I get "at-will employment" and all, but there really should be penalties for companies and executives who assure staff in writing that they will be permanently remote – leading them to make major life decisions like moving and buying houses – then turn around a few months later and go "just kidding come back to the office".
There's an argument to be made that this is a constructive dismissal, and would thus qualify for any benefits that a termination would entail, but I'm sure that type of legal wrangling is not what the people at Schwab will want to deal with.
If it were me, I would simply continue working from home until my access and/or paycheck were cut off.
I'm pretty sure that every RTO I've seen was limited to people who have an office within a certain distance. That said, being remote while everyone else is in an office together is a lot worse than being remote when everyone is remote.
Breaking a contract usually incurs some sort of penalty.
Courts may enforce contracts and may be government entities, but calling it "government overreach" misrepresents their role to an extent that is just plain silly.
I'm a Schwab customer & I've reached out to them to file a complaint about this new policy.
I've been really happy with my experience there and I feel like I owe it to the folks who actually made that happen.
If you're lazy, here's the text of my complaint:
> Hey, I've heard about Schwab's new return-to-office policy. I'm also not happy about management's betrayal of the folks who have helped me out tons over the years, and I'll be moving my money elsewhere if this policy does not change.
A bunch of long term reddit users who dumped reddit are here now because it's one of the best alternatives. But reddit users are addicts so they're still using reddit to some degree and cross-posting stuff.
I was going to say the same thing, I think earlier this week there were 3 reddit posts on the front page at once, and they were all about reddit(api pricing and blow back from the community).
The number of submitted links to Reddit being submitted per day now is about the same as it was a month ago before the API controversy started, roughly 5 to 10 per day.
You are probably just noticing them more now because there have also been a bunch of recent submissions to articles about the current Reddit API controversy which is made you more likely to notice all things Reddit.
Yeah, I think that’s likely. I doubt they’re breaking any laws, but this strategy is clearly not in the public interest and as such I’d like to see some of these executive from companies that have taken similar actions compelled to answer some questions under oath before congress.
Is there a post somewhere that expands on this title? I only see some Redditors' reactions to what happened but not what actually happened… what am I missing?
I am a current Schwab employee, this thread was linked to me by another. I will clarify: During the pandemic, work from home measures were instituted. In 2021 discussions were brought forward to return to office, but they were quickly walked back and a hefty pay raise was given to workers, as at that time the Great Resignation was in effect and workers were leaving en masse for positions that featured full WFH. This model continued with various adjustments for going on two years. Just yesterday an e-mail was sent out company-wide from the Executive Council, which detailed a plan to have the entirety of the company return to office for at least 3 days a week starting October 1st, 2023. This was reacted to harshly, because it was dropped early in the morning and its contents were not known outside of a select few. As such, many team leads, managers, and even district managers were left totally floored and unaware of anything other than that they have new marching orders.
In the years since WFH was first instituted, Schwab higher-ups including CEO Walt Bettinger himself stated at length that its new policy was here to stay, and Schwab would be leading the way forward as it considered this to be the future of labor. At this time several employees have purchased homes or relocated to live with family or partners sometimes not even in the same state as the office in which they are expected to report to. To say that it has been tumultuous on the inside is putting it quite lightly, employees in multiple locations are now organizing and discussing how exactly to make their displeasure made known. I will say that I am very displeased with senior executives' decision to essentially hand a decree down from on high in a complete reversal of stated policy, completely without input of a vast majority of the company. Over the years Schwab has cultivated a company culture of familiarity focused on professional wellbeing, so yesterday's events were quite a stark contrast and many are still in shock.
