Boss refuses wife's request to work from home even though it is entirely feasible

spiritus

My wife could easily work from home and due to having an elderly mother in law she asked her boss if she could stay at home to do her job. She currently works two days a week from home already and she's 100% confident the work will not suffer at all.

However, her boss has just point blanked refused.Insisting that he needs her to be in the office and accusing her of putting the blame on him should anything be passed to my mother.

I presume at this moment in time we are all still reliant on boss's discretion?

Undervalued

spiritus said:

My wife could easily work from home and due to having an elderly mother in law she asked her boss if she could stay at home to do her job. She currently works two days a week from home already and she's 100% confident the work will not suffer at all.

However, her boss has just point blanked refused.Insisting that he needs her to be in the office and accusing her of putting the blame on him should anything be passed to my mother.

I presume at this moment in time we are all still reliant on boss's discretion?

Yes...........

TELLIT01

The employer has the final say on requests for flexible working.  If they deem it necessary for a person to spend x% of their working week in the office for business reasons they are within their rights.  It would seem that your wife is attempting to hold a gun to the bosses head by using the mother-in-law as a bargaining tool.

spiritus

TELLIT01 said:

It would seem that your wife is attempting to hold a gun to the bosses head by using the mother-in-law as a bargaining tool.

Or......she is genuinely concerned about my mother and asked the question of her boss rather than demanding.
Seeing as I know all the facts and you don't would mean I know better than you about my wife's intentions but thanks for making such a hasty judgement call

KatrinaWaves

If she is worried about her contact with your mother then it is that she needs to cease until she feels she is no longer a risk. 

Her work will not see her seeing her MIL as a priority over work. Most people have an elderly or vulnerable family member or friend. Until things are put down in law by the government regarding this then employers do not have to do anything. 

Undervalued

spiritus said:

TELLIT01 said:

It would seem that your wife is attempting to hold a gun to the bosses head by using the mother-in-law as a bargaining tool.

Or......she is genuinely concerned about my mother and asked the question of her boss rather than demanding.
Seeing as I know all the facts and you don't would mean I know better than you about my wife's intentions but thanks for making such a hasty judgement call

But you don't know, certainly not first hand, the reasons for the boss's point of view. You insist it is "entirely feasible" whilst the boss clearly feels otherwise.

TELLIT01

spiritus said:

TELLIT01 said:

It would seem that your wife is attempting to hold a gun to the bosses head by using the mother-in-law as a bargaining tool.

Or......she is genuinely concerned about my mother and asked the question of her boss rather than demanding.
Seeing as I know all the facts and you don't would mean I know better than you about my wife's intentions but thanks for making such a hasty judgement call

With respect, your initial post says that the boss accused her of putting the blame on him if anything happened to the m-i-l.  There must have been some basis for that comment being made.

Malthusian

TELLIT01 said:

spiritus said:

TELLIT01 said:

It would seem that your wife is attempting to hold a gun to the bosses head by using the mother-in-law as a bargaining tool.

Or......she is genuinely concerned about my mother and asked the question of her boss rather than demanding.
Seeing as I know all the facts and you don't would mean I know better than you about my wife's intentions but thanks for making such a hasty judgement call

With respect, your initial post says that the boss accused her of putting the blame on him if anything happened to the m-i-l.  There must have been some basis for that comment being made.

Why? People make stupid and precious comments all the time.

TBagpuss

Does you mother live with you? 

spiritus

TELLIT01 said:

spiritus said:

TELLIT01 said:

It would seem that your wife is attempting to hold a gun to the bosses head by using the mother-in-law as a bargaining tool.

Or......she is genuinely concerned about my mother and asked the question of her boss rather than demanding.
Seeing as I know all the facts and you don't would mean I know better than you about my wife's intentions but thanks for making such a hasty judgement call

With respect, your initial post says that the boss accused her of putting the blame on him if anything happened to the m-i-l.  There must have been some basis for that comment being made.

Not really. My wife mentioned that she is concerned about being exposed and only asked if he might agree to her request. He reacted disproportionately to her request suggesting that the mention of her M.I.L was emotional blackmail.....which is wasn't..it was just stating facts.

I quit my job last month to become a carer for mum who lives nearby.

Undervalued

spiritus said:

TELLIT01 said:

spiritus said:

TELLIT01 said:

It would seem that your wife is attempting to hold a gun to the bosses head by using the mother-in-law as a bargaining tool.

Or......she is genuinely concerned about my mother and asked the question of her boss rather than demanding.
Seeing as I know all the facts and you don't would mean I know better than you about my wife's intentions but thanks for making such a hasty judgement call

With respect, your initial post says that the boss accused her of putting the blame on him if anything happened to the m-i-l.  There must have been some basis for that comment being made.

Not really. My wife mentioned that she is concerned about being exposed and only asked if he might agree to her request. He reacted disproportionately to her request suggesting that the mention of her M.I.L was emotional blackmail.....which is wasn't..it was just stating facts.

I quit my job last month to become a carer for mum who lives nearby.

You (and / or your wife) feel his reaction was "disproportionate" whereas he felt she was attempting "emotional blackmail".

Clearly a great working relationship developing!

I suspect, like most things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle!