HR forgets to approve employee's work-from-home requests, employee stops coming in with no consequences: 'Bureaucracy at its finest'

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Nov 10, 2025 2:00 PM EST

It's hard to blame an employee for shirking their responsibilities when HR isn't doing anything about it either!

This author used to be a fully remote employee until his team was required to come into the office three days a week starting in 2022. At the time, this hybrid schedule was the limit to what the author was willing to do until his superiors changed their minds again. Now, it's four days a week, and the author has noticed some significant changes to overall morale and productivity.

For starters, the author has noticed a dip in his productivity and a lack of sufficient time to spend with his spouse and kids, due to his long commute to the office. Then, he started to develop debilitating headaches. His doctor suggested that he spend the next two weeks working from home and wrote a note to be sent to his HR team.

That's when the author learned just how incompetent his company's human resources department was. Not only did they keep delaying their meeting where approvals like these were made, but they also never followed up about it!

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • 01
    A work-from-home employee sits at his desk while his dog sits nearby on the floor.
    via Kit (formerly ConvertKit)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • The funny thing about someone else's incompetence is that you can use it to your advantage in certain circumstances. In this case, the author decided that if HR was never going to approve his medically suggested remote arrangement, then he would just stop coming into the office at all. Guess what? At the end of the day, HR couldn't exactly do anything about it. After all, it was partially their fault!

  • 02

    "I stopped coming into the office and… nothing happened"

