Boss Believes That Employee Is Not Doing Her Duties While Working From Home, Calls Her Out As She Can Be Offline For Up To An Hour
It is no secret that the coronavirus pandemic has brought significant changes to the life of mankind, and we have not yet fully realized just how big they are. For example, if before 2020, working on-site was considered the absolute standard for the vast majority of occupations, now, after only two years, many employees are not ready to give up remote work.
For example, Apple recently stated that they expect workers to come to the office at least two days per week, as Bloomberg tells. Thus, remote work is gradually becoming the new world standard. Of course, the work-from-home system has many advantages, primarily for employees, but on the other hand, there are always people who abuse it. This is especially evident when an employee working remotely is required to be regularly in touch to resolve important work issues.
A similar story was told by the author of a post in the AITA Reddit community, who works as a team lead in a law firm. The original post got about 15.8K upvotes and over 3.3K comments from people interested in this narrative.
More info: Reddit
The Original Poster works as a team lead at a law firm, supervising nearly 20 employees
Image credits: Nenad Stojkovic (not the actual image)
So the OP’s team has been working on a schedule of 4 days at the office and 1 day at home lately. According to the author of the post, one of the team members, called Sarah, asked them to change their schedule to 3 days at the office and 2 at home. Sarah’s request was motivated by the fact that she has two children who need to be looked after.
Image credits: u/Born-Replacement-366
One of the employees asked to have two days of work at home, but the OP rejected her request
However, the OP, after deliberation, decided to reject this request. The fact is that Sarah is not the only employee of the company who has children, and everyone works according to the established schedule, never complaining. In addition, before the pandemic, Sarah had absolutely no problem coming to the office not four, but all five days a week.
Image credits: u/Born-Replacement-366
The OP noticed that Sarah’s Skype status was often “offline” or “away” while working from home
Sarah, apparently, was offended by this decision, and therefore discussed it with her colleagues for a long time, trying to find out what they thought about it. And so strange things began. The OP noticed that on days when Sarah worked from home, her Skype status was often “away” or “offline” during business hours.
Image credits: Rocco (not the actual image)
The problem was that Sarah was an important member of the team, she was a senior and one of her responsibilities was to be available for questions from clients and stakeholders. And just one of the stakeholders, as the OP admits, in a conversation once noticed that he could not contact Sarah for a long time to resolve their issue, and even suggested that she was on vacation.
Image credits: u/Born-Replacement-366
Sarah’s behavior significantly affected the whole team as she was a senior
In addition, Sarah was salaried, not hourly, and her behavior significantly affected the work of the whole team. For example, when you need to solve some urgent problem, you may need her consultation, and the woman may well be unavailable for an online talk at that time.
Image credits: u/Born-Replacement-366
Finally, the OP talked to Sarah and asked her to be online during work hours
All this led the OP to the idea of talking to Sarah about her behavior and the inadmissibility of being offline during work hours. As the OP themselves admits, during the conversation, the woman was defensive and sarcastically apologized for “not responding to messages immediately.” She also said that if the work is done, it does not matter whether she’s online or offline.
Image credits: Ogyioshisan (not the actual image)
The OP countered that part of Sarah’s job is to answer questions on time, so they ask her to be online while working from home from at least 10am to 5pm (with a lunch break, of course) so people can get in touch with her. In addition, since Sarah is a senior, other employees may follow her example, which will generally have a poor impact on the teamwork.
People’s opinions in the comments were divided, though the majority supported the OP in their decision
We must also say that the opinions of people in the comments to the original post were divided. Most, of course, noted that employees are evaluated not only on the work done, but also on teamwork, reliability, engagement, etc. And in this regard, the fact that Sarah is often unavailable for answers during working hours just upsets colleagues and clients, worsening the atmosphere in the team.
On the other hand, there was also a point of view that “presence monitoring” is not productive. According to some commenters, many people, in order to complete their immediate work task, must concentrate as much as possible, and not be distracted by constant messages. From this point of view, of course, the OP is not entirely right in criticizing Sarah. Although, for sure, everything should be perceived in the context of a particular team and particular work process.
We, on our part, would like to know your opinion on this issue. It is possible that many of you also work remotely, so if you share your experience of working from home, it will not only be interesting, but also useful for others.
I worry in our society that a minority of unreliable work-from-home employees might end up ruining this option for majority which can work from home just as productively.
Usually those in charge who want to end work from home and bring everyone back into the office are the ones that have the ability to come and go from the office as they please.
Load More Replies...
WFH changes the location only, it does not change times unless discussed and agreed.
Getting the job done is the bottom line, and if she can do it from Mars, more power to her. If she can't, though, something has to change. WFH can be tough when you have two kids to look after - I tried, and couldn't do it. I suspect that Sarah is going to have to make some tough assessments WRT her work, and if she doesn't, the OP will be forced to.
I agree. Taking care of kids isn’t really a great excuse to work from home, unless it’s a once-in-a-while thing like a sick kid or school holiday. You’re being paid to work, not be a parent.
Load More Replies...
I came to this page not expecting to agree with the employer, but I agree with the employer. If part of her job is to be reachable during certain times, then she is not doing her job. WFH is affecting her ability to do her job.
Incorrect, being a garbage employee is affecting her ability to do her job. Don't lump the rest of us in with them.
Load More Replies...
I appreciate the employer’s flexibility but I also feel like the employer set themselves up for this. Granting permission to WFH to watch your kids? Assuming these children are too young to look after themselves, how could this not eventually present a conflict?
Interestingly the OP also posted about this on Reddit and was roundly told YTA for even questioning why this lady (called "Callie" that time) wanted to WFH to be with her kids…
Load More Replies...
Part of 'getting her work done' is to respond to client and employee requests in a timely manner. She's not doing that so she's not 'getting her work done' at all. Which is affecting the team and the company. Clients think she's on leave because she's so unresponsive, for extended periods, FFS. She's literally not doing her job and its asinine that anyone is defending her.
I'd say it the "away" thing isn't the issue. The issue is that she isn't doing her job. The fact that a client she's supposed to be always available for thought she was on leave due to her absence is a bad look.
So many of the Reddit YTA answers were complaining that OP had unreasonable expectations of "Sarah" on the basis that their work didn't require timely responses to queries and requests, so why should anybody else's…as if the idea that different industries might work differently were completely bizarre. If there's some kind of Service-Level Agreement in place which says that someone needs to at least acknowledge an incoming call within a given time, and "Sarah" isn't doing that, then she's at fault, never mind how relaxed other places might be!
I found that strange also. She works in a law office, which doesn't work like a 9 - 5 job. There are plenty of jobs that aren't 9-5, even though the person may be expected to be in the office during core hours. I worked in technology, most of the time I was on call 24/7. Implementations were always off hours as to not impact the users of the involved systems. I remember once where one of the group was 8 months pregnant. She was the lead on the project. It was expected she head up the implementation. It took a lot longer than expected due to issues. My main concern ended up being for her and the baby, more than anything. I kept on checking her for signs of fatigue or other discomfort but she insisted she was fine. I obviously gave her a couple of days off. Most companies expect woman to perform like men, no matter what is going on in their lives.
