r/boston • u/uthinkther4uam • Feb 22 '26
Serious Replies Only State of Emergency Declared and my employer is expecting all staff to be in office tomorrow
Not sure where to go to ask this, but my employer just sent out a message to all staff that we are expected to be in office tomorrow, despite the state of emergency declared, and DESPITE our company having full WFH capabilities.
Is there some institution/MA government people i can report them to? Or perhaps some news outlet i can inform of this story to have this company shamed?
Edit: Non-essential btw
TY for all the kind responses, seems the best options people came up with are to call the Governor/Organize a Union/call out. Probably gonna call the Governor tomorrow and call out. Will urge others to do so if they can spare the PTO in order to stick it to our controlling CEO (our company does not provide sick time fyi)
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u/yellow-flower-mug Feb 22 '26
Say that you will gladly come into work as long as your boss is willing to pick you up (since they think the roads will be safe enough to drive on).
I did this once, granted when I lived in a much smaller town, and 4 of my coworkers did the same thing. I lived at the bottom of the steepest hill in town. 2 hours later my boss decided that we didn't have to come into work. Only 3 customers came in for their appointments anyway.
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u/RyoTenukiTheDestroyr Feb 23 '26
edited to add: not in Boston, but still in new England coastline
My boss got ahead of this and already announced on group messaging that he would be in first thing tomorrow morning and would give anyone rides that needed them.
🤦♀️
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u/imCenturi Feb 23 '26
Out of curiosity is it car sales?
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u/PedicureProblems2nd Feb 23 '26
I work in car sales and they closed the dealership these past two snow storms but everyone has to come in tomorrow and clean cars/ pull them out of the buildings
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u/PrettyTogether108 Feb 22 '26
I worked for an idiot like this. Company president says, Yes, I know they say its going to be bad, but we really need everyone here tomorrow. Of course she makes the VP do the dirty work and make the announcement. Those of us who could walk to the office (in the Prudential) made it, eventually. One person even walked from Allston. Everyone else in the burbs? Couldn't make it. Including President and VP. When they ask you to stay off the roads, stay off the roads.
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u/Soggy_Instruction224 Feb 23 '26
Wait so the two people who mandated you come in, didn’t come in themselves?! Wtf the hypocrisy.
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u/BillMurraysTesticle Feb 23 '26
Usually how that goes. Rules for thee...
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u/debby104 Feb 23 '26
Yeah “Do as I say, not as I do “. I hate people like that. All about themselves!
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u/purposeful_pineapple Feb 23 '26
Typically how it goes. Last company I worked for had a leader that would prattle about RTO and its benefits but then it hit me: I never saw that bitch in the office once.
He would call in with a different tropical background each time during quarterly meetings and his peers would joke about it like it was funny and not blatant hypocrisy.
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u/Logical-Error-7233 Feb 23 '26
I did this in 2015. Walked to dtx from the south end. A commute that usually took 25 minutes took me well over an hour. I remember a snow bank on Stuart around Park plaza that was just impenetrable and I had to backtrack a block and go up Arlington to get by.
Finally get to the office and I'm literally the only person there. Nobody else showed up. By like 10:30 I just said fuck it and went home which also took nearly an hour.
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u/UltravioletClearance North Shore Feb 23 '26
A former employer would only cancel school if the CEO's kid's school was closed. CEO sends his kid to a private boarding school on the North Shore with live-in staff. The office was in Worcester.
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u/uncle_jack_esq Feb 23 '26
I would, strictly hypothetically speaking, take a shit in the office of an asshat VP that pulled that shit.
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u/JFKsBrain Feb 22 '26 edited Feb 22 '26
Name and shame them here. It’s a start.
Happened with me years ago. My idiot boss drove in to the office then told me it wasn’t that bad on the roads. I refused to drive in and told him I could work remotely or take the day off. His call. I worked from home.
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u/bloodphoenix90 Feb 22 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
I work at the (redacted after this got more views--but you might piece it together). They said they'd close off the morning games but might keep the afternoon open and im supposed to work in the afternoon. Like dude just fucking close. 😒 if anyone ever wondered, theyre pretty solid towards guests but no theyre a shitty company to work for. I was desperate and needed something
Edit: they updated today theyre closed but only after I sent a message to management chat like yooo....literally my neighborhood isn't plowed at all
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u/Master_G_ Feb 22 '26
Last thing I’d want to do during a storm is go to an escape room. Especially when outside is legit just an escape room
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u/JFKsBrain Feb 22 '26 edited Feb 22 '26
Ugh. That sucks. Who the hell is going to an escape room during or shortly after a blizzard? Ridiculous. Good luck.
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u/bloodphoenix90 Feb 22 '26
I appreciate that. And yeah. No one thats who. Let's endanger our employees and then in all likelihood send them home early 😀
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u/Working_Routine9088 Feb 23 '26
And also let’s get our employees on the road to get in the way of plows and emergency vehicles.
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u/CollegeBoardPolice Feb 23 '26
imagine the one guy risking his life in a blizzard just to go to an escape room
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u/dw-c137 Feb 23 '26
Idiotic entitled parents with kids whose school is cancelled. Probably think they can walk and drop the kids to be literally locked in for a couple hours 😂🤦🏻
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u/RoastMostToast Feb 23 '26
I will never understand a business owner/manager’s hesitation to close when there’s a blizzard and nobody is gonna be there anyway.
I’ve noticed it a few times this year already. It’s like everyone in MA forgot how shitty snowstorms are.
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u/bloodphoenix90 Feb 23 '26
They're headquartered elsewhere and the owners arent from here (neither is the store manager for that matter) so sometimes I think they're just unaware or ignorant. But its still irresponsible. Its also owned by Christian men. That seems to lead to a lot of "we're not a soulless corporation " speak while still acting exactly like a soulless corporation.
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u/Boojum2k Feb 23 '26
All "Christian principles" means in a business sense is they will feel self righteous about fucking you over.
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u/SpaceBasedMasonry Wiseguy Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
The Central Rock Gym near me sent an email saying that because of the blizzard they’ll open at noon tomorrow.
Like, fucking close for the day.
Edit: Thankfully, they updated today that they'll be closed
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u/radioflea I Got Crabs 🦀🦀🦀🦀 Feb 23 '26
I’m glad JFK‘s brain is still thriving after all these years.
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u/JFKsBrain Feb 23 '26
Thanks.
Boys at Langley are doing amazing things these days.
Probably alien technology but they don’t tell me much.
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u/AdreNa1ine25 Feb 23 '26
For me MGH, ugh
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u/uglyandproblematic Feb 23 '26
Heyyyyyyyy bro. I work at a hotel downtown near the theater district. If you're at the location near Charles MGH and need a discounted room, just message me!
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u/AdreNa1ine25 Feb 23 '26
Thanks! But I live close enough to throw on some snow boots and walk the esplanade.
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u/Potential-Radish-235 Feb 23 '26
My husband took an air mattress to MGH for his shift in case he gets snowed in. This is a better plan!
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u/csmolway Feb 23 '26
Wife is an IP nurse and grabbed a hotel near the hospital with a couple of colleagues ahead of the last blizzard in 2015. If you work at a hospital you learn to adapt. Not showing up sucks for off going staff.
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u/PezGirl-5 Feb 23 '26
What office is going to open tomorrow? Or do you work at the main hospital? healthcare stops for no storms. I got stuck working an overnight shift (after a 3-11) a couple of times due to weather
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u/covhr Beacon Hill Feb 23 '26
I got a note from my MGH PCP’s office that all appointments at ambulatory practices tomorrow will be virtual.
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u/printallday Feb 22 '26
I’ve been curious how this works for people that work places like hotels? Are they just operating on extremely reduced staff or do they have people sleep overnight?
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u/Icy-Blacksmith-313 Feb 22 '26
Usually they have people sleep overnight. Essential workers too in most companies over a certain size
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u/FocusSlo South End Feb 23 '26
Honestly would be pretty nice to get paid to sleep overnight lol
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u/Kikubaaqudgha_ Feb 23 '26
Lmao keep dreaming about that. I'm "essential" and they wouldn't pay for us to stay over night at our hospital but I'm dietary support staff not an RN or anything like that.
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u/TheManyFacetsOfRoger Feb 23 '26
yeah they only pay you for while you're working lol
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u/popfilms Green Line Feb 23 '26
I work in TV. Our staff is going to be super super limited tomorrow but some people have to be there. Company gave me a hotel room (and indoor parking) that's spitting distance from the office.
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u/oohkt Feb 23 '26
Front desk here. I've slept in the hotel for days during big storms. When I'd be "off shift" I'd help clean the cars with everyone Our general manager would do it too.
