During our last lock down we had a new manager come in, let's call her Deb. She was then asked to fill in for her 1-up so she brought in someone to backfill for her, lets call him David.
Prior to this I had been working in the office Tues-Thurs and from home Mon & Fri. They weren't my preferred days but I made it work and structured by life outside of work around these days.
At the start of the year, at the end of the lockdown, I had a call from David saying that I would have to come in full time. With 3 days notice.
I said that this was far too short notice and that in fact I would be looking at changing to a 3 day at home and 2 day in the office arrangement. He immediately shutdown and for the rest of the call I only received short answers apart from “ok, we'll need to bring this up with Deb”. From my experience with him he would have expected me to back down. I did not.
Fast forward and I had a meeting with Deb where I articulated why I wanted to change my schedule with solid justification.
I advised her that I wanted to keep Monday at home as I have a commitment late Sunday. I always keep personal stuff to myself at work so as to not be taken advantage of but I let it slip that I play a sport that often means I finish late, sometimes as late as 1-2am.
The next comment out of her mouth floored me “That's not really a good enough excuse. I could go out drinking all night and be hungover for work the next day, it's the same thing. We'll need you in on Mondays”. For some context this woman is probably in her mid-late 40s, so not some early 20s 'woo-girl'.
I kept quiet and noted that comment for future reference.
I am not a 'sporty' person at all so getting so involved with a sport surprised me. I honestly worry about what would have happened to me, especially during lockdown, had I not had the support of that community so it's something really important to me.
Maybe I'm naïve but I don't think playing a sport for your mental and physical health is anything like drinking all night and going into work hungover.
I went scorched earth and gave them the days I could work in the office and the days I couldn't. I gave them no quarter, I made certain there wasn't anything they could use to object. According to my KPIs and the feedback I've received I have exceeded my targets and maintained my performance in all areas.
In the email, along with delivery and read receipts, I had something like “This will take effect on x date, if there are no concerns raised prior to this date the arrangement will commence and continue until further notice.”
Something I've learnt is to always keep a paper trail.
Silence is acquiescence and this has continued for many months now