A boss has demanded an employee come into the office or go on sick leave after claiming he had hay fever and wanted to work from home.
The extraordinary text exchange was shared on the official Instagram page of business information and gossip website The Aussie Corporate.
It is unknown for which Australian company the pair work.
The employee starts by informing his boss via text message that he is not feeling well but can still work from home.
‘Tomorrow, I’m going to work from home today. Last night I suffered from hay fever, so I’m still a snotty/coughing mess,” the employee wrote in a message.
A boss has demanded an employee come into the office or take sick leave after claiming he had hay fever
“I have enough private partners and implementations to keep me going today in terms of workload.”
But their employer comes back with a blunt response.
“Good morning, I’m sorry you’re suffering from hay fever,” they say.
“I just wanted to let you know that I was previously informed by (name changed) that team members are not allowed to work from home for these reasons.”
“It’s been explained to me before that if a team feels good enough to work from home, they’re good enough to work in the office.”
The boss then tells the employee to “come to the office to work” or “take today off as sick leave.”
The Aussie Corporate conducted a survey asking the page’s 97,000 followers if they thought this was an honest answer.
About 68 percent of respondents said it was unreasonable, while 10 percent said it was reasonable.
Employers cannot force employees to take sick leave, but they can direct employees to take sick leave if they pose a health and safety risk to coworkers.
The incident comes as business leaders across the country predict Australia’s work-from-home trend is on the wane.
A global survey of more than 1,300 CEOs conducted by consultancy KPMG found that two-thirds of Australian CEOs believed traditional white-collar roles would mean a full-time return to the office within three years (stock image)
A global survey of more than 1,300 CEOs conducted by consultancy KPMG found two-thirds of Australian bosses believed traditional white-collar roles would mean a full-time return to the office within three years.
Only a minority thought jobs would remain a hybrid separation between home and office, as is now the case for many city workers.
And those who enjoy the flexibility of the occasional ‘WFH’ day may want to think again: a whopping 75 percent of Australian CEOs said they would reward employees who put in the extra effort to come into the office – in terms of pay increases, promotions and more interesting work.
“I think there’s a sense that over time things like productivity will suffer and we’ll get back to a more normal environment,” KMPG Australia boss Andrew Yates told Nine Newspapers.
‘But I was surprised that there was so much clarity around the return to the office. I had thought… that hybrid and flexible working would be here to stay.’