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

Humdinger1

TELLIT01 said:

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.

This isn't common-or-garden flexible working though,  is it?  A global pandemic changes things, just slightly? The advice is to work from home if at all possible; you don't  have to make a case as for flexible working.  Employer has duty of care to its staff; it may need to look up from whatever it's doing and understand its place in the world....

ReadingTim

Humdinger1 said:

This isn't common-or-garden flexible working though,  is it?  A global pandemic changes things, just slightly? The advice is to work from home if at all possible; you don't  have to make a case as for flexible working.  Employer may need to look up from whatever it's doing and understand its place in the world....

You're conflating the two issues.  Yes, government advice is to work from home at present, so you have a case, for as long as the government advice remains in place, but your wife will have to go back when it all blows over.  

If, as it seems, she's making a permanent request, then coronavirus has absolutely no bearing on the request whatsoever, and is simply an opportunistic tactic on your part, which has been spotted by the boss, and declined, as is perfectly legal.  

Sorry this isn't what you want to hear, but frankly, she hasn't a leg to stand on, regardless of the whataboutery you spin it with.    

Undervalued

Humdinger1 said:

This isn't common-or-garden flexible working though,  is it?  A global pandemic changes things, just slightly? The advice is to work from home if at all possible; you don't  have to make a case as for flexible working.  

No.
At the moment it is advice, nothing more. That may change but it hasn't yet.

spiritus

ReadingTim said:

Humdinger1 said:

This isn't common-or-garden flexible working though,  is it?  A global pandemic changes things, just slightly? The advice is to work from home if at all possible; you don't  have to make a case as for flexible working.  Employer may need to look up from whatever it's doing and understand its place in the world....

You're conflating the two issues.  Yes, government advice is to work from home at present, so you have a case, for as long as the government advice remains in place, but your wife will have to go back when it all blows over.  

If, as it seems, she's making a permanent request, then coronavirus has absolutely no bearing on the request whatsoever, and is simply an opportunistic tactic on your part, which has been spotted by the boss, and declined, as is perfectly legal.  

Sorry this isn't what you want to hear, but frankly, she hasn't a leg to stand on, regardless of the whataboutery you spin it with.    

I am sorry if I did not make this very clear but my wife was not making a permanent request. She was asking if she could work from home whilst the pandemic presents a risk and whilst the government advice is to work from home if it is possible.

Ozzuk

Ultimately until it becomes mandated by Government, employers need to balance the needs of the employee with the needs of the business.  Sometimes it just isn't feasible to send people home without risking the business - and I'm sure your wife would want a job to come back to.  Employers need to consider employees but it works both way.

TELLIT01

spiritus said:

ReadingTim said:

Humdinger1 said:

This isn't common-or-garden flexible working though,  is it?  A global pandemic changes things, just slightly? The advice is to work from home if at all possible; you don't  have to make a case as for flexible working.  Employer may need to look up from whatever it's doing and understand its place in the world....

You're conflating the two issues.  Yes, government advice is to work from home at present, so you have a case, for as long as the government advice remains in place, but your wife will have to go back when it all blows over.  

If, as it seems, she's making a permanent request, then coronavirus has absolutely no bearing on the request whatsoever, and is simply an opportunistic tactic on your part, which has been spotted by the boss, and declined, as is perfectly legal.  

Sorry this isn't what you want to hear, but frankly, she hasn't a leg to stand on, regardless of the whataboutery you spin it with.    

I am sorry if I did not make this very clear but my wife was not making a permanent request. She was asking if she could work from home whilst the pandemic presents a risk and whilst the government advice is to work from home if it is possible.

You certainly didn't make it clear it was only a temporary request.  You simply said your wife could easily do her job from home and wanted that to be the full time situation.

Savvy_Sue

There is an argument that whether or not your wife is WFH, your MIL should be keeping herself to herself, so it makes no difference what your wife is doing, she shouldn't be visiting anyway?

spiritus

TELLIT01 said:

spiritus said:

ReadingTim said:

Humdinger1 said:

This isn't common-or-garden flexible working though,  is it?  A global pandemic changes things, just slightly? The advice is to work from home if at all possible; you don't  have to make a case as for flexible working.  Employer may need to look up from whatever it's doing and understand its place in the world....

You're conflating the two issues.  Yes, government advice is to work from home at present, so you have a case, for as long as the government advice remains in place, but your wife will have to go back when it all blows over.  

If, as it seems, she's making a permanent request, then coronavirus has absolutely no bearing on the request whatsoever, and is simply an opportunistic tactic on your part, which has been spotted by the boss, and declined, as is perfectly legal.  

Sorry this isn't what you want to hear, but frankly, she hasn't a leg to stand on, regardless of the whataboutery you spin it with.    

I am sorry if I did not make this very clear but my wife was not making a permanent request. She was asking if she could work from home whilst the pandemic presents a risk and whilst the government advice is to work from home if it is possible.

You certainly didn't make it clear it was only a temporary request.  You simply said your wife could easily do her job from home and wanted that to be the full time situation.

You're right in that I did not make it clear it was a temporary request but I believed the implied suggestion was obviously Coronavirus-related due to the timing of my post and the talk about working from home being splashed across our TV screens and newspapers but yes.....I didn't spelll that out.

Regarding what you said I said. I am afraid you are putting words into my mouth. I did not say my wife wanted that to be the full time situation

Teaandscones

I have a similar problem as I have caring responsibilities for an elderly mother. I can work from home but my employer won't allow it because it isn't possible for others.  Fortunately I could walk out if necessary though I don't want to as I generally enjoy the work and have a good team, but I won't put my mother's life at risk for some macho posturing by my employer.

TBagpuss

Mickey666 said:

Too many bosses are control-freaks who don’t trust their staff if they can’t see them.  It’s pathetic.
People should be managed by what they deliver and when, not how many hours they spend in the office.  Enlightened companies don’t care how their employees work as long as they do the job they’re paid for.  This boss is clearly a dinosaur and I’d be looking for a new one, pronto.

Yes, employers *should* be able to trust staff and in cases where the employees can and do manage their own workloads effectively, good managers let them. However, there are also plenty of employees who don't, and and do need more management. Again, good employers / managers generally know which of their employees fit into which category, but it isn't a;ways easy, or possible,  to treat them differently without facing claims of discrimination. Trust and responsibility go two ways.