Load More Replies... I don't think one needs to be a fellow lawyer to see it for what it is. Your fellow lawyers who commented above, beautifully outlined the operational pitfalls you are facing. This employee is wanting to eat her cake and still have it. If the "mum" thing is the reason ....it doesn't fly. Many of us are mums and can walk and chew gum at the same time. So don't use the kids. There's a gross absence of professionalism here. She will not only poison the other Co workers....if it hasn't happened already, it will also make you look incompetent as a team lead despite your valiant efforts to be understanding. This employee, is inconsiderate, entitled and have an inflated sense of her "seniority". Stop the bleed now or very soon you will have a toxic environment created by this employee. Document the number of times someone else including you had to pick up the slack for her and put her on probation with consequences attached to it to cover your legal employee requirements. And follow through.
Her telling others that he is a dinosaur who needs to retire is going to bite her in the a$$. The fact that some of the people she has said this to have turned around and told him is a very bad sign foe her.
Load More Replies...
i wfh 4 days a week and i would never abuse that privilege. even if i'm in the bathroom, i have my volume on and can hear the ping from a new email coming in. it's far less distracting for me to do my work at home. at the office there's crosstalk and people on phones, here it's just me and my cats. a person like this will ruin wfh for others in her company.
The fact that the oligarchy has convinced the average person that WFH is a "privilege" is a big part of the problem. Given modern technology, most if not all office jobs should be done at home. Office buildings are a waste of space and resources. The only jobs that should require in person work are ones where you have to put your hands on your work in a particular setting in order to do the job (ie construction, food service, etc.)
Load More Replies...
Ok she is a lawyer I assume. They have clients and those clients do not retain if they do not need them. You have working hours to be at work. Get there and be on time, be reachable, do your job. Kids or no kids. Kids are not an excuse not to do your job. If you can not seperate then come to the office daily and pay a sitter. If this was my employee and I was nice enough to do this for then only to be s**t on she or he would be looking for employment.
I'd have had questions when her request to WFH was based on having 2 kids to take care of. That makes it hard to actually work a full day.
I would have denied her request if she had said that she needed to wfh to take care of her kids. That's not what an employer is paying her for.
Load More Replies...
With a job like a law office, it is a fully customer focused business. People want to feel that their needs are being addressed; as that is the point of hiring a lawyer. Not being available looks bad for the whole firm. Most law offices grow by word of mouth. Customers that can't reach their representatives are not going to recommend that firm to others.
National government dept, 3 days home, 2 days office. I've got a caseload but I've got to be reachable on teams for helping team members I mentor as well as monitor various chats to pick up any general queries. Not to mention making/receiving calls with the public. You can't just disappear and not be available in roles where you need to be contacted. You don't do it in the office, so you don't do it at home. My work/home balance is pretty perfect right now, and I'd be well upset if a team member imperiled that with less-than-stellar behaviour.
I'm generalizing, but if a WFH employee has small children then they are not giving the company the same work hours as they would if they were in the office. Tell me I'm wrong.
She can link her skype network to her phone as well so if she get’s contacted she would know right away no matter what even if she is away from her computer. I worked from home and had my status always active via phone and computer and would answer messages within 1 minute always even when I was not on the computer physically.
I'm a team lead. A good part of my job is to be available to my teammates for questions at all times. If they have to wait for me, I'm slowing everyone down. When I WFH I am online all day, whether I'm in meetings or not, just so people can talk to me. I also regularly contact my teammates to make sure they have the tools to perform their jobs efficiently.
Why it's almost like.... having a presence on slack is normal when doing group c**p in WFH. Seems a lot of the uppers here don't get that and think we just jerk off all day. Oh sorry, I meant poopy since that's less of a wordy dird.
Load More Replies... NTA but plan your attack. 1. Drop the "away" message argument. Stick with the "Clients can't find you" argument. The former makes you look petty, and it is also an unreliable argument. 2. How much value does Sarah bring? I work for a commercial real estate broker and some people bring in way more revenue than others. Cater to those who bring in revenue...the other employees will get it. If Sarah is replaceable, mandate that everyone do 4-1 WFO to WFH and she may leave on her own. She is clearly trying to abuse the WFH.
Nope, no, NTA. This isn't a matter of where Sarah's working, more so a matter of how she's working. She's to be available for clients at certain hours- she's not doing her job. OP's not at all out of line. I think OP made a mistake by giving Sarah special treatment...and that's what ya get for being nice
I'm simply surprised at the number of people who don't know the difference between then and than.
My own son is now working at home. Before, he was in an office that had about 15 people for his department. He came home from work one day back when Covid was shutting down many businesses and we immediately could tell there was something wrong. Obviously we immediately suspected he had been layed off, but that was not the case. His job layed off everyone but him and it was a very sad scene in his office that day with lots of people crying. He had contained his emotions at the office but when we saw him, as soon as we asked him what was wrong he broke down. The only other time I've ever seen him so shook up was when our other son, his brother, was randomly murdered and left in the street and a car ran over and dragged him a half mile. He was very sad about the others that got canned. His job picked him out of everyone to keep because they trusted him to work at home honestly and not take advantage of the arrangement like so very many home workers are doing. They did right picking him.
This is why mouse-movers were invented. Not being “available” is different from not being responsive in a timely manner. Her online status doesn’t matter- it’s whether or not people can get ahold of her in a reasonable amount of time.
In the article he clearly states several times that the problem is that people cannot get ahold of her in a reasonable amount of time.
Load More Replies...
The hourly vs salaried questions are not relevant as neither determine whether you are required to work between certain hours. The only benefit for salaried is that they are paid a set amount regardless of the hours they put in, whether under or over. Both employment types will schedule time off due to medical issues or whatnot. AND, as all salaried employees know, whether they admit it out loud or not, if you are expected to be available between a start and end time each working day, just not being available will catch up to you by way of warnings and termination.
Most people are lazy. If she's wants to make up her own schedule during the day she should start her own business, plain and simple I think over time WFH will show that productivity is lower. If she doesn't like it, fire her when the right person comes along, her attitude would have already gotten her fired in my opinion. To all the work from home people. If you want to make up your own schedule and do personal things during the day then you need to start your own business.
Yes, I'm sure nobody complains because they don't want fired, imagine that. I also don't care if some folks like going into the office when it's not needed, more power to ya I won't be doing that unless forced to. If you have a garbage employee they're garbage either way, cut them loose. If my current job forced me back to the office because I was "never complaining" before the pandemic, well, there's plenty of others now that don't require me in as much is all I can say. I don't care what pre pandemic was normal, welcome to the new normal. If I didn't work even for 1 hour while at home or the office it would be immediately obvious.
She forgot working from home is still work. She won't be paid to keep getting up giving snacks, changing the channel, changing diapers. She may need a lil home help. Thought she could juggle both.
Totally NTA. The whole WFH deal was and still is difficult to navigate. I have no legal knowledge outside some mortuary and business but I have been through remote learning in collage and my brother finishing up highschool. There were certainly times where is was doing other stuff on the computer or my phone (but to be fair I was still on my phone every now and then when classes were still physical, just not as much as when I was home). The same goes for my brother too. He got his work done and he'd take a freaking nap! People will always find a way to abuse things which forces the need to have rules set in place to avoid this. Rules should always be dynamic and change with the changing of our society. I really really like a few of the responses given to OP as I found them to be pragmatic and I hope he can smooth things over with his employee.
