Moving from home worker to London office based - question

[heisthegaffer]

Hi all

Back story is I was London based hybrid for 10 years plus until last year when I took a new role involving seeing customers regionally as well as London based ones.

It was a sideways step pay grade wise but a much tougher job so I asked for a pay increase. They said they couldn't pay more but made me a home worker which and thus I could claim back all travel plus get a company car.

There are some structural changes ongoing which remain a little unclear but I do know I will be made part of a London focused team which I am happy about as its prestigious and will allow me to mix in more senior circles.

My question is, if I'm then made a London office worker rather that home worker, do they have to financially compensate me as I won't be able to claim train fare and parking back going forward?

Thanks.

[Countdown]

It depends on what you can negotiate. they don't HAVE to compensate you. However they clearly recognise that you're going to be worse off financially so my guess is they probably will.

[heisthegaffer]

Countdown said:

It depends on what you can negotiate. they don't HAVE to compensate you. However they clearly recognise that you're going to be worse off financially so my guess is they probably will.

Thanks. I sincerely hope so as that's 400 quid a month I'd have to find.

[C5_Steve]

Whether you'd be eligible/entitled to some form of compensation for being made an office worker I believe would come down to if they are making you sign a new contract. If you're current contract states you are a fully remote worker then they can't force you to come into the office and be office-based without altering your contract.

All that aside however it sounds like you actually want the new role anyway so I think it's a little different to a company trying to force someone into the office who was made remote. Any decent company would recognise the loss in benefits from switching from remote to office-based and should reflect that in the base salary.