I was forced to return to the office more than half-time before the COVID vaccine was even developed. Since then, leadership at Hofstra has been extremely reluctant to allow its employees to work from home and all employees have been working in-person, full-time, for the last year (with the exception of 3 weeks in January). A recent company-wide email stated “we know that cases are on the rise, however we will not make any policy changes. It is every employee’s responsibility to wash their hands.”
Meanwhile the bathroom on my floor runs out of toilet paper once a week and my coworkers wear how many times they’ve caught COVID as a “badge of honor”. I wish I could work from home. The stressful commute is slowly killing me. The constant anxiety of being exposed to COVID is negatively affecting my work. I wash and sanitize my hands upwards of ten, sometimes fifteen times a day. I have to arrive to work an hour early otherwise there will be no parking.
HR has silently posted a work from home agreement that will allow up to 2 days per week WFH with Vice President approval. This document requires you to agree to a higher degree of culpability and has humiliating advice such as “don’t play with your dog or wander out into nature while WFH. Close the blinds so the sunlight doesn’t tempt you.” Informally it’s been hinted that this document will impact annual reviews and cancel out a cost of living raise. Frankly anyone bringing this to their VP is painting a target on their back.
