I've worked for a company (IT related) for nearly 8 years and I am an operational supervisor. For the past three years, this has been a fully remote position. They are now insisting that all the supervisors now MUST work from the office full time again. This represents for me about 8 hours of travel time each week added to the time they expect me to provide.
I advised them (across two meetings, including my boss, boss's boss, and HR) that I would not be willing to do this as stated. I explained why – they did not mention discussion of compensation increases for the increased time expected of me. They were not offering compensation for gas or wear to my vehicle. My current level of compensation reflects the condition of my employment for the past three years – a remote position that did not require travel. They can request to change those conditions, but it requires discussion of fair compensation for the differences in expectations on my time.
They listened to what I said and then two days later, my boss essentially told me – No. We'll give you a two week “grace period” two adjust and then you will be working from the office full time. The professional equivalent of a “Go fuck yourself you snot nosed brat.”
I then put my concerns in writing in an email to my boss, boss's boss, and HR. I laid out clearly my confusion at their response – the grace period offered in no way addressed my concerns. That concern is quite simple: my time is not free. They are requesting 20% more of my time and offering no additional compensation. I advised that I am willing to discuss any reasonable solution they could suggest and those could certainly include raising my salary to reflect the additional time requested, incorporating travel time into my already expected hours, continuing to work remotely, or some combination of these solutions.
I was suddenly granted a new meeting with my, Boss's Boss, and HR again. This was supposed to be a morning meeting, but was delayed till mid afternoon. They restated their position. I restated mine. They insisted I would be working from the office full time again. I insisted that to do so requires addressing changes to my compensation or incorporating travel time into my already expected hours. They made clear there would be no discussion, no changes to compensation or addressing of travel costs. This is about the time they made clear that their intention is to get me to resign – I assume because they don't want to pay unemployment if they fire me. They tried to make it seem like I have two options: Do what they are asking, or “The ball is in your court.” The clear insinuation being that they want me to resign or acquiesce. I told them I would have a response for them in a week. I walked back to my desk, stood there for a moment…. shut everything down and packed my things. I walked back into the conference room where they were still sitting and I assume discussing me. I advised them that I was taking the rest of the day and walked out of the office. I have to say – I saw confusion and a hint of fear in their eyes when I did that. That was satisfying.
Well – I'm certainly not resigning. They would certainly appreciate that, but that's not how this works. I am going to tell them the same thing they told me – no. My time has value and it won't be given away for free. I've offered them multiple avenues to discuss implementing the changes they want and they have shown themselves unwilling to discuss them – they can fire me when I continue to work remote. That's my plan – critiques? Suggestions?
TLDR: Employer trying to get me to work from the office instead of remote without addressing the time or cost of commuting. I said no without discussing compensation, they said you will do it, I told them no in writing, they said yes and insinuated my only alternative is to resign.