Employee gets rejected from working from home full time by claiming she has nothing to do in the office: 'She framed it as flexibility'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Aug 7, 2026 10:00 AM EDT

Trying to argue for more benefits can sometimes pitch you out of a job.

The thing about corporate life is that just because something is true, it doesn't mean that pointing it out is a good idea. Maybe the boss is a total megalomaniac, but complaining about it without a solid backup plan is only going to make things complicated, for example. The unfortunate fact is that putting up with ridiculousness often comprises a significant amount of the paycheck.

Of course, the grass always seems greener elsewhere, and it is not wrong to want to broker a better deal for yourself in your job if you think that there is potential. The only caveat is that you have to think carefully about how you are going to do it. Office politics are not just irritating, but they are also something that has to be observed to avoid overly negative consequences. Professionalism is everything under these circumstances.

We all make mistakes sometimes, and our careers are no exception. For the sake of our salaries, though, some blunders should not be made more than once. Just because a change in working circumstances makes sense to you doesn't mean that management is going to feel the same way.

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  • A model representing a glasses-wearing employee, looking over her shoulder and smiling as she holds a piece of paper and sits at a meeting table with coworkers
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A model representing a glasses-wearing employee, looking over her shoulder and smiling as she holds a piece of paper and sits at a meeting table with coworkers

  • A coworker was baffled by the way that an admin employee decided to pitch to the vice president of their company that she thought she could do her job 100% from home, as opposed to the two in-office days a week that she currently worked. She claimed that she had nothing to do on those days, and it made more sense for her to be at home to complete tasks whenever they came up.

    Unsurprisingly, this argument did not lead to her proposal being approved. It left her colleague wondering about the validity of her strategy, and what it might mean for them.

  • Admin admitted she has no work. Dumb move?

    Union job, great pay, lots of PTO. Mandatory 2 days in office. Our secretary told the VP she has nothing to do on those days and offered to be "available if tasks come up" as a pitch for full WFH. VP said no. Rules are rules.
    via Western-Search3310
  • But she said it out loud. She framed it as flexibility... isee it as admitting she's redundant. She should have kept up appearances, stretched her few tasks, and only confessed if caught. Instead she gave leadership a reason to watch her and remember her name when cuts happen.
    via Western-Search3310
  • She got nothing and lost her cover. Am I wrong for thinking that was stupid?
    via Western-Search3310
  • A representation of a male and female coworker looking at something together on a laptop
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A representation of a male and female coworker looking at something together on a laptop

  • QuantumPotato49 Not bright. I'm an admin too and there are definitely days where I have absolutely nothing to do, but will I tell anyone that? Absolutely not. When I have no work, I think of George Costanza..when you look annoyed all the time people think you're busy.
    via QuantumPotato49
  • TheAskewOne Yes it was a serious mistake from her part. She's admitting they're paying her to do nothing and she's not really needed.
    via TheAskewOne
  • TNTarantula Literally the opposite way to frame a WFH transition imo. No boss wants to hear that. Best way is to say "I have so much work on X day, it would be easier to focus with less distractions if I could do it from home."
    via TNTarantula
  • hideandsee Incredibly stupid move.
    via hideandsee
  • bit-by-a-moose It was honesty and the fact that honesty can be stupid is as damning an indictment on modern work culture as there could be.
    via bit-by-a-moose
  • What was stupid is looking at your cushy job and asking for more. If she was just content to work her two days in office, she wouldn't have outed herself.
    via bit-by-a-moose
  • Buy she may be high enough to be corpo redundancy. Management LOVES redundancy, it makes 2 hour lunches and early tee times possible. They hate redundancy if it means the critical roles feel comfortable.
    via bit-by-a-moose
  • GTS_84 Did she say she had like absolutely nothing to do, or nothing to do that required being in the office? If the former, yeah, that's dumb.
    via GTS_84
  • MarsRocks97 Always say your slammed. Oh, You have something new for me? ok I'll try to squeeze it in for next week.
    via MarsRocks97
  • Oh it's a priority? then some other things will get delayed. Use this playbook every single time. Even if you're not doing shit.
    via MarsRocks97
  • HollzStars I would assume she's angling to be laid off instead of quitting. Being laid off for lack of work means you get El where I am (I would hope it would be the same everywhere?)
    via HollzStars

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admin vice president employee working from home
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