Working From Home Megathread

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120332541#Comment_120332541

What's it got to with WFH or days in the office?

TaurenDruid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120332323#Comment_120332323

Yeah, you quoted the wrong post, then. And now you mention it, yeah, I think I remember you from a covid thread, you were all anti-vaxx, "covid isn't all that bad, really, is it," IIRC.

Anchor days that bring a whole team in together, when Covid is still around, are indeed dumb. I'm aware of places that have had all-hands meetings in unventilated rooms, then had 80% of staff sick, a couple of days later. Just colds and coughs, not Covid, but still. It's idiotic. Especially when it could have been a Zoom.

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120332554#Comment_120332554

Ask the poster who brought it up

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120332612#Comment_120332612

You don't remember me very well then I was never anti vaxx, or anything remotely like it. But interesting to see people still using fear of covid as a shield against going to an office, I presume you don't socialise either then?

Flinty997

I don't really miss an office full of people coughing, sniffling and sneezing on each other. Same on the train.

TaurenDruid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120332812#Comment_120332812

Find another tree to bark up. I've gone to the office at least twice a week since Covid started. Getting all of a team to sit in the one room, or all of an organisation to sit in one, when there is a disease like Covid around, is dumb. The comparison to socialising is in no way valid.

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120332201#Comment_120332201

Ahhh, I'm the one who said I don't have any hard data. You're the one who claimed that you do.

If any reader has heard of a study which looks at probation failure rates in WFH or blended-working companies, please do post a link. I'm interested in the topic.

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120332892#Comment_120332892

Why invalid? You are the one bringing covid up so it's your tree.

A disease like covid has been around for as long as any of us have worked in offices and it generally went OK, why is it different now given what we know about how serious covid actually is and given most people have had 3 or 4 vaccinations.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120333165#Comment_120333165

Never been a global pandemic or work from home edict my entire working life. When was the last one you experienced?

Sick leave dramatically declined during the lockdown. Another positive of WFH.

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120333392#Comment_120333392

Read what i posted and maybe reply to that instead of making up something you want to reply to.

and i would wager sick leave is well down anywhere now that people have the facility to WFH as you need to be really sick not to work rather than too unwell to present at the office. Some people probably dont see that as a positive.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120333448#Comment_120333448

I'll take that as a no there hasn't been pandemic in your lifetime.

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120333462#Comment_120333462

true to form,

and of course there has been a pandemic in my lifetime, and yours too, several, you just didnt have pandemic fever before covid.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120333542#Comment_120333542

The problem is not pandemics its being unable to move past victorian work practices.

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120333630#Comment_120333630

I'm sure the Victorians would be very happy in our air-conditioned offices from 9-5 with food, coffee, plumbed loos and the rest.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120333634#Comment_120333634

9-5 is something from 1800s. One research study suggested only about 6% of people in the UK work a 9-5.  

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120333668#Comment_120333668

8-4, 9-5 you know what i mean, you are moving the goalposts around so much im not sure what sport this is any more,

the point is the victorians would have loved a 35 hour work week.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120333706#Comment_120333706

The context is WFH thread, point was simple, obsolete work practices, and you went straight there and confirmed it.

The office isn't obsolete, as much as people in this thread want it to be. Its trending the other direction too, most people I know are back to 2/3 days in the office. I think some of the people moving 2-3 hours away from their workplace were pretty shortsighted. Though fully remote work is definitely an option in some industries

Flinty997

All of this is moot now.

Despite all the data about the benefits of WFH. Its going to be overruled by people stuck in tired old work practices.

So we'll be back to peak time traffic everyone rushing for work school and college, or home at the same time.

Dodge

I haven’t see too many say the office is obsolete to be fair. Apart from a few extremists, it’s pretty much established now that the standard work pattern for most office based roles is sometime in an office and sometime working from home

The “sometime” varies from industry to industry and from role to role but everything has been tried and tested at this stage. Some will have preferences on either side of the debate but it’s been settled IMO. You’re literally never going to make everybody happy when it comes to work situations, especially in large scale organisations

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120333761#Comment_120333761

This is not an anti office thread its a WFH thread. Just because you for something, doesn't mean you're against everything else. Somethings work better in the office. But I dislike dumb rules, and much of the anti wfh argument is dumb rules and bad work practises.

TaurenDruid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120333165#Comment_120333165

"Barking up the wrong tree" was the response to you saying I was using it as an excuse to avoid office work. And I pointed out I've been working in the office for a minimum two days a week since Covid began.

A comparison with anchor days in the office and socialising is absolutely invalid. My employer saying "You have to be in the office on a Tuesday and Thursday, because reasons" means I have no say in the matter, I have to attend the office. Regardless of my or colleagues' vaccination status, or personal circumstances such as underlying medical conditions, living with vulnerable people, or how well or poorly ventilated the office is, etc.

Me deciding to go to the pub or accept an invite somewhere is entirely optional - I can decide whether I want to go or not depending on the risk - the people, the venue, how crowded it's likely to be, how well ventilated it is, etc. (I've accepted the vast majority of invites since Covid because Christ, **** Covid! I have declined a couple or suggested alternative venues because sweaty, unventilated venues don't appeal to me at the best of times, but most times I've gone '****, yeah, I'm not missing that gig!')

Over 40s/immunocompromised are on three vaccinations at the moment? I think? The majority of my team are under 40.

A disease like Covid has not been around for as long as any of us have worked in offices. People didn't die from coughs and colds. Long Covid is absolutely a thing. I know a few people stuck with it, and it's no joke.

TaurenDruid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120333017#Comment_120333017

I do have hard data - hires in the teams I've worked in, prior to and after Covid.

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120334373#Comment_120334373

People die from the flu, so yes a disease 'like' covid has been around. Given what we now know about Covid and the level of vaccination out there its not a barrier to put up to attending a workplace unless you genuinely have an underlying health issue.

Anchor days make perfect sense, if you are going to have people in an office situation in the first place it makes sense that they are there at the same time as people they work with.

TaurenDruid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120333392#Comment_120333392

Yup, this! Prior to WFH being available, I've a bad cold, I'm staying home (or someone comes in to work with one, I'm telling them to go home and take a sick day, because I don't want them giving a cold to anyone else). No WFH, no work. Now? Just let colleagues know I've a cold so I'm going to WFH. And they're doing the same.

(Cue post from the anti-WFH person to talk about breach of workers' rights and sick leave regulations and how we're probably damaging our company in the long run by doing this...)

TaurenDruid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120333778#Comment_120333778

Is she able to do her job remotely from... Rathmines? Athlone? Dingle? Then what's the difference if it's Budapest?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120334413#Comment_120334413

Its highly likely to be a tax issue if she's being paid from the Dublin office

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120334413#Comment_120334413

depends on whether the company has a physical presence in Hungary for a start off, if not its a PE risk, also her personal taxation situation will be incorrect.

TaurenDruid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120334394#Comment_120334394

Very few healthy people - i.e., without underlying health conditions - die from the flu. And a vaccine is available.

Anchor days might make sense in some contexts, but they also represent an inherent risk of everyone on a team (or organisation) getting sick at the same time. That risk is probably lessened now that the Covid numbers are going back down, but it's still a real risk.

TaurenDruid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120334434#Comment_120334434

Why does she work slower if she's in Budapest compared to working remotely from Rathmines or Athlone?