Working from home

[mcskiver]

Thanks for the replies.

On this point: "A guy was in this situation at my place and threw a fuss an moaned to the other contractors and permies about it. The end result of this is he is now just another f***ing contractor and we have been tarred with the same brush by sitting there and do exactly as we are told/contracted. Personally I think he should have just shut up and got on with it instead of crying like a bitch as he dropped us all in it and further tarred our profession. Food for thought?"

Clearly inferring that i'm "crying like a bitch", which is a bit harsh. I haven't spoken to anyone about it except my agency and of course the post to this forum for a bit of advice. I'm talking about doing something i'm *not* contracted to do, or rather, I was trying to clarify my contractual position using the advice of other experienced contractors. Seems fair enough, no?

It's something that became an issue for me because the client moved offices, which meant an extra 30-45 minutes a day commute. As my wife recently had our first nipper I personally feel that's a useful amount of time that would mean I got home before he went to bed, rather than after. If you don't think that's important, that's up to you.

Anyway, thanks for the advice everyone!

[northernladuk]

Clearly inferring that i'm "crying like a bitch", which is a bit harsh. I haven't spoken to anyone about it except my agency and of course the post to this forum for a bit of advice. I'm talking about doing something i'm *not* contracted to do, or rather, I was trying to clarify my contractual position using the advice of other experienced contractors. Seems fair enough, no?

I am not 'Clearly inferring' anything at all. I am distinctly describing a situation where the person in question was in a similar position but I continue on to describe exactly how he handled it as evidence of the outcome of taking that route. I fail to see any inferrence at all. No offence is meant and have editted the post as it could be seen has harsh. My apologies.

[malvolio]

Sorry but I don't agree, well only partly. Yes your right in theory but to take this attitude just over obtaining permission to work from home? Have to weigh up the cost of upsetting them over the benefit of upsetting them and this case I don't think this carte blanche approach is justified.

At the end of the day there is nothing here saying that he WON'T freely give permission. It might be he has been burnt with people abusing homeworking so he is keeping tight reign on it. Nothing wrong with that. What's the point of kicking up such a fuss when he might say ok anyway?

You miss the point, slightly. He should not be framing the question as an employee - "Can I work from home next Friday please" - but as a supplier - "I will be working from home next Friday". You can and should be polite and accommodating, obviously, but at the end of the day, we didn't go contracting to be told what to do to that extent, especially since he's already supplying his own kit.

And if homeworking is in the contract for services agreed with the OP, then the client doesn't have a leg to stand on. The only requirement is that the work gets delivered to the required time and quality.

[mcskiver]

Just a final update on this one...

I took a day working from home yesterday, as I was just writing up some documentation. I informed the client, who emailed me to tell me I must work from the office.

I politely explained that this was a change to my contractual obligations, and that i'd already been very flexible when required but that this was unreasonable.

He apologised for not understanding what had originally been agreed in the contract, and said that he was fine with me combining the two.

So it worked well in the end, though I wouldn't have pushed it without a bit of guidance from everyone here, so thanks for the advice!

[Pondlife]

Good news.

[rsingh]

Just a final update on this one...
I informed the client, who emailed me to tell me I must work from the office.

Could you clarify please? Are you referring to the new permie manager, or somebody else on the site?

Thanks.

[jmo21]

Sorry but I don't agree, well only partly. Yes your right in theory but to take this attitude just over obtaining permission to work from home? Have to weigh up the cost of upsetting them over the benefit of upsetting them and this case I don't think this carte blanche approach is justified.

At the end of the day there is nothing here saying that he WON'T freely give permission. It might be he has been burnt with people abusing homeworking so he is keeping tight reign on it. Nothing wrong with that. What's the point of kicking up such a fuss when he might say ok anyway?

Where does it say in your contract they have to give you a valid or fair reason for exercising a notice period?

They do not need a reason.

The PM guy couldn't give a toss what is in your contract, he wasn't the one that wrote it. All he'll see is that you want to work from home and he prefers to see "bums on seats".