Back to Work
A Boss's Belief Should Never Supersede an Employees Reality.
Being able to work from home was an unexpected bonus and break for Janet, and the only positive she took from the pandemic. Being away from school was extremely hard for her son, Jeremy. He was four months shy of finishing kindergarten and already looking forward to the first grade when the schools closed. By the time September came, and it was clear he would not get to attend school in person, Jeremy started getting depressed and acted out. Janet dreaded what it would have been like if she wasn’t there to comfort him, to help distract him and occupy his mind when he didn’t know what to do with himself, and to constantly reassure him that it was only temporary. It was a reassurance she had to offer Jeremy the following September as well.
By the time Jeremy was finally able to attend classes at the beginning of the third grade, Janet had established a routine she was proud of. Along with being able to spend more time with her son, she performed all of her work duties diligently, while discovering that she got even more done than she would have if she had to go to the office. She didn’t have to worry about any of the workplace distractions that she didn’t even realize were distractions until their absence. She didn’t have to waste time participating in small talk with several of her co-workers like Roberta, Grace, and Kirk. She didn’t have to endure the unwanted flirting from James. She didn’t have to attend nearly as many pointless meetings. And most critically, she didn’t have to spend at least an hour commuting to work in the core of Toronto and an hour commuting back home to Georgetown every single day, while never avoiding rush hour.
For the last ten years she had gotten used to the two hours per day – ten hours per week – forty hours per month – roughly four-hundred and eighty hours per year – she spent commuting. That was the equivalent of twenty days, just under three weeks. And because everybody else she worked with, all of her friends, and nearly everybody she knew who was employed commuted, she just assumed that was how it was supposed to be. Many times, she thought about moving closer to her workplace, but she couldn’t afford it. Rents in Toronto were far too high. Even when she considered how much she would save by getting rid of her car and not having to pay the vehicle’s monthly payments, gas, and insurance, she still wouldn’t have been able to afford rent in the city. And when Jeremy was born, and his father left less than a year later – not long after her maternity leave ran out – even moving to the outskirts of Toronto, in places like Etobicoke, Thornhill, or Scarborough, became laughably impossible.
From the time Jeremy’s father left and the pandemic started, she spent two hours of commuting plus eight to nine hours of working away from her son, Monday to Friday, every week. If it weren’t for Janet’s mother living nearby and babysitting her grandson every day, saving Janet in day care costs that she wouldn’t have been able to afford anyway – despite the ten-dollar a day promises made by the government – she didn’t know what she would have done. Nonetheless, being away from her son during his formative years for up to fifty-five hours a week – two-hundred and twenty hours a month – roughly twenty-five hundred hours a year, approximately one-hundred and four days, or just over three-and-a-half months, was torturous.
By not having to commute to work, Janet had also gotten to sleep at least forty-five minutes more every day, which added up to over two-hundred and fifteen hours of additional sleep per year, or nearly nine full days, a much-needed boost for a single mother of a young child. She also didn’t have to endure the mental suffocation of festering in her car, while barely moving along the overpopulated highways leading in and out of the city, from the 401, 403, and the always slow moving DVP to the 427 and the decrepit Gardner expressway. She couldn’t afford to pay for the 407, which frustrated her, but at least she didn’t have to take the 400 from Barrie or Orillia like some people she knew who described it as a nightmare, especially on Fridays. Or the 410 out of Brampton, which was filled with lunatic drivers who thought of it as more of a racetrack than a highway. Or drive along Eglinton, a street held hostage by construction started long before her son was even born.
As a result of avoiding the overburdened highways and major streets, she didn’t get home exhausted, dreading the sound of her son’s cries and shouts, while desperately trying to maintain her love for his voice. Instead, she was able to play with him when her work shift was over without the constant headache that often grew into a migraine requiring her to take expensive drugs like Imitrex that her work health insurance only partly covered.
