Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) Discussion Forum

Being pressured to work at the office

Being pressured to work at the office

by DotDot ExclamationPoint -
Number of replies: 2

Hi,

Although my husband is currently working from home and has set up an excellent office for himself in the basement, his boss has been pressuring him to work from the office. My husband’s team member was recently let go so he is in charge of training the new hire, which he is currently doing through phone calls, Skype and screen sharing. His boss believes that the new hire can be trained more efficiently in person, while still maintaining social distancing. My husband has repeatedly tried to explain to his boss that he doesn’t feel safe going into the office and would rather train at home. The new hire feels the same way. Furthermore, in person training would still result in screen sharing since they would be sitting far apart. 

My husband is feeling immense pressure as he is trying to balance training his co-worker and getting his own work done at a rate that is sufficient for his boss. On the other hand, if he goes into the office, he would only be putting his health and other people’s health at risk. For now his boss let him work from home this week, but will decide the outcome of next week based on his performance.

How should he go about dealing with this situation?

In reply to DotDot ExclamationPoint

Re: Being pressured to work at the office

by COVID19 Moderator -
Hi there, I am sorry to hear that your husband is feeling immense pressure from work. I can understand why it is important to him to minimize his own risk to his health and to others, during this time. I am happy to hear that his boss is allowing him and the new hire to trial training from home, and I hope it works out successfully. In the event that he has to return back to work, I would highly suggest that he review the COVID-19 Guidelines for Workplaces/Businesses and Employers created by Toronto Public Health with his employer/team, to help reduce everyone’s risk at his workplace: https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/9538-Fact-Sheet-for-Workplaces-Non-Healthcare_final.pdf. Hope this helps!