Mum Being Made To Work

73blueeyes

Can I have some advice please.  My mother is in her 60's and is being told she as to work regardless.  She works in an office within HR for a company that class themselves as online sales.  She has the ability to work from home but they will not let her do so regardless.  Is there anything she can do as she is worried due to her age etc.....

Thanks in advance

elsien

Where abouts in her 60s is she - closer to 60 or 70?
Any underlying health conditions or vulnerabilities? 

7Phil

I hope that this type of anti-WFH attitude will start to turn around soon. It 2019-thinking.

The government and medical advice is very crystal clear. "You must work from home if you can".
Your Mum's best bet is to put together a solid argument that she can productively work from home and do it in writing. If it were me I would outline that I can work from home safely (I have a comfortable chair and any IT equipment I need; I have a reliable broadband connection to work remotely; I have access to light and ventilation in my working area, etc). She may even propose an adjusted working rhythm such as calling in once a day at a set time to update on work status and tasks.

It may sound unfair that she has to argue her case for her own safety when other employers are doing it automatically but first up I think her best bet for quick action would be to appeal to their senses and show that working from home is 100% workable plus compliant with government advice.
Doing it in a way that keeps the employer on-side is the best shot first up. They would have a very hard time debunking her argument.

LilElvis

7Phil said:

I hope that this type of anti-WFH attitude will start to turn around soon. It 2019-thinking.

The government and medical advice is very crystal clear. "You must work from home if you can".
Your Mum's best bet is to put together a solid argument that she can productively work from home and do it in writing. If it were me I would outline that I can work from home safely (I have a comfortable chair and any IT equipment I need; I have a reliable broadband connection to work remotely; I have access to light and ventilation in my working area, etc). She may even propose an adjusted working rhythm such as calling in once a day at a set time to update on work status and tasks.

It may sound unfair that she has to argue her case for her own safety when other employers are doing it automatically but first up I think her best bet for quick action would be to appeal to their senses and show that working from home is 100% workable plus compliant with government advice.
Doing it in a way that keeps the employer on-side is the best shot first up. They would have a very hard time debunking her argument.

The major sticking point may well be that she works in Human Resources and the potential issues regarding GDPR. 

zagfles

LilElvis said:

7Phil said:

I hope that this type of anti-WFH attitude will start to turn around soon. It 2019-thinking.

The government and medical advice is very crystal clear. "You must work from home if you can".
Your Mum's best bet is to put together a solid argument that she can productively work from home and do it in writing. If it were me I would outline that I can work from home safely (I have a comfortable chair and any IT equipment I need; I have a reliable broadband connection to work remotely; I have access to light and ventilation in my working area, etc). She may even propose an adjusted working rhythm such as calling in once a day at a set time to update on work status and tasks.

It may sound unfair that she has to argue her case for her own safety when other employers are doing it automatically but first up I think her best bet for quick action would be to appeal to their senses and show that working from home is 100% workable plus compliant with government advice.
Doing it in a way that keeps the employer on-side is the best shot first up. They would have a very hard time debunking her argument.

The major sticking point may well be that she works in Human Resources and the potential issues regarding GDPR. 

GDPR is becoming the new "data protection act" - something no-one understands but is constantly trotted out as an excuse as to why something can't be done. Lots of people work from home with sensitive data, I've done a GDPR course and there was nothing in it saying working from home breaks the rules, just sensible precautions should be taken whereever you're working.

Jeremy535897

It is the new Data Protection Act. GDPR is"General Data Protection Regulation", a piece of EU legislation incorporated into UK law (with some changes) in the Data Protection Act 2018. That takes nothing away from your point though. It's like quoting Health and Safety to stop children playing conkers, in the days when they could get near enough to each other to do so.

7Phil

Ok, as an example - if an HR worker was taking home the workforce's payroll on a USB stick I would be seriously worried.

An employer needs to maintain data security and their obligations under all laws, including GDPR. If they cannot let employees work from home due to being unable to protect themselves under law then that is how it is. The employees ability to work from home is then affected.

I could go on in many directions here and don't even want to start. There are so many scenarios.

As an employer I would want to build a robust plan to continue business in the event of a global pandemic (such as this). If my HR workers, and any other key workers cannot do their jobs in and process vital systems then that could cost the business dearly.

zagfles

7Phil said:

Ok, as an example - if an HR worker was taking home the workforce's payroll on a USB stick I would be seriously worried.

An employer needs to maintain data security and their obligations under all laws, including GDPR. If they cannot let employees work from home due to being unable to protect themselves under law then that is how it is. The employees ability to work from home is then affected.

I could go on in many directions here and don't even want to start. There are so many scenarios.

As an employer I would want to build a robust plan to continue business in the event of a global pandemic (such as this). If my HR workers, and any other key workers cannot do their jobs in and process vital systems then that could cost the business dearly.

The HR workers in my company are working at home. Obviously you avoid doing stupid things like putting payroll data unencrypted on a USB stick, there are lots of ways of securely handling and transporting data. If the company hasn't got a DR plan eg for if the workplace burnt down, that will breach the GDPR as it includes provision for making sure data is available.