    Well there's actually some context but that's the gist. Long story short, I work for a very large company.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 03
    Several thousand employees all across the country. I was 100% in office for years, including any OT.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 04
    Then in March 2020 they told us to stop coming into the office... and work went on.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 05
    Everybody got their jobs done from home. Then RTO happened in March 2022, three days a week.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 06
    Then they went to 4 days a week a few months ago. It sucked. I have a nice home office.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 07
    My chair is more comfortable. I have windows and sunlight. My monitors are much bigger. I can have music or videos in the background, and I am soooo much more productive at home.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 08
    But I only worked from home one day a week, plus OT. So in total, up to 30 hours a week from home, and 32 hours in office.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 09
    Not bad. But sometime in December I started to get headaches on days I was in the office.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 10
    They really started to affect my work performance. I didn't realize how bad it got until I went on vacation for 2 weeks and felt better.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 11
    It was like waking up from a dream. So when I got back, I went to the doctor and asked them to write me out.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 12
    They did for two weeks. It took a few days for my headache to go away.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 13
    And then I was free. But here's the crazy part. I sent the medical accommodation to HR, and they said they'll review and approve it.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 14
    And they just never got back to me! I followed up daily until they said they have a committee that meets once a week to approve these requests.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 15
    And I guess they just haven't been meeting? When my two weeks were up, I got another note for a month.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 16
    Submitted that one and again, zero movement. My plan is to get them for three months at a time going forward.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 17
    So officially, I am cleared to WFH until the committee approves me working from home. Bureaucracy at its finest!
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 18
    So technically, I am not approved to WFH, but I gave my management an excuse and stopped showing up.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 19
    Nobody is questioning it. Honestly I could have made something up and nobody would care. I just got lost in the cracks.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 20
    Wild. The affects of being back at home are massive. I've lost about 15 pounds this month.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 21
    I'm eating better, I have time to take long walks. My relationship with my wife improved.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 22
    I get to play with the kids. I'm sleeping much better as well, and without meds!
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 23
    Almost no snoring which makes my wife happy. And most importantly, I haven't had a headache in almost a month.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 24
    A feel like a new man
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 25
    A man sits at his desk with his laptop open in his home office.
    via Kit (formerly ConvertKit)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 26
    OP Shoot_2_Thrill I don't think one person makes difference to them. But the entire company? It does matter to them. Apparently my boss's boss was at a luncheon with the bigwig CEO recently and told me the CEO was saying they have evidence that employees slack off a lot on WFH Fridays. But they can't RTO Fridays because they'd lose too many people. Now how much is that actually true? Idk. But that's their perspective anyway. But I will say this. My team gets about 100+ emails a day about all kin
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 27
    Rammus2201 What difference does WFH really make to corporations? We see that the result is obviously nothing. The Earth doesn't stop turning and the sun will still rise.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 28
    OP Shoot_2_Thrill To be fair, the slackers who don't work much in office when they have to be at their desk at all times with bosses micromanaging them will be worse when they're home alone. I hate those people. It's those few bad apples that give them an excuse to RTO
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 29
    Macycat10 The people who don't work from home also don't work in the office.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 30
    OP Shoot_2_Thrill Yeah I'm the senior member of our team and do more work then the rest combined. So they really don't want to lose me. On top of that, they are risking a legal mess if they refuse a valid medical accommodation. So it seems like they are ok with just leaving the situation as-is. But the limbo is crazy. HR honestly just drags a company down. Those assholes are the ones who set the RTO - but get this: They made themselves exempt! The entire company was back 3 days a week except for
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 31
    gotrdjrr78 Somewhat similar situation. I have an ADA accommodation that was to be renewed or made permanent. The original HR contact vanished. Mgt claimed my WFH exemption was set to expire, which was news to me. Connected with new HR contact, but she wasn't clear on what I needed to do next. Since I didn't receive clear instructions, I pinged her to follow up, but crickets. She's still working for the company. I'll reach out often enough to demonstrate that we're "engaged in a collaborative pro
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 32
    OP Shoot_2_Thrill Nope. I have no issue answering emails from the couch in the evening and being paid for it. And getting a few things done on the weekend as well. This is how I provide for my family. My issues were wasting time commuting which obviously isn't paid, and my headaches. Also I said "up to" 62. I'm usually around 50 ish for the week. So that's only an hour or so after work and a few hours on Saturday morning. Then maybe Sunday night. Honestly not bad at all, and the pay is great. OT
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 33
    phdoofus Next thing you need to work on is working 62 hours a week
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 34
    OP Shoot_2_Thrill Ohhh that makes sense actually. But honestly back when we were all in office full time, I think everyone took it easy on Fridays. Long week, you're tired. Making weekend plans. Socialized a little more. You got a lot done during the week, and it's not a big deal to leave some things for Monday. Urgency is gone. Fridays were always supposed to be easy days. We even had summer hours and left work early those days (paid). That's gone now lol
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 35
    imadethistochatbach My theory is people only slack on Fridays bc they have to use it to catch up on all the things they couldn't do because they were at the office. So that's kinda valid but if they were mostly or entirely remote on average productivity wouldn't take a hit because all the water cooler pretending to work time would be replaced with that stuff.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 36
    OP Shoot_2_Thrill Yeah the fluorescent lights are the number 1 contender for sure. But I don't have my own office unfortunately so I was stuck with them. I have special lightbulbs at home and obviously they are off during the day. Makes a world of difference.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 37
    [deleted] After the RTO (2 wks per month) in a new floor plan, I confirmed that overhead florescent lights trigger my migraines. Lucky for them, I can turn off the lights in my office. Otherwise I'd not RTO and if they balked, I'd take medical leave. Then they can pay me for no work.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 38
    OP Shoot_2_Thrill So happy for you! If my situation become permanent, we can move to a lower cost of living area. Be closer to my sister. The freedom is life changing.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 39
    RielRaven I got a reasonable accommodation to WFH while everyone else has to go back to twice a week. This so helpful because now we can look for housing a bit further afield because I have not commute. I lost 50lbs my health is so much better. Also, I feel like my lifestyle is like the wealthy, with the ability to have choice and control in my life.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 40
    OP Shoot_2_Thrill This 100%. There are tons of people that can do whatever they want. The office is split into the people who are valued, and the suckers. The director of my department for example moved to TN to be with family. When they did RTO she retired. They begged and begged and finally let her be remote full time. She's on zoom with her grandkids all the time because she's babysitting them. Does very little work because she's "taken a step back", but her experience and connections are jus
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 41
    [deleted] the return to office may be there to increase attrition, and people who are too valuable may be able to ignore with impunity. i.e. perhaps youre not the target
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 42
    OP Shoot_2_Thrill No I think I should still “maintain an open dialogue" so that my ass is covered in case anyone starts asking why I'm home without approval. "Hey man, I tried to talk to you guys.."
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 43
    [deleted] I'd stop following up. Not your problem if they can't make a decision. Probably no one gives two shits.
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 44
    OP Shoot_2_Thrill Wow your comment just made me realize something. The slackers complain the most about RTO because they have the most to lose. RTO costs me a 40 min commute (so 90 min a day) and maybe some small chores around the house I could have done during the day instead of after work. So say 2 hours a day. The slackers are losing 5-6 hours of free time! Of course they're furious! Those idiots. Also you're 100% on the mark that RTO is a way to do layoffs without having to pay unemployment
    via Shoot_2_Thrill
  • 45
    friedguy That is exactly what is happening with my company (large bank). They also are the ones venting the most about the potential to RTO. I have heard of one person on our floor who apparently bought a house 2 hours away from the office last year, she's probably the worst performer in the group then even though nobody can officially say what they're doing they're hoping to force her back and that she would just quit on her own. I've read the sub enough to know that my comments are not exactly
    via Shoot_2_Thrill

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

Tags

work from home workplace-stories remote work work stories toxic-workplace job work human resources company toxic-work-environment
Scroll Down For The Next Article