Return to Office Should Not Be Used as a Means of Termination  

Since the Covid-19 pandemic has ended, life has largely gone back to “normal” with the exception of some higher prices and remote office work. However, there are some management types who believe that remote work should rescind along with the Covid virus.  

For instance, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed earlier this month that: 

“Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome: If federal employees don’t want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn’t pay them for the Covid-era privilege of staying home.” 

People like Musk and Ramaswamy are dead wrong about returning people to the office, especially if they use it as a means of terminating employees, but unfortunately the rescission of remote work is not illegal, only foolish and wrongfully rooted in a pre-Covid world that ought not to exist anymore.  

There are significant social policy goals that are promoted by remote work. If a significant number of office workers do their jobs from home, there is less traffic, which saves on gas and lowers pollution. Remote work minimizes sick leave – people who work from home can handle work without as significant a deterrent to their health if they have a minor cold, or take their children to the dentist or back to school night without having to take time off. Moreover, remote work leads to happy workers, which means a happier workplace and a happier society.  

Management does lose a little in person control over employees, but that control is easily compensated by communications via phone, email, text message, and zoom calls. There is no shortage of ways to communicate today, and email or a company cloud server would be the most efficient way to send or receive written work anyway. The biggest losers from remote work are commercial landlords and businesses that cater to employees in local businesses, but setting up restaurants and shops near residential areas would easily replace most of this lost economy.  In short, remote work is simply far more efficient than in-person office units, for individual employees, businesses, and social in general.  

When Might It Become Illegal to Rescind Remote Work for Employees?  

Musk and Ramaswamy have stated they are only changing remote work policies to compel federal employees to quit. Some private companies have also been suspected of reversing remote work policies in an effort to lay off employees without officially doing so. Is it ever illegal for a company to change remote work to efficiently terminate someone?  

Sexual harassment or discrimination based on a protected characteristic such as race, sex, gender, or nationality is prohibited. A company, or a manager within a company, cannot compel sexual favors in exchange for granting or withholding employment benefits. For instance, it would be illegal for a company manager to demote, decrease wages, or threaten to fire someone in order to have sexual favors with a subordinate. Conversely, it would be illegal to offer a promotion or a raise to an employee in exchange for sexual favors. Since remote work is increasingly becoming an employment benefit, it would be illegal for a manager to offer or rescind remote work in exchange for a sexual favor.  

Similarly, it is illegal for management to harass employees, especially on the basis of a protected characteristic. The withholding or granting of employment benefits on the basis of race or sex would likely constitute a hostile work environment. It would likely be illegal if a company required all women to work in the office but permitted men to work remotely, or vice versa.  

A companywide rescission of remote work would likely be consistent with existing employment law since it doesn’t specifically target an individual employee.   

Do I Need an Employment Lawyer? 

If your employer has violated your legal rights as a worker, then you should consider speaking with a skilled employment lawyer for further assistance. An employment law attorney can help protect your interests and defend your rights under the law. Your attorney can also assist you in filing a lawsuit against an employer and/or colleague and in recovering damages for any losses that you suffered. 

If you are an employer who is being used by a worker, then you should hire an employment law attorney immediately to represent you. Your attorney will be able to determine whether there are any defenses you can raise and can discuss the potential outcomes of your case.