Staff requests to work from home
Discussion
Quandary:
Most of our office staff are now back. WFH isn't viable for most of our staff as they need the interaction with production for authorising and signing off jobs.
So, we're socially distancing etc etc but we have members of staff that are now wishing to go on holiday (to Countries on the restricted list) whereby they have to self isolate upon their return.
Said staff have asked to work from home for their quarantine period which is very much less than ideal and we've stated that we only allowed WFH when the Country was in lock down as an emergency measure.
Do you allow them to work from home (there's uproar by other members of staff that have asked to generally work from home but we've declined - stating the reasons above), ask them to use their holiday entitlement or take unpaid leave for the quarantine period?
Thoughts?
Most of our office staff are now back. WFH isn't viable for most of our staff as they need the interaction with production for authorising and signing off jobs.
So, we're socially distancing etc etc but we have members of staff that are now wishing to go on holiday (to Countries on the restricted list) whereby they have to self isolate upon their return.
Said staff have asked to work from home for their quarantine period which is very much less than ideal and we've stated that we only allowed WFH when the Country was in lock down as an emergency measure.
Do you allow them to work from home (there's uproar by other members of staff that have asked to generally work from home but we've declined - stating the reasons above), ask them to use their holiday entitlement or take unpaid leave for the quarantine period?
Thoughts?
It’s a tricky one and you’ll get a mixed bag on here.
If you are offering a safe working environment AND the business is at a disadvantage when WFH.
Id be saying that any quarantine (when self inflicted) needs to be taken as leave or unpaid.
Otherwise you risk opening a whole can of worms.
All of my staff have holidayed in the UK this year, apart from one who ended up flying all over the continent to get home when various measures came into play. We enforced quarantine at home (using leave).
Many on here will say this is tight (typically employees and not employers), however (in my business) it’s impossible for the majority of roles to be carried out as effectively at home. Thus, why should the business pay said person 100% when they are unable to perform their role to full capacity and actually create headache for other staff via comms restrictions etc.
If you are offering a safe working environment AND the business is at a disadvantage when WFH.
Id be saying that any quarantine (when self inflicted) needs to be taken as leave or unpaid.
Otherwise you risk opening a whole can of worms.
All of my staff have holidayed in the UK this year, apart from one who ended up flying all over the continent to get home when various measures came into play. We enforced quarantine at home (using leave).
Many on here will say this is tight (typically employees and not employers), however (in my business) it’s impossible for the majority of roles to be carried out as effectively at home. Thus, why should the business pay said person 100% when they are unable to perform their role to full capacity and actually create headache for other staff via comms restrictions etc.
Edited by russy01 on Thursday 17th September 19:17
russy01 said:
It’s a tricky one and you’ll get a mixed bag on here.
If you are offering a safe working environment AND the business is at a disadvantage when WFH.
Id be saying that any quarantine (when self inflicted) needs to be taken as leave or unpaid.
Otherwise you risk opening a whole can of worms.
Agreed.If you are offering a safe working environment AND the business is at a disadvantage when WFH.
Id be saying that any quarantine (when self inflicted) needs to be taken as leave or unpaid.
Otherwise you risk opening a whole can of worms.
WFH, with pay. Unless they are interacting with the product physically I don’t see why they can’t WFH? (Especially when they have done during lockdown).
What interaction do they actually NEED, not you want. I can manage to qualify aircraft suppliers from home and haven’t been into work or on a supplier site since March.
If you don’t pay them then surely they’ll just go on the sick and get paid? (Unless you are one of those backwards places that doesn’t pay proper sick pay).
What interaction do they actually NEED, not you want. I can manage to qualify aircraft suppliers from home and haven’t been into work or on a supplier site since March.
If you don’t pay them then surely they’ll just go on the sick and get paid? (Unless you are one of those backwards places that doesn’t pay proper sick pay).
russy01 said:
It’s a tricky one and you’ll get a mixed bag on here.
If you are offering a safe working environment AND the business is at a disadvantage when WFH.
Id be saying that any quarantine (when self inflicted) needs to be taken as leave or unpaid.
Otherwise you risk opening a whole can of worms.
This, otherwise you’ll have real issues with other employees wanting to do so.
If you are offering a safe working environment AND the business is at a disadvantage when WFH.
Id be saying that any quarantine (when self inflicted) needs to be taken as leave or unpaid.
