Are We Breaking the Law by Denying Work-from-Home Requests on Scheduled Office Days?

Hello Members, Please resolve my peculiar problem. We are currently employing IT personnel on weekly shift duties. This implies that each employee has a roster where, for 10 days, he/she has to report to the office, and for the remaining days, he/she has the option to work from home.

Now, there are a couple of employees who are requesting the option to work from home even when they are scheduled to report to work. None of them have COVID, but they argue that by reporting to work, they are putting their families and themselves at risk.

We have informed them that the roster cannot be changed, and therefore, they are expected to report to work at the designated workplace. However, there is now discussion about involving the government authorities to review the company's policies, as these employees claim that they are being forced to report to work.

I would like to know if the company is engaging in any illegal actions by requiring these employees to report to work, and if so, what options are available for both the company and the employees.

Regards, Anuradha

Dear Anuradha,

You have explained your problem; however, what is not explained is the purpose of making a duty roster wherein employees are required to report to the office after 10 days. What can they do from their home, and why is the same thing required to be done from the office as well? What is the purpose of the rotation of duties? Why can't the duty roster be changed? Who prepares the roster?

As far as the concern of the employees is concerned, it is a genuine one. While commuting to the office, their exposure to the disease of COVID-19 increases, which is a foregone conclusion. Since their concern is addressed within the company, if they approach the government authorities to redress their grievance, how does it become political?

Work From Home (WFH) Norms

WFH is a norm in the IT industry. Even in the manufacturing sector, departments whose work can be managed from home are told to work from home. However, in your case, the opposite is happening. Please explain the logic behind forcing people to work from the office. A solution can be provided once we know the facts of the case.

By the way, you could issue a diktat to work from the office. However, there could be a backlash. The motivation level of the staff could go down. Have you thought of the consequences of this invisible threat?

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar