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Imagine working from home when you are not feeling well but are well enough to work.
If a Zoom meeting is mandatory, do you leave your camera off even though it’s required, or do you turn it on even though you’re sick and looking pretty bad?
In this storyone of our telecommuting employees was in exactly this situation and chose the second option. What really bothers him is that his boss doesn’t stand up for him.
Let’s read the whole story.
I had a weekly stand-up with my manager, and at the end of the meeting, he told me that I needed to have my camera on more often for work.
However, the conversation was not. As you know, I work remotely and we are very focused on culture. You are expected to attend each meeting with your camera on.
However, in the second half of November, he suffered from severe illness intermittently. I’ve missed 7 days due to illness, but this is unprecedented for me.
The last time I got sick was in 2021 when I had Rona. I haven’t taken a sick day since.
This time he was so sick that he had to take a sick day.
Simply because I don’t get sick and as long as I see a doctor, I can usually go out without being noticed and without formal documentation.
That being said, November wasn’t kind to me, so I took the time I was allowed to rest.
However, my illness was very sporadic, and there were days when I felt challenged to participate in work, so I sometimes attended work with my camera off.
There was a good reason why he wanted the cameras off.
At the end of the month, before the holidays, we had an all-staff meeting with about 60 people in attendance, and I was one of the few who didn’t have a camera.
Again, I was willing to try some light work, but it just didn’t look that great. His nose was red and runny, and he was coughing and sneezing. It just didn’t look good.
More importantly, I felt obligated to show up to work and participate in staff meetings where I was expected to contribute little, even though I had no say.
His manager brought up something his boss wanted him to tell him.
I’m scheduled to meet with my boss today. The meeting went as planned and at the end of the meeting he informed me. “By the way, your boss wanted me to tell you that he doesn’t understand that you don’t have a camera.
During last week’s whole team meeting. I know you are sick, but I just wanted to let you know that I am doing my job as a manager and that she was unhappy. ”
My immediate reaction was, “Did I tell her I was sick and had no voice? And still attended the meeting???”
he stammered. Like I said, I’m just doing my job as a manager and I’m letting you know that I trust you were sick. I’m not worried about that, but my boss felt it was a little rude that so many people weren’t on camera at the last few all staff meetings.
I answered again. “This is the first time I’ve not had my camera on in a meeting involving your boss. Thank you for letting me know. But I think we both agree that this is not a problem for me.”
He said to me, “Have a nice day,” and we hung up.
He has a pretty accurate guess as to what actually happened.
Thank you for not doing anything. Manager! ! ! Not only did he not defend me, he ignored the fact that I was attending the meeting despite being sick.
And here’s the worst part of all.
He was also ill last week and did not attend any meetings.
So, my guess is what happened was that he got scolded by his boss for not attending the meeting. And his boss decided to let him know that because of his absence, people on his team (namely me) were also slacking off without turning on their cameras.
He counts on his fingers how many days it will be until he retires.
I really don’t know how to end this situation other than to say that working remotely also has unique and totally bonkers challenges. So it’s often tempting to throw your laptop out the window and stop working together.
I’m far from retired, but I miss the days when I could just do what I wanted on my own time and no longer depend on my manager or manager’s boss to be a zoom camera god.
Looks like he needs to find another job he doesn’t hate so much.
Take a look at how Reddit reacted to this story.
Next time I will introduce some interesting ideas.
This person doesn’t think he should be angry with his manager.
Below are selected comments.
It would have been better not to attend the meeting at all.
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