Wfh and taking care of children is not mutually exclusive and can be done successfully. I mostly wfh and I’ve been on meetings while picking up the kids from school (teams on a phone with headphones), seminars while doing laundry, and paperwork on the couch in the evenings. During full covid lockdowns, I’ve even had to bring my kids on site meetings with me (yes I’m essential, yes they were socially distanced and out doors). But that also means that my 8hr work day is spread over 12hrs, but it does get done.
That only works if the bulk of your work isnt being immediately available to clients during their office hours which it appears is the case for this person. I could spread one part of my job out while WFH during quarantine, but when my students were supposed to be able to contact me at a moments notice I had to be right there. Aka I could move my planning period to 8 pm if I wanted, but that was only 45 minutes of my work day.
Load More Replies...
Sarah sounds really immature. But if this lawyer can't figure out what actions to take without Reddit's advice then I ponder if either of these people are in a role that suits them.
Someone commented that she might be taking a shower, walking the dog or doing laundry....WTF why is she doing these things during working hours, she's being paid to work not do household chores. During lock down I called a co worker at home to ask a question and she told me she was taking her morning walk and I had to call back in an hour. Guess how well that went over when I told the owner they would have to wait an hour. WFH should be just that work and half the day doing personal stuff with work mixed in.
Sarah should never have been granted an extra WFH day. Kids are no excuse and never should be. If she managed those kids (daycare) when she was 5 days WFO then they should not be a problem now. It's more likely she is either liking having that daycare money back in her pocket or she is enjoying being with the kids and wants more of it. Neither are acceptable reasons. People like Sarah inevitably mess it up for everyone else. If it were me I would immediately take back that extra day she was given and make it clear that if her lack of availability continues she will be required to be back in the office all 5 days.
Most employee contracts contain a clause about where the work needs to be performed and I'd be surprised if one for a lawyer practice didn't - so cancel her WFH privileges until her next appraisal so she has an opportunity to earn back the trust. Do it just for her (and anyone else who is milking the privilege), so it's clear for everyone else why she lost that privilege.
My opinion is similar to others but my team is currently going thru this and so Im going to add anyways. First, I've been in Leadership for over 25 years in a variety of roles and there will ALWAYS be people with behaviors similar to Sarah. In addition, leadership is a double edged sword, if the customer is always right when it comes to the Front line, employees are always right when it comes to their manager. Which is why it's critical for clear expectations, open communication, feedback on BOTH sides and unfortunately a lot of document everything and CYA!!! And that is standard PRE PANDEMIC!! Add global pandemic and now the "rules" are off kilter? IMO NO..the rules are the same, home is geography vs the office. Sounds like Sarah and her Manager, possibly mediator need a meeting to level set expectations. And if that no longer works for her needs, help her to find something that does!
Bottom line - what is the impact? If none then don't bother. If there is impact discuss what causes the offline, maybe she needs more time with her kids. Perhaps she could cut her work hours by one a day, for example and reduce the pressure on herself..
There is an impact: other members of the team are having to respond to the clients assigned to her, which takes time away from their own job duties. And they're not getting the perk of wfh like she is. She's taking advantage.
Load More Replies...
Woo-hoo! Yes, this would have been a great question for AAM. I've read some really good advice for situations like this, and for some really WTF shenanigans in the office. (Duck Club?) Anyone interested or needing work advice can check out the site at askamanager.org . It's more white collar/office work based, but still good general info abounds.
Load More Replies...
If Sarah is reachable by phone then YTA. She may be tending to her children, hence the parent work from home thing. I suspect as a supervisor you need more work to keep you busy. You sound like an a**l retentive twit to me. If Sarah does her job and is reachable by phone when someone needs her for something critical then stop being a whiny man-baby because you can't control everything.
Work from home needs to be defined by the organisation and agreed/communicated wi the the employees. OP seems to follow the general definition that WFH is just a change in location (reducing commute) and hence everything else should work as if you were in office just that communication is through alternate technological means since physical interaction is not possible. Sarah seems to be defining work from home differently, meaning flexible working hours during the day as long as work gets done, and may be taking advantage of it as she may avoid work becoming her work by not being available. A formal work from home policy as suggested by some respondents would be best. Many thrive on working from home and are responsible enough to do so, unfortunately the same cannot be said for everyone.
Sarah doesnt work for any of those people and has been packing and moving things by herself for the last year without anyone helping her and anyone that had an issue with her focusing on her priorities instead of catering to their needs can get over themselves because if she were part of a team she wouldnt have had to do everything singlehandedly all the time and she most assuredly took a well documented extended leave of absence and has no team and no supervisor to report to because without trust and professional courtesy and mutual ethical respect then there is no team. There were also never any stakeholders invested in any professional aspect of her life, with good reason.
It sounds like Sarah thinks her work from home days are days off for her! Maybe she needs a firm description of “WORK from home”, it definitely appears she is abusing the perk you granted her of the second WFH day and I would end that. I would also check up on her other WFH day to be sure she is really working and not taking advantage.
as someone who has worked from home long before the pandemic it really annoys me when someone takes advantage. I work hard, tend to do some over time but am able to dash out for a bit if I have an appointment, no questions asked because I am available. My job also requires me to be available when needed and am on the phone most of the day. Had a colleague who "worked from home" on Fridays, never responded to a single email on Fridays, ever. A lot of the people I work with are also remote and they do their job, it is easier for so many and we don't want to have to go back to the office.
She says that if she is doing her work online or offline, what's the problem. The problem is that she is not doing her work as her clients are having to go to her colleagues.
I would love to work from home. I would save 4 1/4 hrs travel time every day, and approx $130/week in expenses. It sounds like this woman is caring for her children and attempting to work at the same time. That's gotta be difficult, and would legitimately take an hour at a time to do things with 2 little ones. Totally Impossible to schedule your day around.
This is a simple situation to deal with. No matter how senior or even talented she is she is not performing in her job. Wfh does not mean work at your leisure, there is still a bussiness to run. My suggestion is call her into the office for a face to face counciling. Explain the importance of her being on the job and your expectations. Warn her if this behavior persist you will have no choice but to put her in whatever disciplinary procedures your company uses then let her know she is valued and you hope that she can correct this issue before you are forced to find a replacement.
Work hours are work hours whether you are working from home or in the office if part of your job description entails dealing with outside customers.... Businesses and their managers need to lay out specific rules for WFH employees on paper and get ready to cull the weak end of the herd or the strong end will start peeling off their payroll.... My wife is in the situation where the other deadbeats who are WFH aren't getting their job done or are doing a sloppy job of it... My wife has a strong work ethic and is very considerate of their customers wants as well as the contractual obligations involved so the past few weeks she has been working 7 days 6am till 6pm and probably 3-4 of the 7 days as late as 11pm. My wife has been working this same contract for NASA since 1987; it was her first job & only job she has ever had too this day. It's sad thing when employees with poor work ethics and no pride are being allowed to beat down a 35yr vet till they abandon their job.
