Working From Home Megathread

On your point about hubs, that was "around 2 years off" nearly 4 years ago at this stage when it was being planned by DPER. So it appears no real progress has being made on it which is a pity.

working from home will get more cars off the road but will all so be abused as i know a few that do. also you may suffer from babin fever working and liveing in the same place spells trouble i think the ruling is you must take breaks away from the work place not easy to do if you work from home.

Yeah as someone with a spinal disorder a standing desk was one of the first investments I made for long term WFH

As an aside managing said disorder is much easier from home, thankfully my job is remote. I'm not looking forward to a future where I have to return to the office, and suffer and be less productive just in the name of presenteeism

I am not promoting anything, like the newspaper articles you are seeing a hidden agenda that doesn’t exist.

Your earlier post indicated that employers should provide an office close to where you live if homes are unsuitable for wfh, given what you said about it not being rocket science, the glaringly simple issue with that would be as workers may be dotted around the country, it would be completely unrealistic to expect employers to open multiple offices when they already have one open for the employees to return to.

That isn’t promoting wfh, it is just pointing out an obvious shortcoming in what you believe employers should do. As I have posted here many times, this is an opportunity for both employers and employees and that eventually those that want wfh will get it if they are willing to move jobs, and employers will fill the vacancies with people who live close or who have no issue with office based working.

Thanks to you and all the other like minded posters! However, I would not even bother clarifying anything for Dav010. He is obviously a troll who does not know the first thing about what he is talking about. If he has a vested interest in not allowing WFH or Working from Hubs remotely, he ought to declare it, otherwise, don't bother posting anymore on the thread.

As for the rest of us, we need to keep up the pressure on TDs, Ministers and our Union Reps. Don't give up or let HR bully us. This is a fight we can win if we all work together. If Forsa or the other Unions aren't interested in taking this thing on, there is nothing to stop us joining together to form a pressure group of our own.

Strike while the iron is hot lads or this opportunity will be lost!

There may not be an entitlement (right now) to WFH, but most people have proven over the past two years that not only can they WFH, they can do so with the same or greater productivity than working from an office. That's the reality. No, it doesn't and can't work for everyone, but the clear benefits to the employer, the environment and the worker are all there to see.

Small snowball started from what I can see from friends that companies are deciding to take the scrapping of the mask rules as their que to stand down their social distancing rules and getting the WFH contingent back to the workplace for a couple days a week.

I agree with you, but we are already seeing migration back to office, either in a hybrid or full time capacity. Workers didn’t “willingly take on wfh”, emergency Covid policies introduced by the Government directed that all non essential staff were to wfh where possible.

Again, I say this for the umpteenth time, wfh will be embraced by some, not all employers and those that want it should change jobs if it is not offered. I am certain that vacancies will be filled, so there will be inertia to wfh, particularly from companies with owned/leased offices which they can’t easily leave. A few weeks ago the Government issued a list of grounds on which wfh can be denied which is so expansive, that it makes the right to ask nothing more than a meaningless exercise. Will wfh ever be an entitlement? You would have to consider what the State’s biggest employer would think of such a proposal, and given the speed with which their employees are being brought back to the offices, you wouldn’t be optimistic.

Lastly, Covid has only changed the landscape for some, there are those that want to go back to offices, live close to offices, want to live in cities, so support for/understanding of those who want to wfh is not universal, again, particularly because there are jobs out there which offer it to those who want it.

I am not pro or anti one side or the other, there will be upheaval in offices/the market as a result of Covid, but eventually an equilibrium will be reached where most will likely get what they want depending on supply and demand.

If your employer has an office why should be expected to give you a place to work close to your home that just seems like an extra expense.

you cant accuse someone for being a troll just because they have a different view point to you.

and as for your call to arms, best of luck comrade.

There have been a lot of posters on boards saying they are using there own laptops at the kitchen table. Not sure if you can say most have been given IT and desks yet.

If employers embrace wfh, there will be an obligation to provide a workstation for that home, do a H&S assessment and provide insurance. Plus of course there will be pressure to pay for broadband and electricity. There will be some whose homes will not be suitable for wfh home, and those who live close enough to the office/want to go there such that an office will have to be maintained. Employers are not going to set up small offices dotted around the country nor will paying for you to attend a different office when the main one is available appeal to many.

This has been covered many, many times on this thread. Employers are going to do what they believe is in their best interest, employees will to the same. Some times those interests will align, some times they won’t. I’m not sure how the restart to office work is being viewed, are people more surprised that so many employers are making workers go back to the office, or that so many are allowing full wfh?

Yep, I can. Especially when it is apparent that the poster does not have a clue what they are talking about.

Humphries is promoting a doubling in the number of Digital Hubs from 200 currently to 400 by 2025 in an effort to help Revitalise Rural Ireland.

If Public money is being pumped into this initiative then it logically follows that Public Servants, where suitable, should be encouraged to avail of it.

The Public Sector should lead the way in this and set the standards which private companies can then emulate if they wish.