***CoronaBonus***

[L CC]

We're having our WFH arrangements assessed by the HR/occ health team via teams to see if there's anything they can do to improve things.

Alcohol at work is pretty acceptable for us, though. I'm in the office one day this week and will be requesting a care package.

[quixoticgeek]

Depends on the Engineering, occasional lunchtime drinking is still a thing in software engineering.

...but very much less than it used to be. When I started with my current employer, you were taken to the pub for lunch on your first day and quarterly reviews always ended with free beer. Some people were in the pub every lunchtime. Many people were in the pub Friday lunchtime. Now it's very much a special occasion thing.

On my 18th Birthday our team went to the pub at lunch time, my boss bought me some beers. Later that afternoon he tried to reprimand me for being drunk at work. He stopped the process when i mentioned it was him who had bought me the beer...

A lot of tech firms here do drinks on Fridays. I have mixed feelings about it, the whole drinky techbro culture is not exactly welcoming to many of us, and when you turn down a beer, they people ask awkward questions, or assume your pregnant. It's most infuriating. See also tech conferences.

J

[FifeingEejit]

Never had this alcohol at work thing, not sure if NCR had restrictions but we were nowhere near a pub anyway.
By the time I started at the health board the alcohol ban was in place which included being under the influence at work not just consumption. Although the doctors mess was a well known exception to that rule.

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[Regulator]

I did get work to pay for an electric sit/stand desk, as a result of my WFH assessment.   

[robgul]

I did get work to pay for an electric sit/stand desk, as a result of my WFH assessment.   

One of my sons-in-law got, along with everyone from his organisation, an automatic allowance (I think it was bout £400) towards desk and chair etc for WFH . . . he's a public sector employee with an HQ in Liverpool.  He's been at home since March and has been told it'll be next March at the earliest to be back in an office.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Trying to square all this WFH assessment with some people's home realities. If you're living in a bedsit, working from a laptop balanced on your knees with no space for a desk, does a WFH assessment get you a pay rise to move to better accommodation or get you fired for being unable to work efficiently?

[ian]

As a perpetual (mostly) WFH, I have to periodically sign a form to say I'm happy with my workspace. If not, I presume they would (in normal times) come and do an assessment. I can expense anything* that makes me happy, though less booze, as it's hard to justify the 'entertainment' if it's just me (ah client lunches, fond fond memories).

The mothership did announce they'll be paying a not-unreasonable stipend to people who will continue to WFH (and it will become the new norm) and who are not already trousering a big salary.

*ok, I have to go through procurement hell for desks and chairs and anything that ticks the capex box. If you've used anything based on SAP, you'll know this particular and peculiar hell.

[rafletcher]

Trying to square all this WFH assessment with some people's home realities. If you're living in a bedsit, working from a laptop balanced on your knees with no space for a desk, does a WFH assessment get you a pay rise to move to better accommodation or get you fired for being unable to work efficiently?

No. which is why most of my stepsons staff (mainly in their 20's and early 30's) have decamped from that there London back to parents wherever possible.

[Kim]

Trying to square all this WFH assessment with some people's home realities. If you're living in a bedsit, working from a laptop balanced on your knees with no space for a desk, does a WFH assessment get you a pay rise to move to better accommodation or get you fired for being unable to work efficiently?

Same problem with DSA.  I recall barakta having students with allowances for ergonomic kit they simply couldn't use due to their living conditions.

[Regulator]

As a perpetual (mostly) WFH, I have to periodically sign a form to say I'm happy with my workspace. If not, I presume they would (in normal times) come and do an assessment. I can expense anything* that makes me happy, though less booze, as it's hard to justify the 'entertainment' if it's just me (ah client lunches, fond fond memories).

The mothership did announce they'll be paying a not-unreasonable stipend to people who will continue to WFH (and it will become the new norm) and who are not already trousering a big salary.

*ok, I have to go through procurement hell for desks and chairs and anything that ticks the capex box. If you've used anything based on SAP, you'll know this particular and peculiar hell.

Work will pay the tax exempt £6 per week to staff WFH who are earning less than £50k a year.  Those of us above that have to make do with claim the tax rebate...

[citoyen]

Re alcohol at work, we actually have a well stocked bar in our office, which was installed during the first lockdown (the work had been scheduled since last year). Drinks are free, but it's only 'open' between 5.30 and 6pm for those who want a glass of something at the end of the working day. It's also open late on the last Friday of every month for those who want to hang around in the office boozing with their colleagues.

Drinks are also made available for the quarterly company meetings, and since the last couple of these have been via Zoom, we've all been given a £10 allowance to provide ourselves with our tipple of choice.

So yeah, drinking is not just allowed but positively encouraged.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I think I vaguely agree with QG on disliking drinking at work or work-related events culture. Don't know about 'techbro culture' though, my impression of techies has not generally been that they're particularly heavy drinkers.

[FifeingEejit]

I think I vaguely agree with QG on disliking drinking at work or work-related events culture. Don't know about 'techbro culture' though, my impression of techies has not generally been that they're particularly heavy drinkers.

Think it varies heavily, places I've worked have had next to no social culture. But I've inadvertently managed to find myself on other companies weekly piss ups with mates in the past.

Quitting the demon drink put a stop to that though.

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[ian]

Re alcohol at work, we actually have a well stocked bar in our office, which was installed during the first lockdown (the work had been scheduled since last year). Drinks are free, but it's only 'open' between 5.30 and 6pm for those who want a glass of something at the end of the working day. It's also open late on the last Friday of every month for those who want to hang around in the office boozing with their colleagues.

