I don’t want my colleagues on my social media. How do I politely decline them?

It sounds like you may not have worked in a team of mostly women before. Just as women have often found themselves in male-dominated environments and had to adjust to fit in, it seems like you are perhaps finding yourself needing to do the same. This does not mean changing who you are, what you value or the boundaries you set.

But it does mean understanding that while being asked personal questions may be challenging for you, it could be the way the culture in this particular team has been established in the past. If you are kind and respectful in the way you explain your wish to keep your private life separate from work, I am sure your new colleagues will understand and be kind and respectful in return.

My employer was recently bought by an international company and many things have changed. The latest is that we’ve been told we will need to return to the office five days a week. We currently work three days in the office and two at home. This did not go down well for many, as we were employed on the basis that it is a flexible workplace. Is there anything we can do?

Unfortunately, being promised a “flexible workplace” is not necessarily the same thing as having a contractual right to work from home. Start by checking your employment contract, enterprise agreement, applicable award and flexibility policy. If two home days are expressly guaranteed, your position is stronger than if workplace flexibility was merely a discretionary policy.

You are also not alone in the shift back to the office. Many large Australian businesses are winding back COVID-era work arrangements and requiring people back five days per week. In terms of what you can do, it all depends on what your contract says and working together with other employees to understand what might be driving the change is likely to be more helpful than acting alone. If you feel you have specific reasons why you need to work from home a certain number of days per week, you can try making a formal, individual request.