Economy & LaborOCT 14, 2022

Woman Is About To Be Fired For Refusing To Come To The Office Because She Was Hired For A 100% Remote Job, Asks The Internet For Advice

Austėja Akavickaitė and Adelaide May Ross

It’s no secret that many workers prefer remote positions. The freedom and flexibility that come from working at home can be incredibly valuable. You can sleep in later, save money and time by avoiding commutes, spend all day with your pets and get chores done around the house during your lunch break, like cleaning or doing laundry. It feels like there are simply more hours in the day when you work from home. And while it's understandable that companies sometimes want their employees to come into the office, at least once a week, each new hire should be fully aware of that before they ever sign a contract.

Below, you’ll find the story of one employee who recently had the rug ripped out from under her by her boss. In her frustration, she detailed her situation on the Antiwork subreddit, seeking advice and support. Let us know what you think about her employer’s actions in the comments, and feel free to share any of your own stories if you have ever dealt with a boss like this before. Then, if you’re interested in checking out a couple more Bored Panda articles highlighting how valuable working remotely is to employees, look no further than right here and here.

After being promised a fully remote position, this employee is now losing her job for being unable to commute to the office

Image credits: cottonbro (not the actual photo)

She also pointed out the hypocrisy in her boss' demand, as his niece works from another state

Image credits: Yan Krukov (not the actual photo)

Credits: pugpaws17

After so many companies learned during the pandemic that they could remain just as productive, and perhaps even save money, by having their employees stay home, one would think that we would not need to have this conversation any more. Yet for some reason, many employers don’t seem to understand that allowing workers to stay at home can be extremely beneficial, and forcing them to come into the office can make them irritable, less productive, and in some cases, they might even quit or have to be fired.

I can’t imagine what the author of this post is going through, as she mentioned that she is currently still dealing with legal issues from her last job and has been diagnosed with PTSD from that experience. I would guess that she probably has a case if she wanted to pursue legal action against her current job if they end up firing her, as they don’t seem to have a valid reason to do so. But legal battles are expensive and exhausting, and nobody would want to have to go through that with two companies in a row, or two at the same time.

Unfortunately, in the United States, employers can make adjustments to a worker’s employment contract without their consent, according to the Society for Human Resource Management, but that does not make it right. Plus, if the boss in this situation is able to make an exception for his niece that lives out of state, it seems reasonable that he could bend the rules for this employee as well.

Commuting 2 hours one way is ridiculous to ask of an employee, when they never expected to come into the office in the first place. And if she had been able to complete her work just fine before this rule was implemented, there is no need to fix something that was not broken. Perhaps the company could establish a maximum distance that they would require workers to commute, and only those living within 30 miles of the office, for example, would be required to come into the office. I’m sure that would account for almost everyone who works there, while allowing those who live an unreasonable distance away to stay at home.

It just does not make sense to force employees to commute when that means sacrificing valuable workers and having to repeat the hiring process and train a new employee all over again. I hope that this employer will come to his senses and decide not to lose a valuable member of his team, but only time will tell. We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation in the comments, and if you’ve ever experienced something similar at work, feel free to share your personal stories and advice as well.