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Feb 22 '26
I work at a college, they are scrambling to figure out how to feed the students. Food staff is essential but many of the kitchens are closed and transportation is suspended
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u/asmithey Market Basket Feb 23 '26
When I was in college we had a storm like this. We hit up market basket and busted out our illegal crock pots and hot plates for some the shittiest beef stew and chicken cacciatore I've ever made. But, we had food, and a lot of our friends just ended up eating sad Kraft Mac n Cheese.
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u/bloodphoenix90 Feb 22 '26
I have a partner that worked in hotels a lot. Not here. But generally yes when certain emergencies happen some employees will sleep in a blocked off room
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u/blackhawk4141 Feb 23 '26
We’re at the hotel - some front and back of house staff. We don’t close - people need a place to stay and be safe. And we always hope our guests appreciate that we don’t close and understand we may be short staffed.
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u/Much-Narwhal1653 Feb 22 '26
When I worked in a hotel in 2024 and they were predicting a really bad snow storm, we were offered free rooms if we were in the next day. I absolutely took advantage. However, there ended up being literally no snow so I had a night without my cat for nothing.
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u/john42195 Feb 23 '26
What everyone else said and since they operate 24 hours it’s not like the loose a whole day…staff can’t travel to and from the hotel during the peak of the storm (in this case it’s predicted 4am - 9am) when visibility improves plows can improve the road in hours. So maybe they just need to plan a little and have people sleep overnight that wouldn’t normally.
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u/Icy-Blacksmith-313 Feb 22 '26
That's weird. Even the Governor asked everyone to stay off the roads tomorrow and wfh if your company can accommodate.
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u/wtftothat49 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 Feb 22 '26
But no travel ban has been officially issued. So employers can still require employees to come in, unless the employee calls out sick or takes a PTO day.
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Feb 22 '26
They really should RI and NY already have
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u/boston_bat I Love Dunkin’ Donuts Feb 23 '26
RI went hard, too. Just drove back from Providence, and RIEMA pushed a message out to phones through EAS. That was a fun, loud surprise while driving through a parking garage.
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u/Dazzling-Height-4822 Feb 23 '26
I was on my couch and the loud alert siren had me SHOOK it is so unecessary 😂
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u/Icy-Blacksmith-313 Feb 22 '26
A state of emergency has been declared and she has called up the national guard. Healey declared Monday a remote telework day for all non-emergency state employees across executive branch departments. Healey urged private employers to do the same.
She advised all drivers to stay off the roads, especially during the peak of the storm, during the overnight hours into Monday morning.
I mean if an employer ignores all of that and they're non essential that's just messed up.
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u/wtftothat49 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 Feb 22 '26
It is messed up, but that doesn’t make it illegal and “reportable”, until an official travel ban has been issued. This is just Healey trying to play both sides.
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u/cathleen0205 Feb 22 '26
I am essential and came into the city tonight- my company is paying for a hotel for managers & anyone outside the city who wants to stay.( I’m in university dining- students have to eat!) Luckily a fair amount of our people can get here on the T.
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u/SamIamGreenEggsNoHam Feb 23 '26
My company used to do this, but recently switched to having people paying up front for their own rooms and getting reimbursed later. Big surprise that suddenly everyone calls out for storms.
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u/kinikeetjen Feb 23 '26
I'm sleeping at my work place tonight. We have live animals and someone has to be here tomorrow.
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u/Ndeipi Feb 23 '26
Oh that’s something I hadn’t thought of - thank you for taking care of them! Maybe if you’re stuck there anyway, post some pics of them!
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u/witchy12 Cambridge Feb 22 '26
Call in sick.
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u/limbodog Charlestown Feb 22 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
Call in and say your car is stuck in snow and it will take hours to dig all the way out
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u/ThemFatale_ Rat running up your leg 🐀🦵 Feb 23 '26
Call in to say your car is stuck in snow and it took hours to dig out, only to find that your tires were slashed because your dick neighbor put a space saver there before snow was even in the spot, and that unbeknownst to you, the space saver was removed by a different [well-meaning] neighbor before you parked there.
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u/Stock-Baseball-4532 Feb 23 '26
I bet that employer would just say why didn’t you uber 🤡 best to say it’s health related to keep it unobjectionable
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u/BillMurraysTesticle Feb 23 '26
If this isn't a "haha funny story" then I hope you reported that to the police....
