Well that went well - errr not!!!!

To say my request to telecommute went down like a lead balloon would be an understatement!!! Man oh man, the French have got to give me French citizenship now as I have them all manning the barricades. I made a written request asking for a partial telecommuting arrangement because of my commute from hell, its negative effect on my health and quoting the relevant organization policy. You could hear the very loud intake of breath from the director when he received it as he hates these arrangements with a vengeance. Trouble is, I had been asked by my supervisor what would it take to make me stay on rather than retire so I asked for a 50% telecommuting arrangement with the obvious proviso that I would be available in work when necessary - that goes without saying. Well I not only got a very resounding "no" but now colleagues who had been benefiting from such arrangements are being told they now have to come back 100% and work from the office. There is uproar. I feel bad to have been the catalyst for this but in the end I was not prepared to potentially be accorded this right but have to hide it from the others. As far as I'm concerned it has to be up front or not at all. And in any case, I am ready to retire so I have nothing to lose!

I think my director doesn't know what has hit him. Some very, very unhappy people are coming up to me complaining so I guess somebody had to "pierce that boil" as the French say. My supervisor just asked me 10 minutes ago to go away on holiday and come back with the minimum arrangement I could accept and he will run with it. In the meantime, some very ballsy women colleagues have also gone up to bat against the director. Lordy, lordy, that was never my intention but .... there are obviously some very unhappy people in this division!

Anyway, I can't go into more detail as I have work to finish before I head off for my flight to Sicily (yay me). I don't know what the outcome will be but in the end I'm not unhappy that it has happened. There was obviously festering resentment that has now been bought out into the open. We'll see I guess. I may or may not be able to post from Sicily as I will be on my ipad, but until then, man the barricades and vive la révolution!