Internet Backs Worker Who Quit When Allowed to Work Remotely—After Shift
A worker quit their job after only three days because when they asked about the promised "hybrid" work environment, they were told that they were free to work from home—but only after their shift had ended.
In a post to Reddit's popular r/antiwork forum, u/InfamousCommission38 shared their story to more than 33,700 upvotes and over 1,400 comments.
"When I applied they told me they had a 'hybrid' work environment where I'd be able to work remotely as well as from the office," u/InfamousCommission38 wrote.
"I guess I was still in orientation but an hour ago I was transferred from an HR person to the guy who would have been my manager. I asked about setting up the hybrid schedule (I was thinking MWF remote) and he told me 'it's hybrid as in you can work from home after five,'" they wrote. "I was floored. The working hours are 8-5. I just laughed and said 'I'm out'."
"How can they treat people like this. Even if they are complete sociopaths, it's gotta be bad business to waste so much time," u/InfamousCommission38 concluded.
While an employer doesn't have to allow an employee to work from home—at least, not without a doctor's note, according to the Americans With Disabilities Act—the pandemic has made working from home a more and more attractive option. In fact, one element behind the Great Resignation is a response to employers asking employees to return to the office.
Erika Lance, the chief human resources officer at KnowBe4, wrote in a Newsweek column that employers should remain flexible.
"Who said working from home—or in the office—has to be an all-or-nothing proposition? Consider how you can build in more flexibility for employees whether they're on or offsite in ways that are meaningful to them," she wrote.
Gergo Vari, founder and CEO of Lensa, agreed.
"Companies have gotten comfortable in their ways of doing business, but business is changing, which means they need to change along with it. By changing their conditions, business leaders can end up less frustrated with job seekers unwilling to accept their conditions," he wrote in a Newsweek column of his own.
The original poster's fellow Redditors backed them.
"They went through the entire recruitment process and paid for all the background checks and recruiters and drug screens and I-9 verrification and all that nonsense, just so they could pay you for a few days of onboarding before you found out that they had been lying since the very beginning," u/Doctor_Mudshark wrote. "They wasted so much money, just gambling on whether or not their lie would be a dealbreaker. Amazing."
"It's hybrid as in you get to work unpaid overtime...hybridly," u/oboz_waves joked.
"Turns out that if you work more than 55 hours a week, you start becoming less productive. At 70 hours a week, you are not getting anymore done than those working 55 hours a week," u/JackNotName wrote, citing a report published by the IZA Institute of Labor Economics. "Personally, I've run developments teams that produced much more than the average team, but only worked 40 hour weeks."
"Please make sure they pay you for the days worked. They f***ed around and found out. They will spend more on the interview process, hiring, onboarding, payroll, filing your withholding and issuing W2s than the amount of work they got out of you. It is just insane for companies to do this. They could put that money to giving better benfits to their workers," u/mname wrote.
Newsweek reached out to u/InfamousCommission38 for comment.
