Well yes grinning and bearing it will avoid things turning ugly and possibly in a few days the MD will realise how stupid they are being and be more reasonable. Its one path.

If they want to go "all formal" the key will be what their actual contract says. If they are employed as a remote worker then the employer may not have the legal right to insist on 5 days a week attendance - and anyway it doesn't pass the reasonableness test. But that path may/will get confrontational.

Probably I would see if there is another member of the management team who could intervene on your friend's behalf. Stressing wishing to leave on good terms, H&S issues, custom and practice etc etc

In reply to Keith:

They have asked if the MD will be providing overnight stays which they would usually do if they were working there for multiple days. answer was along the lines of "no because you need to treat it as a normal commute like I do. you've been working from home all this time enjoying perks of doing school runs" which is untrue they don't do any school runs- their partner does them all.

In reply to Lyndsey Hancock:

I am not sure I would have asked that - as the answer would have been inevitable

The key is either how far and how hard they want to push this

Or if they can find someone else to intercede on their behalf - the latter would be best option

In reply to Keith:

Also assuming "daily commute like I do" means MD is intending there will be no reimbursement for additional mileage costs of over £1700 and 80 additional hours travelling they are asking of this person... (mileage up to now always paid for the 180 mile round trips 3-4 times a month for over a year)

In reply to Lyndsey Hancock:

Lyndsey all good points - but all hamstrung but them starting from position that they don't want things to turn ugly

All very unreasonable of course and potentially challengeable on several fronts but are they up for it?

Mileage etc is almost certainly recoverable through the courts in these circumstances but again they need to be willing to do this

In reply to Keith:

I don't know if in this scenario there is a way for it to not turn ugly without the person leaving getting completely walked over for the next 3 weeks. Safe to say the decision to leave has been solidified as the right thing to do. I also think the responses to these unreasonable/ malicious requests should have the MD's boss CC'd in. There is a LONG history of bullying especially when people are leaving that perhaps the higher ups need to be aware of as I am sure they are not!

There obviously no love lost here - hence your friend resigning.

I’d be cutting my loses if I was them, and making the resignation “with immediate effect”, with an explanation that the sudden change in working location is unreasonable and unnecessary - assuming there have been no complaints to this point from the MD about working from home affecting your friend’s productivity?

There are various threads on here about how difficult it is in practice to force someone to work their notice if they don’t want to.

Your friend would’ve lose out on three weeks of pay (probably unfairly), but equally doesn’t bear the sudden increase in commuting costs.

I don't think there is a way to avoid it turning ugly. I think I would be included to reply advising how long they have been working remotely, that it is now custom and practice (or indeed contractual if it is), and that they do not agree to this sudden change to their terms and conditions without any consultation or notice. As such, they consider that the request is unreasonable, but will attend the office once/twice a week during their notice period in order to carry out an effective hand over.

At that point the manager has a choice - they either try to argue that they are failing to follow a reasonable instruction (which they would find very hard to do) and institute a disciplinary, which will sound alarm bells and highlight his unreasonable behaviour with any decent HR professional. By the time they go through the process (assuming your friend has more than 2 year's service), she will just about have finished anyway.

In reply to Teresa:

I would be asking the new employer if I could start earlier.If yes then we have a win - win - win.

I'd just say "lol, nope". But I recognize that not everyone enjoys baiting sociopaths as much as I do.

Keith, Peter et al have much more mature and sensible answers. But it is worth noting that "lol, nope" is a reasonable response to an unreasonable demand. I imagine, if one permits the possibility of logical thinking behind the MD's expectation, that one could just about see that the employer is seeking to bait your friend into a resignation with immediate effect to save themselves the cost of notice. But the more likely answer is that they don't expect "work of value" from the last three weeks of a remote worker's employment if they can't stand over them with a cudgel (which, of course, historically produces the best outcomes /s).

If your friend were to take the "lol, nope" stance but from a slightly more constructive position, it may persuade the MD to back off. So an email outlining the pieces of work that your friend will complete before their final day's employment, perhaps with a single day in the office for a handover and to drop off work equipment at the end of it, but with a firm assertion that they will *not* be attending the office as instructed, might be sufficient. However, it may need to be followed up with the assertion that, if this provision is unacceptable, your friend's resignation with immediate effect will follow (the implication being "and then none of the things I listed above will get done and it'll be your problem").

In reply to Robey:

They suggested 2 days a week to the MD and suggested the request was unreasonable. The response was as expected unpleasant! included were the phrases " I have told you to come in", "You will carry out my instructions", "you will do as I ask", "failure to carry out what I have asked and I will take a legal action" ending with the option to request to be released early without pay. So clearly this was the malicious intention from the start. I think they will be returning their equipment on Monday as demanded and not returning! I am sure the new company will be pleased they can start early.

In reply to Lyndsey Hancock:

The response was as expected unpleasant! included were the phrases " I have told you to come in", "You will carry out my instructions", "you will do as I ask", "failure to carry out what I have asked and I will take a legal action" ending with the option to request to be released early without pay.

Oh, I hope that was in writing. Because "offering" someone the "option" to be released early without pay? That's open and shut constructive unfair dismissal. If he wanted to argue a refusal to follow a reasonable management instruction, he'd have to follow a fair process, which would show that your friend is a contracted remote worker and that, with no operational justification, there's nothing "reasonable" about the instruction to attend work. Also, of course, that a process that would take time. About... three weeks, I would guess! :D

Again, my sociopath-baiting self would laugh and tell him to get bent. The idea of suing your own employee for refusing to come to work (when you're a contractual remote worker) is just hilarious enough that I'd like to see him try.

But practically speaking, I think in most cases the best option is to just walk and shake the dust of their feet .

In reply to Robey:

I'd have to dig my heels in there. I can't stand bullies, so I would be reiterating that as a contractual remote worker, I do not agree with the attempt to unilaterally change my contractual working place an will not be complying with his unreasonable request. I would be very clear that I consider his approach to be bullying in nature and the suggestion that I request to be released early without pay, to be an attempt to constructively dismiss me. I would end by withdrawing my offer of a reasonable compromise of attending the office 2 days a week and will attend on x date to hand over and y date to hand in equipment. I would say that i note their threat of legal action if i do not comply with their unreasonable instruction and once i receive their further advices on this, I will forward it to my own legal advisers.

I just couldn't let them get away with it, but I can be very stubborn!

Hi Lyndsey.. Does your friend have a written agreement in place that reflects the hybrid working arrangement.. The written arrangement could be in a contract, an addendum or an email with a date that is the same or later than the contract is dated?. If not, it might well be in her favour to review the end date of her notice citing unreasonable behaviour for change.

Some good advice from others as usual. If it were me and I wasn't feeling feisty, and I had my reference already, I'd go off sick for the remainder of the notice period. Seen plenty of folk do it over the years. However, if I were up for standing my ground I'd cite their unreasonable request, check my contractual position, I'd go in maybe twice during this period to do a handover and return equipment.