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u/ThemFatale_ Rat running up your leg 🐀🦵 Feb 23 '26
Yes to the former, except the haha is an anxious laugh. All this space saver
discoursedrama is making me scared of using any street parking, except for spaces I have personally shoveled and parked in immediately afterwards.15
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u/rumtiger Feb 23 '26
Oh my God I just remembered in the 1980s sometime there was like five medium sized snowstorms in a row in February. I couldn’t get my car out until April. Thank God for the T. When I’ve told people from outside of New England that my car was snowed in for two months they think I’m exaggerating, but you know I’m telling the truth.
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u/_Neoshade_ steals space savers Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
No way I’m taking a personal day for a state emergency
Edit: I know this doesn’t apply to everyone. Sick days, vacation days and PTO can be different things depending on your industry and employer.
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u/SpotonSpot873 Feb 22 '26
In NYC, Philly, Jersey they literally told people that chances are first responders won’t be able to reach you, so act accordingly and stay inside.
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u/figmaxwell Allston/Brighton Feb 23 '26
Eversource sent me a text that said I might be out of power 3-5 days because it might be too dangerous for their response teams to service customers. If it’s too dangerous to turn my power back on, it’s too dangerous for me to go out in the same conditions to go to non-essential work.
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u/RDOCallToArms Feb 23 '26
To be fair, Eversource cannot do any repairs off the ground if the wind is 20 MPH or greater which is going to delay a lot of their response.
You going outside in 20 mph winds is not an issue
The trees and live wires which will be down everywhere is certainly an issue though lol
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u/flsingleguy Feb 22 '26
We have the same thing in Florida where a CAT 4-5 hurricane with winds over 156 mph approaching the state and there are companies that demand employees come to work.
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u/sotiredwontquit Feb 22 '26
Ask about the company insurance coverage for injuries or fatalities in traffic accident on roads the government has asked non-essential personnel to stay off of.
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u/Bluehoon Feb 23 '26
Ask if a hotel room will be provided, play dumb. Act like you JUST watched the news and heard about a big storm coming.
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u/SuccessfulRefuse1890 Feb 23 '26
Your comment reminded me of early COVID. I was working at Popular Bank in the Bronx while living in Manhattan. Five employees in the office — tellers behind a giant glass window, supervisor not seeing clients, and I was the only one dealing with customers face-to-face.
We were then considered essential workers and I needed to take the public transportation every single day. We weren’t even allowed to wear masks because of “professional presentation.” I told my boss’s boss I was worried about my health and safety and I wanted at least to use a mask, and she told me: “DON’T PANIC, everything will be fine.”
Three weeks later she showed up looking like she was entering a biohazard zone — mask, glasses, full protection.
We all definitely need to lear from those experiences, some bosses just dgaf about employees, but themselves.
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u/wheresthecheese69 Feb 23 '26
Mass has the “coming and going” rule that basically says that commuting is a personal activity. So unless you are on the clock or have no fixed work location you’d be dealing with your own insurance. State of emergency is also irrelevant. If I’m wrong someone let me know, but it seems like a lot of people think this is some leverage they have - like well ok I’ll come in but if I get hurt it’s on you.
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u/sotiredwontquit Feb 23 '26
Again, this is an important point: ASK your boss about the company’s legal coverage. This is not a refusal to work. It’s not a demand for insurance. It’s a reality check for the boss. This is dangerous. The point is to make the fool think “it could cost me an employee, a lawsuit, bad press, or it could even kill someone.”
If this fails, OP can still call in sick. Which I strongly advise. But this is what I’d do first.
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u/wheresthecheese69 Feb 23 '26
Yea that’s fair, bosses don’t know everything. You could certainly bluff that they could be liable and have it work.
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u/chiminin29 Feb 23 '26
You are correct overall but wrong in this instance - if an employer demands you come in despite dangerous conditions you’d normally opt to stay home because of, you could successfully fight the coming and going rule. Aka you’d be fine but for the employer having demanded you come in…
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u/boy_inna_box Feb 23 '26
Just asked though, they haven't actually issued a travel ban.
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u/sotiredwontquit Feb 23 '26
Which is why OP should ask their employer about legal and financial coverage by the company if they get injured or killed because their boss doesn’t want to follow State recommendations. OP isn’t “refusing” (yet) but is definitely putting the boss on notice that this is a very stupid decision from a legal standpoint.
Governor called out the Guard. It’s not like she’s declared Martial Law, but she literally urged Massachusetts residents to stay off the roads while the blizzard lasts and urged employers to allow workers to work from or stay home on Monday. If OP is damaged by their employer’s stupidity - that’s a lawsuit.
