The working from home thread
- Thread starter BoatieBird
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weltweit
Well-Known Member
Oh I am pretty strict, I switch on the work laptop at 8am and turn it off at 4.30pm.. I don't think my pay grade demands me to work extra hours.
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
I found it odd at the end of the day yesterday. No leaving work for the weekend feeling, just turned the laptop off. Kind of missed it. Also I wanted to double check my emails half an hour later in a way I wouldn't normally.
I resisted though.
I resisted though.
Carbon dioxide / ethyl acetate or another solvent I can't remember / think there's another process that just involves water somehow
farmerbarleymow
I'm Petee's spirit animal
This might be useful for some who have annual leave booked and want to cancel it (might only apply to some sectors though)
Rules on carrying over annual leave to be relaxed to support key industries during COVID-19
Workers who have not taken all of their statutory annual leave entitlement due to COVID-19 will now be able to carry it over into the next 2 leave years.
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
This might be useful for some who have annual leave booked and want to cancel it (might only apply to some sectors though)
Rules on carrying over annual leave to be relaxed to support key industries during COVID-19
Workers who have not taken all of their statutory annual leave entitlement due to COVID-19 will now be able to carry it over into the next 2 leave years.www.gov.uk
Looks to be for people unable to take leave as they're required to work because of the virus rather than people who don't want to take leave just to be stuck at home, as far as I can tell.
Voley
🐀
That leave thing's interesting. My work had already put a measure in place requiring you to take some leave during the crisis. They didn't want everyone cancelling their Summer leave then booking it all again when we go back. They might relax that if you can carry it over for a couple of years.
circleline
Well-Known Member
Although we have been set up to WFH for the past year, it has been considered some kind of luxury or privilege that needed to be authorised. I have not, therefore, invested in it accordingly. Now, of course: yes, work from home, please. Ok, but not really adapted my living space; don't have suitable chair(s) and nobody has mentioned the electricity costs and internet connection which I 'must' now pay for to stay in work.
weltweit
Well-Known Member
My home is pretty cold during these days so I have to also consider that I may have to have the heating on. So far I haven't had to apart from a small electric heater but I am fully clothed with a scarf and thick towelling dressing gown on, even like that sometimes it is uncomfortably cold.
circleline
Well-Known Member
Yes, didn't mention heating, as am old-school 'put a jumper on' type; but, yes, sat in a chair for approx 8 x hours and heating is a serious consideration..
mx wcfc
Well-Known Member
We got an email when "WFH if you can" started that said "yes, you can claim expenses". My employer may change their mind when then get a tsunami of 3 months worth of calls, percentage of bills/wi-fi. Frankly I wfh 1 or 2 days a week normally, and don't claim anything, because I love wfh and don't want to piss them off. Plus there's an argument around marginal costs - you'd have wi-fi anyway, if you are not on your own, you'd have the heating on anyway. This might change, but as long as I'm on full pay and not having to commute, I'm not going to worry about a few quid of expenses.
TheHoodedClaw
acknowledging ur soup leg
My working from home on full pay story:
I've done maybe two hours work the past week. Most of my job is face-to-face, and the balance is admin and IT stuff that really only needs done when the Centre is actually open. When I first had the inkling that this thing might escalate and lead to us closing the doors, I started giving out my personal mobile number (no work mobiles here) to most of my regulars, but I've only had a couple of calls and those were for easy things to sort out. Updated the website and FB page, but that's trivial.
Full pay for two hours actual work sounds good in theory, but I'm not enjoying the reality. And this is only the first week.
I've done maybe two hours work the past week. Most of my job is face-to-face, and the balance is admin and IT stuff that really only needs done when the Centre is actually open. When I first had the inkling that this thing might escalate and lead to us closing the doors, I started giving out my personal mobile number (no work mobiles here) to most of my regulars, but I've only had a couple of calls and those were for easy things to sort out. Updated the website and FB page, but that's trivial.
Full pay for two hours actual work sounds good in theory, but I'm not enjoying the reality. And this is only the first week.
weltweit
Well-Known Member
I think some people have a hang up about sharing phone or mobile numbers worrying that they may get a lot of calls. In my experience publishing them shows trust, and your contacts are reassured that if the shit really does hit the fan then they can get in contact, but in normal times I don't think they will want to bother you. I shared my personal mobile with more than a thousand contacts last week in a newsletter, not one of them used it yet.
mx wcfc
Well-Known Member
With you brother. On full pay, wfh atm. I work in one of those jobs where you have to submit a timecard every week, setting out what you've done - last week I managed, just about, 12 hours out of a 36 hour week,chargeable. Plus there was, maybe, 6 hours vaguely useful internal stuff on top of that. The amount of work I have to do has fallen off a cliff. Projects are falling over. Not my fault, and frankly not the clients' fault either. There may come a point when I get closed down. I can cope with a few months on the 80% thing, but if that leads to the bastards deciding they don't need me at all, I'm fucked permanently. But right now, all's good, and I'm lucky compared to many.
farmerbarleymow
I'm Petee's spirit animal
At mine the policy is that the employer will not pay for additional costs incurred like electric and internet connection. But we did have a discussion about this the other week given what's going on, and apparently it is possible to claim it but you have to move to self-assessment rather than PAYE. Don't know any of the details but that sounds like a nuisance for the sake of a slight increase in costs, especially if you are saving money in travel costs to work.