I agree that she is abusing wfh. If you don’t want to be bothered by alerts when working you can put your phone number in your “away “ message and say call if you need anything. Being unavailable when other team members have to be there is not acceptable
There are tons of ways for the company to actually deal with this and they just haven’t realized it yet. The employee was in the wrong knowing her duties but my previous company, a smart one; didn’t make employees list themselves as on or offline although you had the choice. Instead, you have set times for open hours if you choose such as office hours and then a note is listed to say please contact me with inquiries through xxx method so that the inquiry is addressed early on. Also, you don’t need to be in front of a computer all day. Have the mobile version of your comms platform on your phone and respond as you get inquiries. DO NOT blame this on WFH environments because I’m in a senior position and my productivity is higher when I WFH not to mention it’s the companies job to adapt to new methods. This was never an issue at my old company because we were given ways to NOT feel chained to a desk all day.
JUST STOP! PEOPLE PLEASE! Is this really what we are focusing our attention on...remove the log from your eye! Wake up and get it together!! We are grown adults and there are real issues we need to focus our attention on; trust me when I say this is seriously NOT even close to the top five!! 🇺🇲😲🙏
Maybe I’m missing something. It’s a job. She is employed by a company to perform certain duties and she isn’t. At home or in an office, she’s not performing the job she is being paid to do. When did people develop the idea they can do as they please? When you own the company you can buy unless you do, you have to follow the rules. If you can’t then it’s time for you to move on. If something in her personal life is affecting her ability to work, then she needs to be open with her supervisor and maybe he/she will help with a resolution. Being childish and petty isn’t the correct way to handle it.
I'm an IT Manager for an Online Reputation Company. Generally, I need to be in the office but I try to do one day WFH. We use Slack for internal communication and I can't tell you how bogged down I get just answering questions, asking for an opinion or advice and everything else. I've learned to balance my responses with a priority system. Say an employee doesn't have Internet, I make that an obvious high priority. If an employee asks me how to theme their Chrome so it looks "pretty", I don't respond immediately especially if I'm busy. Just because I don't respond, doesn't mean I'm not working. If I'm home, the same applies. I'll respond to messages/requests when I respond. I try to resolve all requests at least within an hour or two simply because I don't like my plate filling up. So is she actually not working? Who is to say? I feel a one on one conversation to manage expectations regarding communication would probably go farther than deferring to other employees for feedback.
I think there are 2 separate issues here. One is people getting their knickers in a twist watching Sarah's status on Skype (busybodies that probably should work harder themselves), and then there are people who claim she doesn't respond in time (which may be the issue of responding to them too fast in the past and making them think that's the norm). I agree with her response that if she gets her work done that day, than that's good enough though, but I'm not sure how fast paced this particular office is. In any case, it doesn't sound like she's offline for hours or doesn't respond for days, so I'm leaning towards YTA - the manager needs to be less rigid with his expectations.
Fire her already and stop acting incompetent by sharing this story with the world and doing nothing about it!
WFH and WFO should mean the same number of breaks and same set schedule. OP is definitely NTA. Sarah is paid to do a job she is obviously not doing. She wanted to be home 2 days and be able to take care of her kids. That's not how this works. If her kids are too young to care for themselves, they still need to go to daycare or have a sitter. Or be a SAHM because that's what she's trying to do it seems. My spouse works from home. The rest of the family knows between 8-5, he is technically not home. We don't interrupt his work and we keep the volume down if need be. Sarah should be focused on her work as well.
Fire Sarah and hire someone who cares about their work and their team. COViD is over btw. why are we all not back to normal work
Fire Sarah and move on. COVID is over. We should all be back to work by now
She’s irresponsible. I’m 100% remote worker and I do sometimes stand up from my computer to do the dishes or laundry. But if I receive a call or an email I immediately answer it, and if I have to leave things half done to go back to work I do it. I feel sometimes so overwhelmed with the amount of work that I like to stop and unwind for a few minutes.
She can work from "home " but I a library or a place free of distraction if she is home and a mother she can't ignore children is ridiculous.she needs a place else like a university area. Library area, and a day care for daughter.
You make it sound as if Sarah is irreplaceable and she is not. Different location same time same rules same policy. Seriously. Seems to me she does it because she's made to feel as if she can. That's what lunch breaks are for, and then you said that she can start an hour late and leave an hour early with a lunch break. Even with 2 children and working from home what more could you ask for. Personally I think many people have abused this work from home privilege.
If this woman had no problem working 5 days a wk, before covid, what's changed. They should make Sarah and the others to come back full time. People are just going to have to live with covid, just like with live with everything else. If Sarah can't follow the rules, then she should be written up and if she continues, fired.
They should have a policy that you can't be a caretaker when working from home because it's really hard to get any work done. That's how my company is. The boss should have told her she can't work from home and take care of her kids, she needs to find a daycare for that. Also, they need to be able to get messages on their phone. I have teams on my phone and messages will show up there or in my watch if I step away for a while.
There's more to this story than meets the eye. If this woman is in a senior position, and the OP is receiving feedback from office snitches beneath her, I really think listening to the woman's story would flip this entire claim on its a**e. As far as the clients... Clients almost always have unrealistic expectations. That's to be expected. But in this case, all the OP talks about is what this woman did wrong. I'm not sure how it is in the legal field, but in the tech world, IT folks rely on tickets. Internal or external, clients should never be allowed to send direct messages to anyone like that. The requests should ALWAYS go through to a ticketing system. Hearing *ding ding ding* every 6 seconds is bad for anyone's productivity. Stop worrying about betty sue, senior position or not, answering every single teams message or being online to satisfy every micro management satisfaction. Get a ticketing system going, and write a realistic turnaround time in policy. The only workers who should be expected to marry their desk, til death do them part, are customer service representatives. Period.
The truth is whoever posts about a work colleague on any public forum: has them living on rent free your head. b) deserves a better, less b!tchy boss than you, or at leastone who can hide her envy.
Employees are getting sick of being micro-managed. They are getting sick of being expected to always put work before family. They are getting sick of overbearing employers and their demands. And for what? So they can make a dime while the boss makes a dollar+? If the employee is getting their work done, the manager should stop micro-managing. They are getting paid to do a job, not to be at your beck and call. Good for her for setting boundaries with her employer. Entitled employers don't seem to like when their employees have boundaries. If the employee is "away" there's a reason. As long as they are doing their job, that reason is none of your business. Entitled employers and managers are going to learn real quick in the current work environment that they NEED employees more that the employees need them. Do you know how much is costs a business to hire and re-train for a position? More than it's worth most of the time. We are entering an age where the worker has the upper hand, as it should be. Dinosaurs need to learn to get with the times or die off. I'll be laughing as these businesses fail because owners/managers can't adapt their archaic management style and feel entitled to doing things the old way; while progressive businesses who value and respect their employees thrive in this environment. 🤙
Did you read the article? The employee is not getting their work done. :P
Load More Replies...
This guy is a dinosaur. Get with the times, learn to manage effectively in WFH and in person settings or you will become obsolete. People don't need your job, you NEED your employees. The last few years, it's been kinda fun watching entitled employers be forced to treat their employees with respect when they are sick due to the changes in business practices brought on by the pandemic. Now they are being forced to be flexible with work environmentas and to respect their employees time and it's glorious. Learn to manage in the new world or get out of the way.
