Working from home

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.
Companies can, and do stipulate remote working. How applicants choose to work remotely will be up to them.
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.
That’s good, but some companies only give the minimum 20 days holiday and force people to take some of that over Xmas.
 
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That’s good, but some companies only give the minimum 20 days holiday and force people to take some of that over Xmas.
That's not brilliant, but with the rise in job vacancies at the minute, firms are going to have to do more to attract talent. Flexible working, more hols, wfh, and money will be on the increase.
 
I feel very lucky to get paid what I get paid in the North East but that isn't the defining factor to how much effort I put in.

In my mind I offset the flexibility of being able to finish early on a Friday or nip out when I feel like it with the cost of working a few hours extra to get my work delivered.

Might be different if I was lower paid and I don't expect anyone in my team to replicate what I do (some do, some don't) but I'm happy enough with the setup.
I’m in a similar position. I get paid well so putting the extra graft in isn’t that big of a deal. Also because I do that I can’t take advantage of the slow days and slack off a little without the boss raising any questions.
When it’s close to the end of the shift and something comes up or a rush job needed I’m always happy to pick up the slack.
 
My ex boss is on here, if you are reading, give people some time off and stop them being your slave. I remember my ex boss threatening people with the sack at like 7am on whatsapp, employees were so scared one of them nearly vomitted when they seen him kicking off once in group work chat.
 
My ex boss is on here, if you are reading, give people some time off and stop them being your slave. I remember my ex boss threatening people with the sack at like 7am on whatsapp, employees were so scared one of them nearly vomitted when they seen him kicking off once in group work chat.
That attitude won’t attract good decent people - the productivity will plummet and the business will not operate effectively.
In essence the owner will suffer as profits will drop.
Staggering approach to business.
 
That attitude won’t attract good decent people - the productivity will plummet and the business will not operate effectively.
In essence the owner will suffer as profits will drop.
Staggering approach to business.
He is a millionaire, so something is working :lol: . He is a master manipulator imo, he dangles the carrot that you could have early retirement or amazing pay etc, when essentially he just runs people into the ground whilst pocketing all the money without intent of bigger pay. I worked 2 and a half years working 13 hours a day for 7 days a week to get him to where he is now. I seen the light once I stopped working from home full time and started seeing him in person everyday. All of his staff are people who he selects, all from poorer backgrounds or poor careers, or people who get off on him having a fair few followers online, so they turn a blind eye a little to his behaviour.
 
I'm fine with working from home but I have a three bedroom house to myself. I'm not sure I'd be so keen if I'd been younger and living in a shared house with limited space and others also working from home.

I think it's going to be mix and match once things start to get back to normal. Pre-pandemic, I'd only generally WFH if there was an absolute need (doctor's appointment in the middle of the day, boiler getting serviced at some point etc.). The team I work in run courses for scientists (typically 1 to 2 weeks long). They'd normally be residential but we've moved to running them virtually over Zoom (something that will continue at least to the end of 2021). Firstly, it's a lot easier to do that at home as it's a more controlled environment (no chance of the cleaner deciding to get the heavy duty floor polisher out here while I'm trying to explain something to someone. Secondly, because about a third of our courses are generally held overseas (for regional participants), we run them on local time for the region so an Asia based virtual course will run from say 6am to 1:30pm UK time and a Latin America based course from 1pm to 9pm. It's easier to stick to those hours working from home.

With regard to holiday, we start with 25 days then add 1 day per year up to a max of 30. We can carry 9 days over to the next calendar year and, like many, have to take the 3 non-Bank Holiday days at Christmas as the place basically shuts down. Last year, we had to take the statutory minimum 20 days (so 17 days plus the 3 at Christmas) then could either carry the rest over to this year or sell holiday back. Within the team, we have both flexible working and time off in lieu so can build up time in both of those ways also. The latter can really build up if you travel overseas to support a course. There's also been a system of loyalty bonus holiday added recently - 1 extra day after 5 years of service, 2 after 10 years, 3 after 15 years, 4 after 20 etc. Those can be taken or sold as extra salary.
 
