Last month, employees of cosmetics giant L’Oreal received emails that half of the workforce will be expected show up in person.
The news came as several companies announced that their workers may work from home until 2021.
For all employees who do not have approved documentations or causes that mandate them to work from home, those who their managers deem necessary onsite will be expected in the offices. For the workers, they feel pressured to choose between their safety and career.
In an interview with CNN, more than a dozen workers of the French conglomerate said they can’t agree with the measures, especially because they feel like they could perform as capably working remotely.
Their complaints carry more weight than mere complaints from a workforce that wants to work in a more comfortable setting. This is because even though the employees are present in the office, meetings are still held digitally. Many workers found that to be confusing and ineffective.
Moreover, many of the employees said that they felt like the company did not care or listen to their pleas when they expressed their concerns about showing up to the office. At least five of the workers said they were explicitly warned of being classified as “non-compliant”.
One employee, who works in the Midwest, said she literally has no work to do in an office setting because all her clients have made appointments with her latter this year. She likened herself to an ant who is forced to show up to work for no real purpose.
As the global pandemic continues on for more than half a year, employers around the world are discussing what the appropriate roadmap for bringing back office workers is. Essential workers have been showing up to work even during the worst days of the pandemic.
While some firms, especially IT companies such as Google and Facebook, transitioned into the new normal with ease, more traditional sectors are still struggling with their entire workforce working from home. L’Oreal acknowledged this fact when they said they were not Facebook.
For its defense, L’Oreal has ensured the employees that it will take all the necessary measures to prevent infections within the office from mandatory temperature checks to asking everyone to wear masks in the office.
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Replaced!