My electric bill has gone up recently due to this (about £15 extra a month), but as I'm saving ~£150 a month in travel costs I'm happy with that. I don't use my internet connecton but tether the laptop to the work phone. I appreciate that not all people will be in the same boat, and an increase in heating bills could be a major problem. No easy answers really.
weltweit
Well-Known Member
I have a work laptop that accesses my home broadband, and my mobile with an unlimited calls package. But I only have a relatively small table to work on which isn't enough for laptop and paperwork together so there is much shuffling of papers on my lap. I only have a hard kitchen type chair but it seems comfortable enough for me. My main issue is that my broadband becomes intermittent every couple of days and as everything I do requires the cloud, once the broadband goes down work effectively stops.
TheHoodedClaw
acknowledging ur soup leg
It'd be a benefit-in-kind I think? So you'd still be PAYE, but a little bit more paperwork for you and your employer. (Ed: get a tax lawyer to check this)
farmerbarleymow
I'm Petee's spirit animal
Yeah, I don't know anything about tax as I've always been PAYE.
hash tag
Books, not bombs
My last shifts at work were nights 2 weeks ago. I wrote to management Asking for advice, what does this mean to me? I had no reply to 3 separate emails so I wrote to occupational health. They have it on record I have lymphoma. I received a reply late yesterday saying that as I was not considered high risk, I should try and self isolate ( not possible for my job). In the meantime I have had texts and the 4 page letter telling me to shield for 3 months! 
muscovyduck
Good IT skills and food hygiene competent
I managed to grab a decent laptop just as my old one was failing, I need to start work in like 10 minutes but out of 32gb less than 1gb has been transferred through onedrive and that's taken all night.
Also some of my job is high stress, particularly at the moment as shit properly hit the fan just as I went off work, and I wish it wasn't in my house
Also some of my job is high stress, particularly at the moment as shit properly hit the fan just as I went off work, and I wish it wasn't in my house
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moose
like some cat from Japan
It's the relentless Zoom meetings that are getting me down. I'm just about to start a day in which I'm on Zoom till 5.30, with a half hour break in the middle. I can't sit still for that long on a dining chair, under camera scrutiny. I'm busier than ever, but getting nothing done.
Also had complaints about my washing hanging up, and my husband bobbing about the background.
Also had complaints about my washing hanging up, and my husband bobbing about the background.
cybershot
Well-Known Member
Can you blur your background like you can do in Teams? Or put a custom background?
Otherwise just tape up the camera and tell them to fuck off.
High Voltage
In the top 97% of Urban's most interesting posters
TWO. FUCKING. DAYS.
That's all I've been able to "have off"
Seems the idea of being able to work 3 days one week and 2 days the other week alternating with a colleague and, somehow, managing to get some of the Governments money (80%) and some pay (100%) giving an average of 90% of my full pay (which sounded too good go be true when told by the owner) turns out to have been . . . (reprographics term here) TOTAL BOLLOCKS!
Couple with the fact that the junior has been off for two weeks as her mum was showing symptoms - neither actually had it
And now my colleague has now phoned in and is isolating for two weeks as his infant is showing symptoms
Just as well this old, asthmatic cunt, who's asked if he can work from home (and been told no) manages to get in
'Cause . . . I'm a fucking key worker . . . you couldn't make it up
That's all I've been able to "have off"
Seems the idea of being able to work 3 days one week and 2 days the other week alternating with a colleague and, somehow, managing to get some of the Governments money (80%) and some pay (100%) giving an average of 90% of my full pay (which sounded too good go be true when told by the owner) turns out to have been . . . (reprographics term here) TOTAL BOLLOCKS!
Couple with the fact that the junior has been off for two weeks as her mum was showing symptoms - neither actually had it
And now my colleague has now phoned in and is isolating for two weeks as his infant is showing symptoms
Just as well this old, asthmatic cunt, who's asked if he can work from home (and been told no) manages to get in
'Cause . . . I'm a fucking key worker . . . you couldn't make it up
weltweit
Well-Known Member
My understanding High Voltage is that the instruction is - if you can work from home you should, and your employer should be enabling this!
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