A year after the pandemic’s waves had finally receded, Janet’s company shifted from remote to hybrid work. She, along with many of her co-workers – some of whom had commuted from places as far as Grand Valley and Wasaga beach – were furious. She wasn’t happy about it either, but she accepted that being able to stay home two days per work week with her son was still better than none. However, a year after that, her company – along with many other companies – followed the lead of the provincial government, and eliminated hybrid work entirely. That is when Janet got really upset. It didn’t make any sense to her. Even after the shift to hybrid, to her knowledge there was no drop-off in productivity, and for the days employees had to come into work there were no issues with punctuality, so what was the problem? Why weren’t they given the option to choose between hybrid and returning to the office full time? Had they not earned that? Why weren’t they consulted first, so they could at least explain how advantageous the revelation of working from home was for them, and the company?
Shortly after the decision was made, Janet discovered the issues her company had with hybrid work after reading a memo that every employee in the company was required to read. First, the company said that it was important to have more person-to-person contact between employees in order to maintain a better workplace environment, and they believed workers were more productive when they were in the office. Janet immediately questioned that stance, particularly the use of the word believe, which she found lazy and insulting, considering they didn’t provide any statistical proof validating that position.
The second reason the company gave was that not having employees in the office five days a week prevented important mentorship from taking place. Janet found that reason ridiculous, mainly because she, and the majority of her co-workers, worked independently in cubicles, leaving her clueless as to what kind of mentorship had ever taken place.
The company also mentioned how as a result of fewer employees coming to the office, nearby small businesses, including a popular deli (which the company’s CEO’s brother-in-law happened to own), were on the verge of bankruptcy due to lack of customers.
The final reason the memo provided was pointing out that while many employees had performed their duties in an exemplary fashion while working remotely during an especially difficult period, some employees did not, and even after the shift to hybrid those employees were still not able to meet company standards. Several examples of how those standards weren’t met were provided and ranged from inappropriate dress during online meetings to longer than expected email response times.
Janet was incensed. The memo itself pointed out how the majority of employees did a great job working remotely and hybrid, meaning that only a minority didn’t meet company standards, so why should the majority be punished for the actions of exceptions? Janet believed that whenever the “exception” argument was used it was because no logical argument was available, and what she read in the memo only strengthened that belief.
Beyond the obvious lack of sensible reasoning, what upset Janet most was how patronizing the decision made by her company was. She, along with countless other employees, had demonstrated under incredibly difficult circumstances (just as the memo itself stated) that they were able to do their jobs remotely, for years, at a high level. And in doing so, they proved they should be treated as trustworthy professionals who are capable of doing their jobs anywhere. Instead, they were being treated like children, while the bosses assumed without any consultation, or consideration, that they knew what was best for their employees. It was the complete lack of respect that made Janet’s blood boil. She despised the utter indifference for how remote work had completely changed her life, and how it enabled her to raise her son better, to save money, while also sparing her from pointless mental anguish.
Unable to contain her anger, the day after the memo was released company wide, Janet requested to meet with a representative from the human resources department so she could express her grievances and hopefully receive some sort of explanation.
When she walked into the HR office, she was immediately put off by its sterility. Nothing about it was warm or personal. Nothing about it made her feel comfortable. Instead, she felt as if she were in an IKEA office showroom. Meanwhile, the woman sitting across the desk from her smiled in a manner that did little to change her initial impression.
“Hi Janet. We haven’t met. I’m Linda. I’m glad you requested this meeting. I hope I can address your concerns.”
“I hope so, too, Linda, because I’m really upset that I have to come into the office every day when I’ve proven I can do my work from home at a level that I think not only meets company standards, but exceeds them.”
Janet was surprised at how direct she was. Normally, she would have eased into such a blunt declaration but realized as the words came out that she was far more upset than she had realized.
“I understand. However, it was an executive decision that was made to improve workplace conditions.”
Janet squeezed the handles of her chair.