Here's the major flaw in your logic: The employer is PAYING employees to do a job (the amount of pay is a different topic), so they have a right to attach terms, like expected work hours, to employees' jobs. If a candidate don't like the terms, they don't accept the job offer. If employees don't want to comply to those terms, then they are implying that they don't want to be paid either. If the terms of your job require you to be available at certain times, and you are not, those are legitimate reasons for termination. I imagine Sarah is in the unemployment line now.
Load More Replies...
We need to stop treating employees like they don't have lives. My employer has been excellent at this realization, but I guess it's gonna take the rest of these profit hogs some time to adjust. We spend ⅓ of our lives working, ⅓ of our lives sleeping, so we have ⅓ of our lives to actually live. That's not reasonable, COVID changed that mindset, and we should not allow effortposters with clear agendas to change it back.
This thread is literally making me disappointed in humanity. It's the perfect toxic blend of men's rights activism and micromanagers anonymous up in here.
Load More Replies...
NTA. Sounds like a good manager and trying his best to be reasonable. Maybe there was a time Sarah was on top of her game, but probably getting burnt out and might need some motivation.
So a senior lawyer at a law firm is considered to be little more than a call center agent that has to respond to all enquiries regardless of priority and always be available to answer quedtions immediately. C**p job.
Sounds like Sara should find a better job that fits her schedule and desires better. This day in age, there is no reason to have to deal with overbearing micro-managers. There's a worker shortage, remember? Sara should find an employer that is willing to meet her needs. That's the beauty of capitalism,supply and demand. And right now, there is a greater demand for workers than there is supply. Which means workers can set their stipulations and if the manager/owner doesn't want to comply, they can GFTMS because the employee can find another job that will meet their requirements.
There's only a shortage in fast food and hard labor not office hahaha
Load More Replies...
According to ShortPeak's post it sounds like you have it out for this employee. Hope you're not just tripping on power.
ShortPeak already put OP in a "box" because he was male. ShortPeak might have had a bad experience with a male boss, but that doesn't mean all male bosses are "tripping on power" or whatever. My 1st thought was that OP was judged negatively solely due to his gender.
Load More Replies... I worry in our society that a minority of unreliable work-from-home employees might end up ruining this option for majority which can work from home just as productively.
Usually those in charge who want to end work from home and bring everyone back into the office are the ones that have the ability to come and go from the office as they please.
Load More Replies... WFH changes the location only, it does not change times unless discussed and agreed.
Getting the job done is the bottom line, and if she can do it from Mars, more power to her. If she can't, though, something has to change. WFH can be tough when you have two kids to look after - I tried, and couldn't do it. I suspect that Sarah is going to have to make some tough assessments WRT her work, and if she doesn't, the OP will be forced to.
I agree. Taking care of kids isn’t really a great excuse to work from home, unless it’s a once-in-a-while thing like a sick kid or school holiday. You’re being paid to work, not be a parent.
Load More Replies... I came to this page not expecting to agree with the employer, but I agree with the employer. If part of her job is to be reachable during certain times, then she is not doing her job. WFH is affecting her ability to do her job.
Incorrect, being a garbage employee is affecting her ability to do her job. Don't lump the rest of us in with them.
Load More Replies... I appreciate the employer’s flexibility but I also feel like the employer set themselves up for this. Granting permission to WFH to watch your kids? Assuming these children are too young to look after themselves, how could this not eventually present a conflict?
Interestingly the OP also posted about this on Reddit and was roundly told YTA for even questioning why this lady (called "Callie" that time) wanted to WFH to be with her kids…
Load More Replies... Part of 'getting her work done' is to respond to client and employee requests in a timely manner. She's not doing that so she's not 'getting her work done' at all. Which is affecting the team and the company. Clients think she's on leave because she's so unresponsive, for extended periods, FFS. She's literally not doing her job and its asinine that anyone is defending her.
I'd say it the "away" thing isn't the issue. The issue is that she isn't doing her job. The fact that a client she's supposed to be always available for thought she was on leave due to her absence is a bad look.
So many of the Reddit YTA answers were complaining that OP had unreasonable expectations of "Sarah" on the basis that their work didn't require timely responses to queries and requests, so why should anybody else's…as if the idea that different industries might work differently were completely bizarre. If there's some kind of Service-Level Agreement in place which says that someone needs to at least acknowledge an incoming call within a given time, and "Sarah" isn't doing that, then she's at fault, never mind how relaxed other places might be!
I found that strange also. She works in a law office, which doesn't work like a 9 - 5 job. There are plenty of jobs that aren't 9-5, even though the person may be expected to be in the office during core hours. I worked in technology, most of the time I was on call 24/7. Implementations were always off hours as to not impact the users of the involved systems. I remember once where one of the group was 8 months pregnant. She was the lead on the project. It was expected she head up the implementation. It took a lot longer than expected due to issues. My main concern ended up being for her and the baby, more than anything. I kept on checking her for signs of fatigue or other discomfort but she insisted she was fine. I obviously gave her a couple of days off. Most companies expect woman to perform like men, no matter what is going on in their lives.
Load More Replies... I don't think one needs to be a fellow lawyer to see it for what it is. Your fellow lawyers who commented above, beautifully outlined the operational pitfalls you are facing. This employee is wanting to eat her cake and still have it. If the "mum" thing is the reason ....it doesn't fly. Many of us are mums and can walk and chew gum at the same time. So don't use the kids. There's a gross absence of professionalism here. She will not only poison the other Co workers....if it hasn't happened already, it will also make you look incompetent as a team lead despite your valiant efforts to be understanding. This employee, is inconsiderate, entitled and have an inflated sense of her "seniority". Stop the bleed now or very soon you will have a toxic environment created by this employee. Document the number of times someone else including you had to pick up the slack for her and put her on probation with consequences attached to it to cover your legal employee requirements. And follow through.
Her telling others that he is a dinosaur who needs to retire is going to bite her in the a$$. The fact that some of the people she has said this to have turned around and told him is a very bad sign foe her.
Load More Replies... i wfh 4 days a week and i would never abuse that privilege. even if i'm in the bathroom, i have my volume on and can hear the ping from a new email coming in. it's far less distracting for me to do my work at home. at the office there's crosstalk and people on phones, here it's just me and my cats. a person like this will ruin wfh for others in her company.
The fact that the oligarchy has convinced the average person that WFH is a "privilege" is a big part of the problem. Given modern technology, most if not all office jobs should be done at home. Office buildings are a waste of space and resources. The only jobs that should require in person work are ones where you have to put your hands on your work in a particular setting in order to do the job (ie construction, food service, etc.)
Load More Replies... Ok she is a lawyer I assume. They have clients and those clients do not retain if they do not need them. You have working hours to be at work. Get there and be on time, be reachable, do your job. Kids or no kids. Kids are not an excuse not to do your job. If you can not seperate then come to the office daily and pay a sitter. If this was my employee and I was nice enough to do this for then only to be s**t on she or he would be looking for employment.
I'd have had questions when her request to WFH was based on having 2 kids to take care of. That makes it hard to actually work a full day.
I would have denied her request if she had said that she needed to wfh to take care of her kids. That's not what an employer is paying her for.
