Remote Working & Commute

badmemory

As you are already working remotely I don't think it really matters if you are 5 miles down the road or 300 miles up the motorway.  It is just how often your employer feels happy with you being on the premises or not being on the premises.  It will be less disruptive to you & probably them to do say 3 consecutive days a month in the office & to have people know that you will be there in person for those three days rather than just random days.

Undervalued

Whiterose23 said:

Isthisforreal99 said:

Has your employer consider the taxation implications of paying for you to stay over night on what is now an extended commute to work.

Yes :-).

Strange how everyone is so hung up on the fact I may be switching to a remote working/commuting job rather than helping with my question which is about the practicalities of remote/office working.

This is a discussion forum and not restricted to answering specific questions. 

Still less it is restricted to only giving the answer you want to hear!

The discussion is for the benefit of all that read it, not just the person who made the opening post.

TELLIT01

If the company has said it will cover hotel costs why not look at the possibility of 4 days, twice a month?  That still gives the equivalent of 2 days per week.

born_again

Whiterose23 said:

born_again said:

As I said same as now, or you may find a lot of resentment from your fellow workers.

Unfortunately that is clearly not possible from a distance of 280 miles. And as I’ve already pointed out, this arrangement isn’t entirely unusual in our workforce and there is already a variety of different arrangements for office attendance based on other people’s circumstances/positions. I have a solid reason that is easily justifiable and my coworkers are aware and fully supportive.
Clearly you are not a supporter of homeworking or flexibility but it works for many, including the company I work for.

Got that one wrong. WFH saves a fortune in costs of commuting. 

If your company is happy that is all that matters. Hope you get what you want 👍

Just has to be fair to all.
Seen people that worked in office pre covid, try to argue that they can't go back into the office, even though they still live in the same place.

Whiterose23

TELLIT01 said:

If the company has said it will cover hotel costs why not look at the possibility of 4 days, twice a month?  That still gives the equivalent of 2 days per week.

I’ve been asked to put forward my views on what would work for me. I think a 5/6 hour journey there and back twice a month would be too much/too expensive for myself (fuel) and probably the company (hotel) as well. 

Whiterose23

Undervalued said:

Whiterose23 said:

Isthisforreal99 said:

Has your employer consider the taxation implications of paying for you to stay over night on what is now an extended commute to work.

Yes :-).

Strange how everyone is so hung up on the fact I may be switching to a remote working/commuting job rather than helping with my question which is about the practicalities of remote/office working.

This is a discussion forum and not restricted to answering specific questions. 

Still less it is restricted to only giving the answer you want to hear!

The discussion is for the benefit of all that read it, not just the person who made the opening post.

No restrictions of course but anyone reading my post might actually be interested in seeing a response that relates to said question; I merely pointed out that the responses are very ‘hung up’ on the fact I would be working remotely rather than in the office when what I’m actually asking is for views/experiences on long commutes and the practicalities. Clearly the subject of remote working seems to fire some people up.

Whiterose23

badmemory said:

As you are already working remotely I don't think it really matters if you are 5 miles down the road or 300 miles up the motorway.  It is just how often your employer feels happy with you being on the premises or not being on the premises.  It will be less disruptive to you & probably them to do say 3 consecutive days a month in the office & to have people know that you will be there in person for those three days rather than just random days.

Thank you for your response. I think this makes a lot of sense. 

sheramber

You have to put forward what spouts you, not what suits other 

Everybody has their own position of what would be  reasonable  in their opinion, which is all they can give you. 

You don’t like these opinions so go ahead with what suits you and open negotiations with your employer, if necessary. 

kimwp

For me, it's about the value of being in the office. There are some things I go in for - getting to know colleagues and customers, meetings where face to face is valuable eg where we are creating together. And there are things I don't think are worth going in for - briefings, tech presentations, sitting in front of a compute on a call.

So I think you should consider it from the point of view of where is the value to your company and to you of being in the office and can you make that the same with working remotely. Can you build in/schedule a team working half day,  team retrospectives and planning sessions,  once a month and really get value from the time you (and others) are in the office, for example? Being in the office once every two weeks doesn't seem unreasonable tbh if there is value in it.

But as a poster says above, work out what you are willing to offer and if it's not what the company are willing to accept, then go from there. 

Commuting by train might be easier in you than a 5-6 hour drive, but then there's the risk of delays.

Whiterose23

kimwp said:

For me, it's about the value of being in the office. There are some things I go in for - getting to know colleagues and customers, meetings where face to face is valuable eg where we are creating together. And there are things I don't think are worth going in for - briefings, tech presentations, sitting in front of a compute on a call.

So I think you should consider it from the point of view of where is the value to your company and to you of being in the office and can you make that the same with working remotely. Can you build in/schedule a team working half day,  team retrospectives and planning sessions,  once a month and really get value from the time you (and others) are in the office, for example? Being in the office once every two weeks doesn't seem unreasonable tbh if there is value in it.

But as a poster says above, work out what you are willing to offer and if it's not what the company are willing to accept, then go from there. 

Commuting by train might be easier in you than a 5-6 hour drive, but then there's the risk of delays.

Thank you; I think every two weeks would be a bit much for a 5/6 hour drive plus the cost of fuel but it would work once a month for sure and I can arrange team days as well. I would love to commute by train but the price is horrendous.