Working in an office - rights during covid?

74jax

Is he furloughed maybe, is there enough work if he was in the office?  I know you say you have to take up the slack, but is it a full time role you are all taking on, or is it just a few hours more?

bobblebob

74jax said:

Is he furloughed maybe, is there enough work if he was in the office?  I know you say you have to take up the slack, but is it a full time role you are all taking on, or is it just a few hours more?

Full time job and yes its manual work so plenty to do.

oh_really

Given the stage we are at with the covid situation why has the employer not got planned/ agreed systems in place for this situation?

This is a management issue, you focus on your work and crack on.

JamoLew

74jax said:

Is he furloughed maybe, is there enough work if he was in the office?  I know you say you have to take up the slack, but is it a full time role you are all taking on, or is it just a few hours more?

Op says Public Sector office - so furlough is unlikely

The employee needs to get of his backside and go to work or stay at home on unpaid leave -- he's taking the ....

bobblebob

oh_really said:

Given the stage we are at with the covid situation why has the employer not got planned/ agreed systems in place for this situation?

This is a management issue, you focus on your work and crack on.

I agree its a management issue but the staff are the ones suffering as we have twice as much work to do to cover

getmore4less

bobblebob said:

oh_really said:

Given the stage we are at with the covid situation why has the employer not got planned/ agreed systems in place for this situation?

This is a management issue, you focus on your work and crack on.

I agree its a management issue but the staff are the ones suffering as we have twice as much work to do to cover

if you can accommodate this work in the normal hours then there is no problem,  if you need to do extra hours then that is a discussion to resolve or some stuff should just not get done.

if staff  are managing to get the work done then it is clear they need one person less and that should not go unnoticed for long.

LittleVoice

unforeseen said:

If the workplace is covid secure there is absolutely no reason why the employee should not attend work. 
Vulnerable people at home is not a good reason. Even extremely vulnerable people at home is not a reason. Lots of people in those groups are now back at work.
Has the employee been on furlough and got used to the easy life and just wants it to continue? 
As said above, offer him unpaid leave or to take whatever leave he has remaining. He wants to self-isolate from choice and there is no help available for people who do that. Thlack of money will eventually make him see sense

And point out that taking unpaid leave means he will not accrue his full holiday entitlement for the year as he won't have worked/been furloughed for the length of time needed to accrue the full entitlement.  [At least that is what should be the case but the public sector may be more generous in this as well as other ways.]

TELLIT01

Although I accept that it's annoying, this is a situation for management to deal with. There may be reasons unknown to the OP, and it's really none of their business.   All the OP can do is to continue doing their job in the normal way.  If work remains uncompleted at the end of the day simply advise the manager of the situation.  It is not a problem for the employee to address.

oh_really

bobblebob said:

I agree its a management issue but the staff are the ones suffering as we have twice as much work to do to cover

But you don't have twice the work, you have the same amount. There is only 8 hours in the working day (assuming), and you work away at your normal workrate, if this causes jobs to backlog then management will notice and have to deal with the situation, but your work load should not be affected by this.

Is your work self managed or assigned to you?

bobblebob

oh_really said:

bobblebob said:

I agree its a management issue but the staff are the ones suffering as we have twice as much work to do to cover

But you don't have twice the work, you have the same amount. There is only 8 hours in the working day (assuming), and you work away at your normal workrate, if this causes jobs to backlog then management will notice and have to deal with the situation, but your work load should not be affected by this.

Is your work self managed or assigned to you?

Self managed. I agree with what you say, but its us that have to deal with the backlog of work come deadline days. Yes if it doesnt get finished its not on us, thats a management issue. But i think the few of us in the office want to do the best we can and will muddle through rather than risk not meeting deadlines, if that makes sense.

Maybe letting things go unfinished is the best solution though, make them take notice