Load More Replies... With a job like a law office, it is a fully customer focused business. People want to feel that their needs are being addressed; as that is the point of hiring a lawyer. Not being available looks bad for the whole firm. Most law offices grow by word of mouth. Customers that can't reach their representatives are not going to recommend that firm to others.
National government dept, 3 days home, 2 days office. I've got a caseload but I've got to be reachable on teams for helping team members I mentor as well as monitor various chats to pick up any general queries. Not to mention making/receiving calls with the public. You can't just disappear and not be available in roles where you need to be contacted. You don't do it in the office, so you don't do it at home. My work/home balance is pretty perfect right now, and I'd be well upset if a team member imperiled that with less-than-stellar behaviour.
I'm generalizing, but if a WFH employee has small children then they are not giving the company the same work hours as they would if they were in the office. Tell me I'm wrong.
She can link her skype network to her phone as well so if she get’s contacted she would know right away no matter what even if she is away from her computer. I worked from home and had my status always active via phone and computer and would answer messages within 1 minute always even when I was not on the computer physically.
I'm a team lead. A good part of my job is to be available to my teammates for questions at all times. If they have to wait for me, I'm slowing everyone down. When I WFH I am online all day, whether I'm in meetings or not, just so people can talk to me. I also regularly contact my teammates to make sure they have the tools to perform their jobs efficiently.
Why it's almost like.... having a presence on slack is normal when doing group c**p in WFH. Seems a lot of the uppers here don't get that and think we just jerk off all day. Oh sorry, I meant poopy since that's less of a wordy dird.
Load More Replies... NTA but plan your attack. 1. Drop the "away" message argument. Stick with the "Clients can't find you" argument. The former makes you look petty, and it is also an unreliable argument. 2. How much value does Sarah bring? I work for a commercial real estate broker and some people bring in way more revenue than others. Cater to those who bring in revenue...the other employees will get it. If Sarah is replaceable, mandate that everyone do 4-1 WFO to WFH and she may leave on her own. She is clearly trying to abuse the WFH.
Nope, no, NTA. This isn't a matter of where Sarah's working, more so a matter of how she's working. She's to be available for clients at certain hours- she's not doing her job. OP's not at all out of line. I think OP made a mistake by giving Sarah special treatment...and that's what ya get for being nice
I'm simply surprised at the number of people who don't know the difference between then and than.
My own son is now working at home. Before, he was in an office that had about 15 people for his department. He came home from work one day back when Covid was shutting down many businesses and we immediately could tell there was something wrong. Obviously we immediately suspected he had been layed off, but that was not the case. His job layed off everyone but him and it was a very sad scene in his office that day with lots of people crying. He had contained his emotions at the office but when we saw him, as soon as we asked him what was wrong he broke down. The only other time I've ever seen him so shook up was when our other son, his brother, was randomly murdered and left in the street and a car ran over and dragged him a half mile. He was very sad about the others that got canned. His job picked him out of everyone to keep because they trusted him to work at home honestly and not take advantage of the arrangement like so very many home workers are doing. They did right picking him.
This is why mouse-movers were invented. Not being “available” is different from not being responsive in a timely manner. Her online status doesn’t matter- it’s whether or not people can get ahold of her in a reasonable amount of time.
In the article he clearly states several times that the problem is that people cannot get ahold of her in a reasonable amount of time.
Load More Replies... The hourly vs salaried questions are not relevant as neither determine whether you are required to work between certain hours. The only benefit for salaried is that they are paid a set amount regardless of the hours they put in, whether under or over. Both employment types will schedule time off due to medical issues or whatnot. AND, as all salaried employees know, whether they admit it out loud or not, if you are expected to be available between a start and end time each working day, just not being available will catch up to you by way of warnings and termination.
Most people are lazy. If she's wants to make up her own schedule during the day she should start her own business, plain and simple I think over time WFH will show that productivity is lower. If she doesn't like it, fire her when the right person comes along, her attitude would have already gotten her fired in my opinion. To all the work from home people. If you want to make up your own schedule and do personal things during the day then you need to start your own business.
Yes, I'm sure nobody complains because they don't want fired, imagine that. I also don't care if some folks like going into the office when it's not needed, more power to ya I won't be doing that unless forced to. If you have a garbage employee they're garbage either way, cut them loose. If my current job forced me back to the office because I was "never complaining" before the pandemic, well, there's plenty of others now that don't require me in as much is all I can say. I don't care what pre pandemic was normal, welcome to the new normal. If I didn't work even for 1 hour while at home or the office it would be immediately obvious.
She forgot working from home is still work. She won't be paid to keep getting up giving snacks, changing the channel, changing diapers. She may need a lil home help. Thought she could juggle both.
Totally NTA. The whole WFH deal was and still is difficult to navigate. I have no legal knowledge outside some mortuary and business but I have been through remote learning in collage and my brother finishing up highschool. There were certainly times where is was doing other stuff on the computer or my phone (but to be fair I was still on my phone every now and then when classes were still physical, just not as much as when I was home). The same goes for my brother too. He got his work done and he'd take a freaking nap! People will always find a way to abuse things which forces the need to have rules set in place to avoid this. Rules should always be dynamic and change with the changing of our society. I really really like a few of the responses given to OP as I found them to be pragmatic and I hope he can smooth things over with his employee.
Wfh and taking care of children is not mutually exclusive and can be done successfully. I mostly wfh and I’ve been on meetings while picking up the kids from school (teams on a phone with headphones), seminars while doing laundry, and paperwork on the couch in the evenings. During full covid lockdowns, I’ve even had to bring my kids on site meetings with me (yes I’m essential, yes they were socially distanced and out doors). But that also means that my 8hr work day is spread over 12hrs, but it does get done.
That only works if the bulk of your work isnt being immediately available to clients during their office hours which it appears is the case for this person. I could spread one part of my job out while WFH during quarantine, but when my students were supposed to be able to contact me at a moments notice I had to be right there. Aka I could move my planning period to 8 pm if I wanted, but that was only 45 minutes of my work day.
Load More Replies... Sarah sounds really immature. But if this lawyer can't figure out what actions to take without Reddit's advice then I ponder if either of these people are in a role that suits them.
Someone commented that she might be taking a shower, walking the dog or doing laundry....WTF why is she doing these things during working hours, she's being paid to work not do household chores. During lock down I called a co worker at home to ask a question and she told me she was taking her morning walk and I had to call back in an hour. Guess how well that went over when I told the owner they would have to wait an hour. WFH should be just that work and half the day doing personal stuff with work mixed in.
Sarah should never have been granted an extra WFH day. Kids are no excuse and never should be. If she managed those kids (daycare) when she was 5 days WFO then they should not be a problem now. It's more likely she is either liking having that daycare money back in her pocket or she is enjoying being with the kids and wants more of it. Neither are acceptable reasons. People like Sarah inevitably mess it up for everyone else. If it were me I would immediately take back that extra day she was given and make it clear that if her lack of availability continues she will be required to be back in the office all 5 days.
Most employee contracts contain a clause about where the work needs to be performed and I'd be surprised if one for a lawyer practice didn't - so cancel her WFH privileges until her next appraisal so she has an opportunity to earn back the trust. Do it just for her (and anyone else who is milking the privilege), so it's clear for everyone else why she lost that privilege.