Otherwise you risk opening a whole can of worms.
This, otherwise you’ll have real issues with other employees wanting to do so.
that would be pantsDoubleD said:
What interaction with production do the office staff actually need?
Jobs require signing off in production. We set up a WhatsApp group during lockdown but this was hap hazard as many staff didn't respond immediately to productions requests for verification of the job. This led production staff to be sat about waiting for up to an hour or so before the staff that were working from home replied. Often production called their mobile number for clarity but phones weren't answered.Production staff were obviously upset that the office staff were WFH and not responding in a timely manner. Cost the business alot of time and money
[quote=Lord.Vader they’ll just go on the sick and get paid? (Unless you are one of those backwards places that doesn’t pay proper sick pay).
[/quote]
We don't pay sick p[ay. We're an SME. Well, sick pay is at Director discretion as we used to have a problem on Mondays (young workforce) with staff not turning up after a heavy weekend. This stopped when we ceased to pay sick pay
[/quote]
We don't pay sick p[ay. We're an SME. Well, sick pay is at Director discretion as we used to have a problem on Mondays (young workforce) with staff not turning up after a heavy weekend. This stopped when we ceased to pay sick pay
Lord.Vader said:
WFH, with pay. Unless they are interacting with the product physically I don’t see why they can’t WFH? (Especially when they have done during lockdown).
What interaction do they actually NEED, not you want. I can manage to qualify aircraft suppliers from home and haven’t been into work or on a supplier site since March.
If you don’t pay them then surely they’ll just go on the sick and get paid? (Unless you are one of those backwards places that doesn’t pay proper sick pay).
It can’t be compared to lockdown. Many businesses had no option but to adapt and allow WFH to try and keep afloat - well aware of possible drops in productivity in those roles.What interaction do they actually NEED, not you want. I can manage to qualify aircraft suppliers from home and haven’t been into work or on a supplier site since March.
If you don’t pay them then surely they’ll just go on the sick and get paid? (Unless you are one of those backwards places that doesn’t pay proper sick pay).
Now we’re out of lockdown and the employer has made efforts to ensure a safe working environment - why should they accept possible drops in productivity just because somebody wants to go on holiday to a restricted destination.
IF the role can be carried out at home with ZERO drop in productivity across the business, then yes allow it. But, if not then it’s the employers call.
Worth noting that said member of staff was furloughed and only been back for three weeks - again this is upsetting the guys that had to work all the way through.
They're travelling to a European Country which the UK advises no travel unless essential) and have no travel insurance. The problem is that we've had other staff requests to WFH that we've had to refuse but this person (who is reasonably senior and in charge of a small team) is adamant that they're going on holiday.
Is it really acceptable that the business should pick up the cost, p
s off other staff members and subsequently open the floodgates for other WFH requests.In an ideal world, i'd let them work from home but in our very fast, deadline driven environment it's essential that they are in work.
It's akin to having all the production staff working on the line but QA and Production Managers are WFH
russy01 said:
IF the role can be carried out at home with ZERO drop in productivity across the business, then yes allow it. But, if not then it’s the employers call.
At a real push we have to allow it - if Govt advice is of such (lockdown) otherwise we'd go bust. The main issue is that it sets the benchmark for all the other staff. We will have countless "that person did it so why can't i?"JonChalk said:
russy01 said:
It’s a tricky one and you’ll get a mixed bag on here.
If you are offering a safe working environment AND the business is at a disadvantage when WFH.
Id be saying that any quarantine (when self inflicted) needs to be taken as leave or unpaid.
Otherwise you risk opening a whole can of worms.
Agreed.If you are offering a safe working environment AND the business is at a disadvantage when WFH.
Id be saying that any quarantine (when self inflicted) needs to be taken as leave or unpaid.
Otherwise you risk opening a whole can of worms.
Candellara said:
DoubleD said:
What interaction with production do the office staff actually need?
Jobs require signing off in production. We set up a WhatsApp group during lockdown but this was hap hazard as many staff didn't respond immediately to productions requests for verification of the job. This led production staff to be sat about waiting for up to an hour or so before the staff that were working from home replied. Often production called their mobile number for clarity but phones weren't answered.Production staff were obviously upset that the office staff were WFH and not responding in a timely manner. Cost the business alot of time and money
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