(Sincerest apologies for the length of this post; I've been following this comm for a while now and recent upsetting developments in my own job are finally driving me to post)
I started a wonderful job end of 2021 (full benefits for the first time ever in my life, finally being paid something like what I actually deserve for all of my skills/experience, and so on) and at the time of my hiring I was told that the position was permanently remote – not just 'temporarily remote', e.g. for Covid reasons, but permanently remote outright – that's what I was told, and was promised in writing (over Teams & in email). I was simply ecstatic about it, since I'd never been fortunate enough to have anything like that….and ever since then it's been simply amazing, and so incredibly good for my peace of mind and sanity….I've been comfortable and happy, and no denying. I have a co-worker who was hired on about 8 months before me, and in her interview they told her that she was also permanent remote, flat-out, explicitly stated and repeatedly confirmed as such.
………..fast-forward to this past Tuesday, when I was informed that I suddenly have to come back into the office, full-time, Monday-Friday from now on, as of this coming Tuesday. This is despite being promised in writing that I was permanent remote and that would never change; even when others in the firm who were temporarily remote due to Covid were brought back fully into the office or on a hybrid schedule, I was constantly reassured by my supervisor/boss at the time that I was permanent remote, full stop.
Of course, the week before that was also when I and my co-worker were informed, completely out of nowhere, with zero warning whatsoever, that, apparently, we would have a brand-new boss moving forward; it was someone who had been brought in as a compliance officer, and who, for some reason, was now evidently being put in charge of us on the file opening team? Even though that had ZERO to do with what she was supposedly brought into the firm for?
Out of nowhere, she thieved us away from the direct supervisor that we actually loved and who had been so good to us this whole time….and ever since then she's been causing us nothing but stress and frustration. And now, on top of all that, she's the one forcing me to come back into the office – even though I repeatedly told her that I was promised to remain permanent remote by our boss before her, and also that I had that promise in writing. When I told her this, her supposed 'reasoning' for forcing me back into the office kept switching from one thing to another and was in no way consistent:
First excuse: she claimed that it was 'because the partners want everyone back in the office'; somehow, I very much doubt this….the partners have never much cared what I do because I'm relatively low on the totem pole, and there has NEVER been any pressure nor talk before this of them wanting even the permanent remote people to come back to the office. Our prior boss had certainly never even hinted at anything of the kind; in fact, he'd gone well out of his way to keep reassuring us that we would remain permanent remote. (New supervisor also trotted out the 'it's good for teamwork BS, at which I nearly barked out the most sarcastic laugh)
Second excuse: Someone in IT claimed that my internet speed was 'too slow' to work from home (even though I'd been doing it since December of 2021 with ZERO issues nor problems whatsoever, and any problems I had only started when I was forced to adopt a work laptop and use the work VPN last week; prior to that I had been remoting in through my high-speed laptop to the work desktop, as had most people to theirs). I sent this person screenshots of internet speed tests proving that our connection is high-speed fibre, and, thus, more than adequate to the task.
Third excuse: The same person claimed that my internet connection 'wasn't stable enough'. I proved that to be blatantly false since my connection is stable and high-speed enough to run gaming and streaming on multiple devices, at the same time, with no issues whatsoever. Any issues I was experiencing ONLY began when the work laptop and the VPN was forced upon me, leaving me to conclude that they were deliberately throttling the connection and that was the cause of these problems.
Fourth excuse: The new supervisor called me this past week and claimed that, supposedly, I could no longer WFH because our wifi connection was somehow 'not secure'. She was even threatening that they would demand to see our IP address which would enable them to view any and all websites that were visited and all activity which had occurred on our private home network. This was a violation of privacy to which, of course, I could not consent.
I had been WFH since end of 2021 with no issues related to my internet connection; it wasn't until the work laptop was forced upon me, and not until the new boss swooped in and started stressing us out and threw into total chaos everything we'd ever done and how we were comfortable doing it, that suddenly I started having major issues and errors.
In fact, a lot of people around me are strongly suspecting that all of this is because the new boss is, 1) trying to make me miserable enough to force me to quit because she wants to bring in her own people, 2) trying to micromanage me and scrutinize every last thing I'm doing to look for some excuse to fire me even though, by her own admission, I've been doing such an excellent job (which I already knew). She seems to be on a power trip, pure and simple.
This was proved to me this past week when my co-worker (who had trained me in all the programs that we use and had been great to me all this time) suddenly texted me in the afternoon to say that she had just been fired, unceremoniously, and totally without cause or justification.
To say the least, this was an awful shock; we both suspect, however, that the new supervisor clearly didn't like it that my co-worker was standing up for us and protesting the changes she was making which were already negatively impacting us and our job (and also stressing us out and causing us major anxiety). My co-worker, like me, clearly didn't appreciate being treated this way, and it seems like the new boss was petty and power-grubbing enough to go whining to the partners about it.
The new boss called me later that day and tried to say that 'the partners didn't feel that we need TWO people opening files' – which is complete and utter bollocks and lies, since while the workload can ebb-and-flow, on occasion it could get completely crazy and out of hand and of course I needed her help….she would jump in, as need be! It's clear to me that the new supervisor did this because she didn't like being called on her BS; and she knows that I'm loyal to my co-worker and consider her a friend and have been on her side of things. I don't doubt it that she knows.
And now, being forced to come back into the office after over a year of blissfully and happily working from home and being certain of the permanency of it….this feels like the proverbial straw to break my back. There is literally nothing I do that can't be done perfectly from home (it's legal office work/typing, emailing, file openings and the like – very easily done with my typing speed of over 100 wpm with 100% accuracy). I never expected to be fortunate enough to be offered permanent WFH….but, now that I've had it for over a year, I don't want to give it up. I shouldn't have to!!
It's been the most positive thing for my mental health and sense of comfort; now that I'm being browbeaten and bullied back into the office, I can feel my anxiety spiking and I've been so upset that I've been on quite a few crying jags. I've been having panic attacks at the thought of going back.
My morale is completely and utterly in the toilet, and it's all because of this new supervisor and because I'm being forced – for ZERO reason whatsoever – to come back to the office….presumably so that she can try to micromanage me and make me miserable to the point of quitting/firing/gods only knows what. I clearly can't put anything past her at this point. She obviously doesn't care about my comfort or peace of mind; I'm inclined to think now that no one in that office does – in even the whole firm, for that matter.
Even a month ago, I was so incredibly happy in my job that I absolutely could have seen myself there for years – possibly even for the rest of my life. Not now, though; now, the thought of going back to the office makes me feel sick with misery.
HOW do I find permanent WFH, which will actually stay permanent, and which won't be yanked out from under me? How do I find that where I am (Canada, western province) – or elsewhere? I'm really feeling incredibly hopeless, crushed, and frankly betrayed right now; I keep veering hard from anger to despair and back again.