My opinion is similar to others but my team is currently going thru this and so Im going to add anyways. First, I've been in Leadership for over 25 years in a variety of roles and there will ALWAYS be people with behaviors similar to Sarah. In addition, leadership is a double edged sword, if the customer is always right when it comes to the Front line, employees are always right when it comes to their manager. Which is why it's critical for clear expectations, open communication, feedback on BOTH sides and unfortunately a lot of document everything and CYA!!! And that is standard PRE PANDEMIC!! Add global pandemic and now the "rules" are off kilter? IMO NO..the rules are the same, home is geography vs the office. Sounds like Sarah and her Manager, possibly mediator need a meeting to level set expectations. And if that no longer works for her needs, help her to find something that does!
Bottom line - what is the impact? If none then don't bother. If there is impact discuss what causes the offline, maybe she needs more time with her kids. Perhaps she could cut her work hours by one a day, for example and reduce the pressure on herself..
There is an impact: other members of the team are having to respond to the clients assigned to her, which takes time away from their own job duties. And they're not getting the perk of wfh like she is. She's taking advantage.
Load More Replies... Woo-hoo! Yes, this would have been a great question for AAM. I've read some really good advice for situations like this, and for some really WTF shenanigans in the office. (Duck Club?) Anyone interested or needing work advice can check out the site at askamanager.org . It's more white collar/office work based, but still good general info abounds.
Load More Replies... If Sarah is reachable by phone then YTA. She may be tending to her children, hence the parent work from home thing. I suspect as a supervisor you need more work to keep you busy. You sound like an a**l retentive twit to me. If Sarah does her job and is reachable by phone when someone needs her for something critical then stop being a whiny man-baby because you can't control everything.
Work from home needs to be defined by the organisation and agreed/communicated wi the the employees. OP seems to follow the general definition that WFH is just a change in location (reducing commute) and hence everything else should work as if you were in office just that communication is through alternate technological means since physical interaction is not possible. Sarah seems to be defining work from home differently, meaning flexible working hours during the day as long as work gets done, and may be taking advantage of it as she may avoid work becoming her work by not being available. A formal work from home policy as suggested by some respondents would be best. Many thrive on working from home and are responsible enough to do so, unfortunately the same cannot be said for everyone.
Sarah doesnt work for any of those people and has been packing and moving things by herself for the last year without anyone helping her and anyone that had an issue with her focusing on her priorities instead of catering to their needs can get over themselves because if she were part of a team she wouldnt have had to do everything singlehandedly all the time and she most assuredly took a well documented extended leave of absence and has no team and no supervisor to report to because without trust and professional courtesy and mutual ethical respect then there is no team. There were also never any stakeholders invested in any professional aspect of her life, with good reason.
It sounds like Sarah thinks her work from home days are days off for her! Maybe she needs a firm description of “WORK from home”, it definitely appears she is abusing the perk you granted her of the second WFH day and I would end that. I would also check up on her other WFH day to be sure she is really working and not taking advantage.
as someone who has worked from home long before the pandemic it really annoys me when someone takes advantage. I work hard, tend to do some over time but am able to dash out for a bit if I have an appointment, no questions asked because I am available. My job also requires me to be available when needed and am on the phone most of the day. Had a colleague who "worked from home" on Fridays, never responded to a single email on Fridays, ever. A lot of the people I work with are also remote and they do their job, it is easier for so many and we don't want to have to go back to the office.
She says that if she is doing her work online or offline, what's the problem. The problem is that she is not doing her work as her clients are having to go to her colleagues.
I would love to work from home. I would save 4 1/4 hrs travel time every day, and approx $130/week in expenses. It sounds like this woman is caring for her children and attempting to work at the same time. That's gotta be difficult, and would legitimately take an hour at a time to do things with 2 little ones. Totally Impossible to schedule your day around.
This is a simple situation to deal with. No matter how senior or even talented she is she is not performing in her job. Wfh does not mean work at your leisure, there is still a bussiness to run. My suggestion is call her into the office for a face to face counciling. Explain the importance of her being on the job and your expectations. Warn her if this behavior persist you will have no choice but to put her in whatever disciplinary procedures your company uses then let her know she is valued and you hope that she can correct this issue before you are forced to find a replacement.
Work hours are work hours whether you are working from home or in the office if part of your job description entails dealing with outside customers.... Businesses and their managers need to lay out specific rules for WFH employees on paper and get ready to cull the weak end of the herd or the strong end will start peeling off their payroll.... My wife is in the situation where the other deadbeats who are WFH aren't getting their job done or are doing a sloppy job of it... My wife has a strong work ethic and is very considerate of their customers wants as well as the contractual obligations involved so the past few weeks she has been working 7 days 6am till 6pm and probably 3-4 of the 7 days as late as 11pm. My wife has been working this same contract for NASA since 1987; it was her first job & only job she has ever had too this day. It's sad thing when employees with poor work ethics and no pride are being allowed to beat down a 35yr vet till they abandon their job.
I agree that she is abusing wfh. If you don’t want to be bothered by alerts when working you can put your phone number in your “away “ message and say call if you need anything. Being unavailable when other team members have to be there is not acceptable
There are tons of ways for the company to actually deal with this and they just haven’t realized it yet. The employee was in the wrong knowing her duties but my previous company, a smart one; didn’t make employees list themselves as on or offline although you had the choice. Instead, you have set times for open hours if you choose such as office hours and then a note is listed to say please contact me with inquiries through xxx method so that the inquiry is addressed early on. Also, you don’t need to be in front of a computer all day. Have the mobile version of your comms platform on your phone and respond as you get inquiries. DO NOT blame this on WFH environments because I’m in a senior position and my productivity is higher when I WFH not to mention it’s the companies job to adapt to new methods. This was never an issue at my old company because we were given ways to NOT feel chained to a desk all day.
JUST STOP! PEOPLE PLEASE! Is this really what we are focusing our attention on...remove the log from your eye! Wake up and get it together!! We are grown adults and there are real issues we need to focus our attention on; trust me when I say this is seriously NOT even close to the top five!! 🇺🇲😲🙏
Maybe I’m missing something. It’s a job. She is employed by a company to perform certain duties and she isn’t. At home or in an office, she’s not performing the job she is being paid to do. When did people develop the idea they can do as they please? When you own the company you can buy unless you do, you have to follow the rules. If you can’t then it’s time for you to move on. If something in her personal life is affecting her ability to work, then she needs to be open with her supervisor and maybe he/she will help with a resolution. Being childish and petty isn’t the correct way to handle it.
I'm an IT Manager for an Online Reputation Company. Generally, I need to be in the office but I try to do one day WFH. We use Slack for internal communication and I can't tell you how bogged down I get just answering questions, asking for an opinion or advice and everything else. I've learned to balance my responses with a priority system. Say an employee doesn't have Internet, I make that an obvious high priority. If an employee asks me how to theme their Chrome so it looks "pretty", I don't respond immediately especially if I'm busy. Just because I don't respond, doesn't mean I'm not working. If I'm home, the same applies. I'll respond to messages/requests when I respond. I try to resolve all requests at least within an hour or two simply because I don't like my plate filling up. So is she actually not working? Who is to say? I feel a one on one conversation to manage expectations regarding communication would probably go farther than deferring to other employees for feedback.
