HR Nightmare! You Are Not Allowed to Work From Home

This blog is pretty emotional for me as this was probably the hardest time for me, as my stomach issues were by far the worst during this time, and the job I was at during this time was NOT supportive at all. In fact, they made things worse, not better. I was at this job for five years, and I had lots of different bosses. A couple of them were really good and understanding, for the most part, with my stomach issues, but the last manager that I had was absolutely terrible and went behind my back instead of actually talking to me about what was going on or how she could help me. 

My stomach was by far the worst at this job, and I was sick A LOT. During COVID, we were allowed to work from home, and then after COVID, they required all the employees to come back to the office and work in the office (except for one employee). She was allowed to work from home indefinitely, but the rest of us had to come back to the office. This is important to note for this story because you can’t tell one employee that they can stay home permanently, but then tell the other employees that they can’t work from home. Again, during this time, my stomach was probably the worst it has ever been, but if I would sit on the couch in the same position and literally not move around, I was able to work and get stuff done. The second I would move around, though, my stomach would start to hurt, and I would not feel good. I worked from home quite a bit because I wasn’t feeling good, and again, if I could sit on the couch and work, I was still able to get a lot of work done. I also think it’s important to note that at this job, I NEVER missed a deadline, and my work was NEVER slacking for how sick I was. 

My manager ran some reports showing how much I was actually working from home and not in the office and took that to the leaders at the company. I was then told that I was not allowed to work from home anymore and wasn’t allowed to make up time if I was sick earlier in the week. I then scheduled a meeting with the leadership team to see what was really going on and find out why I wasn’t allowed to work from home or make up time anymore. I’ve actually told quite a few people (including people who work in HR) about this meeting and the things that were said, and they told me I could have sued the company for the amount of inappropriate things that were said in this meeting. 

In the meeting, they said they ran a report, and it showed that I was sick at least once a week and “worked from home” at least once a week. I asked if I was missing a ton of deadlines or if my work wasn’t getting done, and they actually said, and I quote, “no, quite the opposite, you are always getting your work done, and you have never missed a deadline.” I then said I am confused as to why I am not allowed to work from home. They said because they don’t understand why, if I can work from home, why I can’t work in the office and that I was like a contractor; I just came and went as I pleased. I explained to them that I would sit in one position on my couch at home, and I wouldn’t be in any pain, but then the moment I would move around, I would be in a lot of pain. I told them I was also closer to a bathroom at home versus in the office. The executive director then asked me how I could work if I was throwing up in the bathroom, and I said it’s not throwing up; it’s coming out the other end. He then said that when he is sick, he is throwing up, and that’s what being sick is…so according to him, there isn’t any other sickness besides throwing up. He then asked me, what do you even have that you are always this sick, were you even diagnosed with anything? At the time and in this moment, I didn’t even have time to think how inappropriate and wrong this question was, but I just replied and said “IBS.” He, of course, said I’ve never heard of that. I told him basically what IBS was, and he DID NOT understand this at all. He then told me that his wife is a doctor, and she talks about different health issues, and he hasn’t heard his wife talk about IBS or heard anything about this disease/issue. I also told them that if I was working from home and I was literally sick and couldn’t work for like two hours or I was stuck in the bathroom for even like 30 minutes, I was not writing down that time on my timesheet, and I was making up that time later to make sure my work still got done. Again, I was very confused by this because I was not lying about my time that I was working, and I was still getting all of my work done and never missing a deadline, so I didn’t see why this was an issue. 

The underlying issue (which I didn’t know at the time of this meeting) was that he didn’t trust that I was actually working when I was home sick. He flat out said that he cannot work when he was at home. During COVID, he would just end up doing laundry or housework when he was working at home during COVID. Again, this didn’t make any sense to me because when I was working from home, I was actually working and getting my work done. 

The meeting ended with him telling me that I was not allowed to work from home anymore. His solution for my stomach issues was that I could use an empty office area that had a toilet in that office so that I could have easy access to a toilet and work while I was on the toilet. I also brought up the other co-worker that was allowed to work from home and why I wasn’t allowed to work from home, and they said that wasn’t the same situation and that I was required to be in the office because I abused the working from home policy. In this meeting, I also asked if my job was at risk, and they literally said not at all. We appreciate all the hard work you do, and your job is not at risk. This was not the feeling that I felt after this meeting, though. 

After the meeting, I didn’t know what to do, and I called my husband to talk to him about it, and he was just as upset as I was. He said, unfortunately, even if you are on your deathbed, you need to go into work to show them that you are not “faking” your stomach issues and that you are, in fact, sick. I was so upset after that meeting and how my manager handled the situation, I started looking for a new job after that.

Luckily, I got a different job, a remote job where I can work from home and not have to worry about being in a toxic work environment like that one. The job I have now is absolutely amazing, and I have the most amazing leaders and managers. I actually never realized what great leadership and mentorship was until this job that I have now.