I work at a relatively large, multi-state firm. I was hired to the smalled office location in 2021 as an administrative assistant. At the time of being hired, I was told that the firm was almost fully remote, with the expectation to stay as a hybrid work environment as time went on. I have been working in the office for three days, and from home two days a week for the last year and a half without incident or compaint. During both of my yearly reviews I was given great reviews and was congratulated for my ability to work from home.
Three weeks ago, my boss requested that I change my days working from home. I had been working the same schedule for a year and a half, but I agreed to change so that I’d be in the office the same days as him. When we first made this change, I still didn’t see him because he was either attending conferences then working from home, or he was simply working from home. I didn’t complain, though, because I have a good working relationship with my boss.
Last week, I was on vacation. I came back, worked from home on Monday, as was my newly designated schedule, then went into work Tuesday. First thing in the morning I get a call from HR. She exchanges pleasantries, asks me about my vacation, and cuts me off before I finish saying it was nice; she says “we are going to need you to start coming into the office full time, starting in September. All the other receptionists are back in the office, except for you, so we can’t allow you to remain hybrid. Does that work for you?” I was stunned and didn’t really know how to respond. All the other updates on hybrid policy were done via firm wide announcement, and this came as a shock. I just meekly agreed that I was okay with it, despite me agreeing to take the job because it was pitched to me as a hybrid role. She then scolded me for wearing “sweatshirts” and “graphic tees” when I wear the most professional clothing out of the 3 support staff members — one of which actually wears T-shirts and wraps herself in a mario brothers blanket…
I got off the phone and immediately logged onto indeed. I felt so angry for so many reasons. First, she told me that all receptionists were back… but I’m not really a receptionist. I do tasks that are absolutely doable from home. I also can answer calls from home and transfer them to office staff (I realized too, that the phone system they changed us to makes it far easier to take calls from home, but the higher ups told management not to allow support staff to log onto the app because it creates a higher risk of taking calls outside of business ours? They don’t know my boss had me download the app).
I went to lunch and my boss called me. We talked quickly about what he called me about and then I told him about the call with HR. He wasn’t surprised and said he tried to stave them off as long as he could. I said I appreciated it, but I didn’t know that I would be okay with working in office full time. He said it was because I am not an employee that bills for my time, so my job has been deemed “office work” and I have to be in the office for that. He told me that the upper management doesn’t see that I do work that is outside the scope of typical assistants. I just kind of shrugged him off.
Its been almost a week that I’ve been sitting on this, though and it keeps making less and less sense. I work more consistently than the woman who wears T-shirts and goes for three 45 minute breaks a day, plus her lunch. I do “more” than traditional assistants, but I don’t get paid more, and now I cant work from home. I have done nothing but work diligently for two and a half years to secure my position and it was for nothing. I have put up with so much inappropriate office conduct because I felt like the benefits were worth it and I could escape it 2 days a week. I could maintain a healthy work life balance.
Since Tuesday I have been going between doing the bare minimum, and doing the most in hopes that they value my effort and continue to allow me to work remote. I have applied to dozens of jobbs that don’t require me to commute 3 hours every day.
I think the real cherry on top for me is how one of the admin staff has been treating me when she knows I’m working remote; she sends me snotty emails and treats me like I’m ignorant when she changes the goal post for the information I Need to provide her. I am 26 years old. I am not some child you can kick around. I know my worth, even of you want to strip that of me, too.