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.
Maybe not from home, but remote working either full time or part time can be done and I think already is for some places. There are some hubs around I think ran by councils where I think desk space is free, but internet and printing isn't provided. My wifes friend got a new job recently that is remote working (don't know if that's permanent or just for Covid) but has to use one of the hubs at least two days a week and found that the internet there is council internet for the staff who run the hubs. So had to use their own mobile internet.

Mind you councils seem to make crazy decisions. The council here doesn't even own it's headquarters. Leased from the university. And used to have buildings it did own half full of staff. Private companies won't keep paying for unused desks.
 
My ex boss is on here, if you are reading, give people some time off and stop them being your slave. I remember my ex boss threatening people with the sack at like 7am on whatsapp, employees were so scared one of them nearly vomitted when they seen him kicking off once in group work chat.
I've told my boss to put it on recorded media when she went postal at me. Skype or bloomberg and I'll let compliance know. Soon put a stop to the outbursts.
 
I've told my boss to put it on recorded media when she went postal at me. Skype or bloomberg and I'll let compliance know. Soon put a stop to the outbursts.
Good stuff mate. My ex boss made staff sign NDA's because he knows he speaks to them like rubbish and also says things that completely contradict his online ''nice guy'' personna.
 
Maybe not from home, but remote working either full time or part time can be done and I think already is for some places. There are some hubs around I think ran by councils where I think desk space is free, but internet and printing isn't provided. My wifes friend got a new job recently that is remote working (don't know if that's permanent or just for Covid) but has to use one of the hubs at least two days a week and found that the internet there is council internet for the staff who run the hubs. So had to use their own mobile internet.

Mind you councils seem to make crazy decisions. The council here doesn't even own it's headquarters. Leased from the university. And used to have buildings it did own half full of staff. Private companies won't keep paying for unused desks.
There used to be (pre covid, not sure if it's still open) some coworking space at the Software Centre in town that was free to use. I know a lad who's been all over the place travelling while working remotely and he reckons in terms of the fact it's free and what they provide it's the best he's used.
 
I started a new job when lockdown started and have mostly worked from home. I hate doing it full-time, as does my boss - it'll be 3 days in, 2 days from home for us.
 
There used to be (pre covid, not sure if it's still open) some coworking space at the Software Centre in town that was free to use. I know a lad who's been all over the place travelling while working remotely and he reckons in terms of the fact it's free and what they provide it's the best he's used.
I kinda wonder how such things work from a company privacy point of view. Since its sort of working in a public space anyone could walk past and see confidential information on a screen. If I went and looked at my wifes work laptop now I could potentially see someones electoral roll details or council tax details.
 
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

I was recently told we only had office space for 25% of our UK workforce even before Covid.

Had no idea but it makes sense. Most are out on client site during the week and WFH on Fridays anyway. Some probably didn’t set foot in the office for months-years on end :lol:
 
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I'm getting to the end of my tether working from home, I don't have much of a social life so I can slowly feel my social skills disappearing and feel anxious around people now (not due to any fear of infection or anything, I'm just not used to it anymore). We're going to work part time from home once we're allowed to return to the office and I think that'll be a good balance but we don't even have a speculative date for returning to the office yet.
 
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.

companies such as Atlassian have initiated a 'work from anywhere' policy, so you can work from anywhere you like. which for them is interesting as they are the main tenant of a massive office tower in sydney which is due to kick off construction any time soon.
 
companies such as Atlassian have initiated a 'work from anywhere' policy, so you can work from anywhere you like. which for them is interesting as they are the main tenant of a massive office tower in sydney which is due to kick off construction any time soon.
Wow ! Brave move !

On the WFA policy I think Malibu might be on the list ......or Wigan.
 
Good stuff mate. My ex boss made staff sign NDA's because he knows he speaks to them like rubbish and also says things that completely contradict his online ''nice guy'' personna.
generally not worth the paper they are written on, but it's a ballache to get it overturned in a court.

I got one overturned a long time ago because i blew the whistle on supplier fraud and corruption at a quango up here. Nasty business and can't blame anyone for keeping their head down instead.
 

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