A few years back, working from home seemed like a novel idea, a rare treat. Now, it’s commonplace for thousands of people around the country.
As things have been reopening, the complications around life after working from home are starting to emerge, and we got an email into dermotanddave@todayfm.com that sums up where a lot of people are at.
Hi Dermot & Dave.
First of all I love the show!!
I wanted to ask a question to see if you, the experts, or the lovely listeners have any advice. I've been in a job for 20 months that I started mid covid.
For the first 9 months, I was covering someone’s maternity leave but then they asked me to stay in a new role as I had skills they were missing in the team.
I took the role & number one benefit I asked for was flexibility around remote working.
My boss said that he had no issue with this and I could do all working from home, all in the office or a combo.
Now he has asked me to return to the office full time Monday-Friday 9-5. I have 2 kids in crèche & school/after school.
I need to do school collection & afterschool drop off in my lunch break which would not be possible if I was in the office due to its location.
My boss is insisting I come into work & ignoring the agreement we had when I took the job.
They say there will be some remote working options offered to the whole company "at a later" date.
I am happy to work in the office 2.5 days per week as my partner can share the school pickups etc. but they will not agree to this now.
All other employees who were working remotely during covid have returned to the office but to my knowledge they were not offered flexible working conditions.
I now feel like the 'bold child' of the company who won't just comply. I would love to know if anyone has some advice here re: how I should proceed.
To get some advice, Dermot and Dave were joined by TikTok star, and top employment lawyer, Richard Grogan.
You can catch the chat by clicking play above
