very new mate and everyone is still finding their way .
 
Emails have never worked on my work phone for some reason and I've never bothered to get it fixed - people can just ring me if there's something massively urgent but that hardly ever happens.

I've got into a canny routine now WFH: Log on at 08:30, set my status on Teams to "offline" at 16:30, go for a run/gym etc for an hour or two, get back and quickly check if anything has come up while I've been away (usually nothing urgent), shut down laptop until the next morning. I've done my time working stupid hours, being on-call etc and that probably helped me get the more cushy role I have now tbh. There's a lot to be said for having a proper work-life balance though.
 
PJH said:
Does you company do flats too? Just can't even imagine zones even being an option in a flat without sacrificing much needed space.

This is one of my big worries about a sudden work from home shift, is that it'll take time for housing to be suitable for it. And possibly a lot of housing will never be suitable for it. If I had a work from home job too right now it'd be hell in our flat.

Problem is I don't know how companies offer flexible working for all without effectively forcing in on more people as they'd end up with spending money on empty office space if more work from home than they anticipate, so downsize to the point where some have to work from home even when they wouldn't want to.
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That's already quite common, EY were working on a 60% occupancy rate in their actual offices, the bank I work at now were planning on 70% occupancy rate even before we got into COVID
 
Pnematic said:
Flats are an issue tbh . We are currently gauging demand and will react through design solutions.
I think WFH will be flexible - if people don’t want to WFH or haven’t got suitable facilities, they can’t be forced to do so.
Hotdesking ( hello Covid) will be more in use and based on WFH schedules.
It’s all very new mate and everyone is still finding their way .
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It is new, but I think some businesses are already making the decisions depending on when leases are up on their current space. So a company may downgrade space, giving desks to those who want to work in the office full time and enough to cover part time work from home staff when in the office. What it can do is later force a company into only putting up job adverts for part time work from home, so someone without adequate space at home to work from home either has to just cope with that or not go for the job. And people currently in a job where they can work in the office full time might find they have a hard time leaving if they want if fewer full time office positions exist.

I know it's still early days but I just hope as a society we don't jump into decisions that have long term impacts we don't anticipate properly and end up stuck with.
 
monkeytassle said:
Thats wrong though is my point. I get what you're saying but I disagree with the principle. If you want people to take time over Xmas or whenever don't force it. Give them it.
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My place forces people to take time off at Christmas. They close buildings, give cleaners, caretakers and security time off too. If we had people in, you would have to have some of those in too.

Our standard contract is 35 days holiday, 5 of which it automatically logged as Christmas, then bank holidays. So, forcing that, still gives 6 other weeks they can take.
 
PJH said:
It is new, but I think some businesses are already making the decisions depending on when leases are up on their current space. So a company may downgrade space, giving desks to those who want to work in the office full time and enough to cover part time work from home staff when in the office. What it can do is later force a company into only putting up job adverts for part time work from home, so someone without adequate space at home to work from home either has to just cope with that or not go for the job. And people currently in a job where they can work in the office full time might find they have a hard time leaving if they want if fewer full time office positions exist.

I know it's still early days but I just hope as a society we don't jump into decisions that have long term impacts we don't anticipate properly and end up stuck with.
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I doubt companies can stipulate WFH on job descriptions for potential employees.
It currently nice and loose and trust based - if companies use it as a compulsory tool to reduce office costs , then thats discriminatory and should be dealt with via legislation.
 
HellsBells said:
Some employers do - I’m thinking enforced
Holidays at Xmas for instance.
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We have set shutdowns for key parts of the year (Christmas to 2nd Jan inclusive) and over Easter, English Bank Holidays. 25 other days are at mutual agreement annually. 40 days in total. It works ok.
 
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DaveH said:
My place forces people to take time off at Christmas. They close buildings, give cleaners, caretakers and security time off too. If we had people in, you would have to have some of those in too.

Our standard contract is 35 days holiday, 5 of which it automatically logged as Christmas, then bank holidays. So, forcing that, still gives 6 other weeks they can take.
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35 days is bloody good mate ........!
 
Pnematic said:
35 days is bloody good mate ........!
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I know. It is not the best paid sector for what I do, but 35 days holiday plus bank holidays, 35 hour week rather than the more common 37.5, and for me a 25 minute cycle through the woods as my commute. I’ve been getting really pissed off with them and have been looking at other jobs, but all involve travel and more work. I’m not too keen on that!
 

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