“What does any of that actually mean?” She replied, again surprised at how forthcoming she spoke, nervous that it was bordering on reckless.
Linda hesitated, clearly unprepared for the response she received.
“The leadership believes it is best for the company’s overall performance that all employees return to in-person work. They also believe that remote and hybrid work was an anomaly – a response to an uncertain time – and was never going to be a sustainable, let alone permanent, option.”
Janet shook her head.
“There is that word again,” she said.
“What word is that?”
“In the memo that we all had to read, it said that the company believes that workers were more productive when they came to work, and you just told me that they believe it’s best for overall performance, and they believe remote and hybrid work was never going to be sustainable, but where is the proof behind these beliefs? Do we not deserve to at least have a decision that changes our entire lives backed by more than an executive’s belief?”
“I’m sure there is ample proof to back up these decisions.”
“Okay, so where is that proof? When can I see it? When can we all see it?”
“I unfortunately don’t have an answer to that.”
“Then why say it, Linda?”
Janet didn’t give her a chance to reply.
“This executive decision is really upsetting. I got to spend more time with my son. I got to take care of him when he needed it most. I didn’t have to sit in traffic. I didn’t have to waste so much money on gas to get here, which reminds me: if we are expected to drive into work, every day, with many of us having to commute over one-hundred kilometers per day, why aren’t we given some sort of gas assistance?”
Linda’s eyes suddenly brightened.
“That is a great suggestion, Janet. Why don’t you write it in an email, send it to me, and I can run it up the chain and see what happens.”
“But I’m telling you now, Linda, in person. Wasn’t that the whole point of ordering us back to work, to have more person-to-person contact between employees in order to maintain a better workplace environment?”
“Yes, I understand, but—”
“I’m literally quoting the memo word for word,” Janet interrupted, “and you’re telling me to instead write it in an email, something I could have done from home, without having to drive an hour to get here.”
“I understand your frustration, and I can assure you that you are not the only one.”
“You don’t understand my frustration, Linda. This decision affects my personal wellness, my mental health, things that this company has claimed to be prioritizing in the wake of the pandemic, yet the elimination of remote and hybrid work seems to completely contradict that. This decision affects the conditions of my home and my family, and while work is important, isn’t my home and family supposed to be more important? And it doesn’t assure me that I’m not the only one. That only makes me more upset because at least if I was the only one I’d understand why nothing is being done. If you’re hearing the same thing from other employees, shouldn’t that tell you something?”
“I will definitely pass your concerns on to management for consideration.”
Janet’s anger dissipated immediately, as if it were a liquid sucked down a gaping drain. It wasn’t only Linda’s words, but her tone of voice and facial expression as she spoke, that assured Janet just how irrelevant she was, and how pointless the meeting had been. She was about to express her defeat and apologize for even attempting to be heard, when Linda, in what seemed like an innate predatory response to smelling blood, added, “Janet, I completely understand your need to prioritize your personal wellness and mental health, as well as your home and family, and if you’re unhappy with the company’s new direction, perhaps another workplace would be more closely aligned with those priorities.”
The meeting was over before it was officially declared to be, and Janet knew it. If she said another word other than thank-you, she had little doubt that Linda would pull out a few sheets of paper with small printed paragraphs, crowned by the official company letterhead, smile, and tell Janet she could resign, and all that would separate Janet from being still employed and suddenly unemployed would be a signature.
Just the thought of being unemployed, of not getting the paycheck that she and her son so desperately depended on, scared her so much that she wished she never got upset at the memo in the first place. While smiling at Linda and uttering the only words she knew she had left at her disposal, she forced herself – despite the twisting pain in her stomach – to appreciate the company for giving her the temporary opportunity to spend more time with her son during the pandemic, and to accept that the opportunity was now over for reasons that were no longer relevant because the only thing that mattered was how much Janet needed her job.
Written in Jiaoxi, Taiwan in December of 2025.