Job advertised as remote until interviewer reveals mandatory office days because they're a "family": 'We do 3 days in the office and 2 at home'

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Feb 13, 2025 12:00 PM EST

Job interview rug pulls are no new things; toxic workplaces dangle it out like sticky flypaper, hoping to trap curious candidates who are too desperate to pass up any opportunity once they've managed to "land" the interview. Baiting prospective candidates with remote work only to reveal mandatory office days is a newer trend, with these would-be employers taking advantage of the fact that no one wants to work in an office anymore if they don't have to. 

Gaslighting is a favorite tool of some of these places with canned, guilt-tripping phrases like "we're a family" being passed around often and with certainty intended to make you drop whatever complaints of feelings of being wronged you might have.

As with any job, red flags you spot early on at a small company will probably end up having rather large consequences. This goes doubly true for any red flags you spot in an interview. Of course, you can go on and ignore them, but it is inevitable that those same issues will one day have a causal role in your departure. 

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10467601152
    via M. Cooper For Unsplash+

  • This job seeker frustratedly shared how they were interviewing for a role that had been advertised as a remote position only to have the interview drop on them that the job actually consisted of three days working in the office and two days with flexible work from home. This meant that the position didn't even actually work for the job seeker, meaning that the entire thing had been a complete waste of their time. They shared their experience with this online workplace community, posting their exasperated feelings about the dishonesty involved.
     

  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10467601408
    via M. Cooper For Unsplash+
  • 03

    "Companies claiming a job is fully remote when it’s not"

    I applied for a job that said it was remote. I got an interview for it. After reading the description it said in a gaslighting way" we are a huge family that likes to spend time with each other. Which is why we do 3 days in office and 2 days at home" I'm di ☐ led and can't leave the house to work so
    via Main_Competition4108
  • 04
    I just didn't bother going and cancelled my interview. Then the HR person emails me and goes "If you are not interested in this ROLE I'm withdrawing your application " it irritates me so bad when they said role and I'm not sure why but anyway, I replied back and said no I'm not interested in the ROLE. Just wanted to vent
    via Main_Competition4108
  • 05
    ultratorrent • 13h ago Report the job listing as misrepresenting the job?
    via Main_Competition4108
  • 06
    DespoticLlama 13h ago. Also "family company"... reading [on reddit] how families treat each other, I am not sure I would want to work for a family company.
    via Main_Competition4108
  • 07
    C-D-W 10h ago • Calling a job a 'role' is a very common nomenclature across many industries. What you should have done was call them out that you require due to disability a remote role as the job posting said.
    via Main_Competition4108
  • 08
    Grimrot 10h ago • The family, in the family company I used to work for, were the most entitled and toxic trailer trash I have ever met.
    via Main_Competition4108
  • 09
    drapehsnormak • 6h ago If you are not interested in this ROLE I'm withdrawing your application I'm interested in the role advertised, not the role actually provided. •
    via Main_Competition4108
  • 10
    • Obvious_Aiol... 10h ago I get this so much! I actually am finding myself in an office 3 days a week when the contract was for 15 hrs a month remote. It's so frustrating
    via Main_Competition4108
  • 11
    ArlanLothe · 5h ago • • All I want in a remote job is not to be micromanaged and just left the h I alone. to do my job. Very few if any meetings and no extra stuff like "bonding time" and eating lunch with colleagues. There is a reason why I work remotely....it is not to interact with co-workers.
    via Main_Competition4108
  • 12
    Geminii27 6h ago • It's because there's no penalty for them when they do this. Document everything, dump it into social media with the company's name, add a Glassdoor review.
    via Main_Competition4108
  • 13
    • Altruistic_Loc... 3h ago Take a minute and email that what they are doing is illegal, you disability states qualified you for remote work, but they wasted you time with an illegal job posting.
    via Main_Competition4108
  • 14
    Duke-Guinea... • 10h ago. Huh. Was that just a email, or an ableist one. It feels like they might have been trying to make a pun joke at your expense (role/roll wheelchair) = Perhaps you can leverage this into a full time remote position
    via Main_Competition4108

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

workplace discussion employment issues antiwork workplace-stories jobs employee employment-discussion job work employees overworked-employees workplace Horrible Bosses employment in the workplace
Scroll Down For The Next Article