I think there are 2 separate issues here. One is people getting their knickers in a twist watching Sarah's status on Skype (busybodies that probably should work harder themselves), and then there are people who claim she doesn't respond in time (which may be the issue of responding to them too fast in the past and making them think that's the norm). I agree with her response that if she gets her work done that day, than that's good enough though, but I'm not sure how fast paced this particular office is. In any case, it doesn't sound like she's offline for hours or doesn't respond for days, so I'm leaning towards YTA - the manager needs to be less rigid with his expectations.
Fire her already and stop acting incompetent by sharing this story with the world and doing nothing about it!
WFH and WFO should mean the same number of breaks and same set schedule. OP is definitely NTA. Sarah is paid to do a job she is obviously not doing. She wanted to be home 2 days and be able to take care of her kids. That's not how this works. If her kids are too young to care for themselves, they still need to go to daycare or have a sitter. Or be a SAHM because that's what she's trying to do it seems. My spouse works from home. The rest of the family knows between 8-5, he is technically not home. We don't interrupt his work and we keep the volume down if need be. Sarah should be focused on her work as well.
Fire Sarah and hire someone who cares about their work and their team. COViD is over btw. why are we all not back to normal work
Fire Sarah and move on. COVID is over. We should all be back to work by now
She’s irresponsible. I’m 100% remote worker and I do sometimes stand up from my computer to do the dishes or laundry. But if I receive a call or an email I immediately answer it, and if I have to leave things half done to go back to work I do it. I feel sometimes so overwhelmed with the amount of work that I like to stop and unwind for a few minutes.
She can work from "home " but I a library or a place free of distraction if she is home and a mother she can't ignore children is ridiculous.she needs a place else like a university area. Library area, and a day care for daughter.
You make it sound as if Sarah is irreplaceable and she is not. Different location same time same rules same policy. Seriously. Seems to me she does it because she's made to feel as if she can. That's what lunch breaks are for, and then you said that she can start an hour late and leave an hour early with a lunch break. Even with 2 children and working from home what more could you ask for. Personally I think many people have abused this work from home privilege.
If this woman had no problem working 5 days a wk, before covid, what's changed. They should make Sarah and the others to come back full time. People are just going to have to live with covid, just like with live with everything else. If Sarah can't follow the rules, then she should be written up and if she continues, fired.
They should have a policy that you can't be a caretaker when working from home because it's really hard to get any work done. That's how my company is. The boss should have told her she can't work from home and take care of her kids, she needs to find a daycare for that. Also, they need to be able to get messages on their phone. I have teams on my phone and messages will show up there or in my watch if I step away for a while.
There's more to this story than meets the eye. If this woman is in a senior position, and the OP is receiving feedback from office snitches beneath her, I really think listening to the woman's story would flip this entire claim on its a**e. As far as the clients... Clients almost always have unrealistic expectations. That's to be expected. But in this case, all the OP talks about is what this woman did wrong. I'm not sure how it is in the legal field, but in the tech world, IT folks rely on tickets. Internal or external, clients should never be allowed to send direct messages to anyone like that. The requests should ALWAYS go through to a ticketing system. Hearing *ding ding ding* every 6 seconds is bad for anyone's productivity. Stop worrying about betty sue, senior position or not, answering every single teams message or being online to satisfy every micro management satisfaction. Get a ticketing system going, and write a realistic turnaround time in policy. The only workers who should be expected to marry their desk, til death do them part, are customer service representatives. Period.
The truth is whoever posts about a work colleague on any public forum: has them living on rent free your head. b) deserves a better, less b!tchy boss than you, or at leastone who can hide her envy.
Employees are getting sick of being micro-managed. They are getting sick of being expected to always put work before family. They are getting sick of overbearing employers and their demands. And for what? So they can make a dime while the boss makes a dollar+? If the employee is getting their work done, the manager should stop micro-managing. They are getting paid to do a job, not to be at your beck and call. Good for her for setting boundaries with her employer. Entitled employers don't seem to like when their employees have boundaries. If the employee is "away" there's a reason. As long as they are doing their job, that reason is none of your business. Entitled employers and managers are going to learn real quick in the current work environment that they NEED employees more that the employees need them. Do you know how much is costs a business to hire and re-train for a position? More than it's worth most of the time. We are entering an age where the worker has the upper hand, as it should be. Dinosaurs need to learn to get with the times or die off. I'll be laughing as these businesses fail because owners/managers can't adapt their archaic management style and feel entitled to doing things the old way; while progressive businesses who value and respect their employees thrive in this environment. 🤙
Did you read the article? The employee is not getting their work done. :P
Load More Replies... This guy is a dinosaur. Get with the times, learn to manage effectively in WFH and in person settings or you will become obsolete. People don't need your job, you NEED your employees. The last few years, it's been kinda fun watching entitled employers be forced to treat their employees with respect when they are sick due to the changes in business practices brought on by the pandemic. Now they are being forced to be flexible with work environmentas and to respect their employees time and it's glorious. Learn to manage in the new world or get out of the way.
Here's the major flaw in your logic: The employer is PAYING employees to do a job (the amount of pay is a different topic), so they have a right to attach terms, like expected work hours, to employees' jobs. If a candidate don't like the terms, they don't accept the job offer. If employees don't want to comply to those terms, then they are implying that they don't want to be paid either. If the terms of your job require you to be available at certain times, and you are not, those are legitimate reasons for termination. I imagine Sarah is in the unemployment line now.
Load More Replies... We need to stop treating employees like they don't have lives. My employer has been excellent at this realization, but I guess it's gonna take the rest of these profit hogs some time to adjust. We spend ⅓ of our lives working, ⅓ of our lives sleeping, so we have ⅓ of our lives to actually live. That's not reasonable, COVID changed that mindset, and we should not allow effortposters with clear agendas to change it back.
This thread is literally making me disappointed in humanity. It's the perfect toxic blend of men's rights activism and micromanagers anonymous up in here.
Load More Replies... NTA. Sounds like a good manager and trying his best to be reasonable. Maybe there was a time Sarah was on top of her game, but probably getting burnt out and might need some motivation.
So a senior lawyer at a law firm is considered to be little more than a call center agent that has to respond to all enquiries regardless of priority and always be available to answer quedtions immediately. C**p job.
Sounds like Sara should find a better job that fits her schedule and desires better. This day in age, there is no reason to have to deal with overbearing micro-managers. There's a worker shortage, remember? Sara should find an employer that is willing to meet her needs. That's the beauty of capitalism,supply and demand. And right now, there is a greater demand for workers than there is supply. Which means workers can set their stipulations and if the manager/owner doesn't want to comply, they can GFTMS because the employee can find another job that will meet their requirements.
There's only a shortage in fast food and hard labor not office hahaha
Load More Replies... According to ShortPeak's post it sounds like you have it out for this employee. Hope you're not just tripping on power.
ShortPeak already put OP in a "box" because he was male. ShortPeak might have had a bad experience with a male boss, but that doesn't mean all male bosses are "tripping on power" or whatever. My 1st thought was that OP was judged negatively solely due to his gender.
Load More Replies... 
85
207