Return To Office mandates are becoming more and more common. While everyone's situation is unique, I wanted to offer a template email that might help you raise your concern about RTO without sounding standoff-ish.
A few notes on usage:
- Your manager might prefer a dialogue rather than an email – if so, you can use this as your talking points.
- Don't shoot all your ammunition in the first shot – this is the start of a dialogue, not the end.
- Customize the talking points / email to your situation, for example by adding details about your tenure, achievements to date, performance feedback, customer satisfaction, and so on.
- Some companies and managers will probably just laugh at you. But I think it's worth attempting the dialogue before resorting to resignation.
TEMPLATE
Hi [Manager],
I received the mandate for returning to in-office work, and I understand the company's interest in doing so. As a [X-year] employee, I wanted to let you know that I view the option for majority remote work as an essential benefit, and while the company isn't obligated to offer this to me, I feel they have not made a compelling case for why my role demands [majority / full time] office presence.
When mandating a return to office in the name of, for example, fostering collaboration, it's important to weigh all the factors – just like any business decision. Remote work has produced real professional benefits for many of our employees, such as increased responsiveness, greater ability to focus, and more control over the calendar. I believe it also makes our company more competitive in the longer term by enlarging our talent pool to employees who could not meet the office presence requirements.
On the other hand, mandating office presence will incur quantifiable costs for many employees. For example, the time and cost of commuting, the inability to fulfill family care obligations, and reduced capacity to maintain personal health. These quantifiable costs translate into intangible risks like loss of productivity, burnout, and low performance.
It's true that full-time office presence was the norm before Covid. But let's also remember that the employer-employee relationship evolves over time based on experience and technology. With today's technology and the experience of the last years, I believe that the option for majority remote work, when appropriate to the role, is a low risk employee benefit that would increase employee wellbeing and by extension performance, productivity, retention, and our overall success as a company.
In the last years, I have shown beyond doubt that I can successfully fulfill my role remotely [as reflected by my positive performance reviews / customer feedback / etc.]. I am excited and committed to continue fulfilling my role and achieving new successes. I also recognize the importance of culture and team building and would therefore like to propose that [I will come to the office 1 day per week / 2 days per week as a base level, with the flexibility for additional, optional in-person days for special projects, events, and so on].
I appreciate your thoughts.
Kind regards,
[You]