Drinks are also made available for the quarterly company meetings, and since the last couple of these have been via Zoom, we've all been given a £10 allowance to provide ourselves with our tipple of choice.

So yeah, drinking is not just allowed but positively encouraged.

My wife used to work at a PR agency on Soho square, they had a splendid and cheap bar, and would even deliver booze to your desk or someone else's (they had an app). It didn't open till mid-day though. You could pay directly from your salary.

I used to nick beer from the advertising agency opposite our office, they had a big fridge and I have receptionist-deflecting smile.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I think I vaguely agree with QG on disliking drinking at work or work-related events culture. Don't know about 'techbro culture' though, my impression of techies has not generally been that they're particularly heavy drinkers.

Think it varies heavily, places I've worked have had next to no social culture. But I've inadvertently managed to find myself on other companies weekly piss ups with mates in the past.

Quitting the demon drink put a stop to that though.

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It's the automatic connection of social with alcohol, in all circumstances, that can be a problem.

[bhoot]

I work in a business with very strict drinks & drugs rules, even for office staff, which normally included random unannounced testing (based on desk no).

Me too for the strict rules, even though I only drive a pc in the IT department (railway industry), although I am unaware of any random testing in office only locations.

[FifeingEejit]

I think I vaguely agree with QG on disliking drinking at work or work-related events culture. Don't know about 'techbro culture' though, my impression of techies has not generally been that they're particularly heavy drinkers.

Think it varies heavily, places I've worked have had next to no social culture. But I've inadvertently managed to find myself on other companies weekly piss ups with mates in the past.

Quitting the demon drink put a stop to that though.

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk

It's the automatic connection of social with alcohol, in all circumstances, that can be a problem.

Yes, it killed my grandad and his brother.

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[Legs]

I'm not WFH at the moment, but needed to finish off writing a structural report last night so that we could invoice it for month-end.  Had a few glasses of ginger wine and the words flowed much better...

[cygnet]

DSE assessment for WFH 
It took over 5 years of filling in my DSE assessment in the office, annually, with "suffers from wrist pain while using workstation"
The  eventual solution: two bits of 1by4 added to lift the desktop up. Wrist pain gone in a couple of months.

Post Lockdown 1: come back into the office, you can book a desk.
"OReally" I says.
"Which desks can I book given you have declared mine off limits?"
"Um" says work co. "Let us think about that. A lot. Really hard thinking. Maybe another 3 months worth of thinking"

Just before lockdown 2 (England) they'd acquired 2 varidesks. For an office of precovid occupancy 500+. I got to use it once.

Chances of them doing a homeworking assessment. 0

[Looks at thread title]

I've been able to raise my work table at home (through judicious placement of pterry dead tree books initially) to avoid re-infliction of wrist injury.

[Ashaman42]

Trying to square all this WFH assessment with some people's home realities. If you're living in a bedsit, working from a laptop balanced on your knees with no space for a desk, does a WFH assessment get you a pay rise to move to better accommodation or get you fired for being unable to work efficiently?

I've got a friend (well friend of a friend) who whilst working from home has been doing whatever practical elements are required by soldering with their own iron on their kitchen table.

So she asked for work to supply a soldering station with extraction fan and filter and whatnot.

But no, her flat hasn't got sufficient space/airflow for that so she can't have one. Even if she promises to only use it on the balcony. But she still needs to do tasks x, y & z.

So she's stuck using her own iron with no filtration, etc.

What's that phrase about enemies and perfect and good?

[ElyDave]

As a perpetual (mostly) WFH, I have to periodically sign a form to say I'm happy with my workspace. If not, I presume they would (in normal times) come and do an assessment. I can expense anything* that makes me happy, though less booze, as it's hard to justify the 'entertainment' if it's just me (ah client lunches, fond fond memories).

The mothership did announce they'll be paying a not-unreasonable stipend to people who will continue to WFH (and it will become the new norm) and who are not already trousering a big salary.

*ok, I have to go through procurement hell for desks and chairs and anything that ticks the capex box. If you've used anything based on SAP, you'll know this particular and peculiar hell.

They announced a similar one off payment from our mob, and made it tax free as well. If I were a young up and coming consultant in a shared house or bedsit I'm sure it would come in very handy. In my case having wfh for the last 13 years, I can't see where I'd spend it other than on some very nice wine to improve the ambience (my office is also the booze store). I took the option of donating it to our charitable foundation.

[ian]

Though I like to gripe about corporate motherships, ours had been relatively good throughout – they've basically given everyone under a certain salary cap a monthly top-up going forward (which apparently covers 40% of the company and isn't time-limited). Doesn't apply to those us on the higher subdecks, of course.

[hatler]

Bike sales still way above normal levels.

Interesting snippet (albeit from the US) from there : -

"At first [during the pandemic] the entry-level price point bikes were what sold the fastest, but over time we ended up selling almost every bike we had, which included e-bikes, road bikes, gravel bikes, mountain bikes, and hybrid bikes," says company spokeswoman Jill Nazeer.

[TimC]

Bike sales still way above normal levels.

Probably closely followed by shed sales in order to store the unused bikes for the next 20 years!

[hatler]

Bike sales still way above normal levels.

Probably closely followed by shed sales in order to store the unused bikes for the next 20 years!

[Rubs hands together in gleeful expectation]


ETA. I've just realised my interpretation error there. I read 'shed sales' as 'garage sales'.