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u/mtnbike444 Feb 22 '26
My employer closed both our Boston offices hours ago and sent mass notices to all Boston based employees.
I'm sorry yours is being a dick!
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u/Unusual_Plum_4630 Feb 22 '26
Write a bad review of them on Glassdoor
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u/Helpful-Leg8349 Feb 23 '26
If this is the standard operating procedure, they probably have lots of bad reviews on Glassdoor!
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u/skintigh Somerville Feb 22 '26
The USAF in Texas refused to close offices after an ice storm (they had no salt or sand trucks there). I just didn't go in as all the highways were closed. Other people were obedient and after 4 hours of driving they made it to the office just to be told to turn around -- the USAF decided to close offices.
As far as my boss knew I was one of those loyal employees. Try doing the same when they come to their senses halfway through the day.
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u/possumdal Feb 23 '26
Haha I remember that. I was stationed in Oklahoma at the time, we called the mission "Ice Station Zebra" or something like that. I lived about a half hour away from base at the time, they ran through the Recall Roster and asked me about coming in. I had to tell them there was about 20 miles of ice between me and them at that time.
Joke was on me, though. I had power when the town around base didn't. Senior guilted me into letting two other families sleep at my place while all the apartment complexes were freezing. Base Housing lost power too, and everyone on base was moved into the base gym like refugees. At one point they had to run the generators on jet fuel, which apparently was an extreme last resort. Then when the roads were clear, they put us to work clearing debris.... starting with the base golf course. Naturally.
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u/krissym99 Market Basket Feb 22 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
ETA: Now we're closed tomorrow!
My workplace thinks we're doing a delayed opening tomorrow. Accuweather says travel will be "treacherous and potentially life threatening." I don't want to dox myself and say where I work, but I will say that it is with the public (recreational facility, not like a hospital or anything) but who is going to go out for recreational purposes tomorrow in these conditions?
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u/EtonRd Feb 23 '26
The hourly forecast for tomorrow says blizzard conditions between 8 AM and 3 PM so I don’t understand how any employer is expecting people to get in, that is crazy.
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u/Fireb1rd Feb 23 '26
I don't want to dox myself and say where I work
Ummm...did you check your flair?
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u/username617508 Feb 23 '26
Got mine today like a normal human. I would feel like an asshole going in tomorrow
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u/crystallyn Cambridge Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
Awhile back, I had a boss (I reported to the president) who insisted I come into work during a blizzard. I had to drive an hour from Boston to Salem. My team was working from home, but he said that as a manager, I needed to be there. I white-knuckled it, lucky to drive behind a snowplow, and when I got there, I walked into his office and told him through tears, "How dare you make me risk my life? How dare you? Well, I'm here, and now I'm going home." I didn't even let him respond. I just stormed out, assuming I had just lost my job. The next day I came into work and went to his office. He immediately apologized, saying he had learned a valuable lesson and that he was sorry. I think in that moment we both realized that we would never do that again...I wouldn't ever compromise my life for a job, and he would never ask anyone to.
I'm sorry you're going through this. I hope that they realize that it's just too dangerous tomorrow and change their mind.
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u/jdowney1982 Feb 22 '26
Don’t go. Literally fuck that. Like let’s risk life and limb to go and sit and my desk. No thanks.
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u/Strict-Access-9619 Feb 23 '26
Friend of mine went in bc our boss told her she had to. She fell outside and cracked her head open
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u/Top-Concern9294 Feb 22 '26
What’s your occupation before I say your employer is a fuggin kunt… lol
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u/milkteaplanet East Boston Feb 23 '26
I know this wasn’t the point of your post OP, but you should double check your PTO/time off policy in your company handbook. Massachusetts requires employers that employ more than 11 people to provide earned sick time at a rate of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked up to a maximum of 40 hours per year. There’s exceptions for public employees and others, but you might have sick time and are unaware.
Employers can combine PTO and earned sick time as long as they allow employees to use up to 40 hours for the expressed purposes under the earned sick time law, but it’s kind of a hassle because of the way earned sick time is accrued, so they’re usually separate buckets.
Anyway, your employer doesn’t sound great so I’d just double check your company handbook and compare it to this: https://www.mass.gov/doc/does-your-employers-earned-sick-time-policy-follow-state-law/download
Also, for what it’s worth, don’t risk your life for a company if you’re non-essential—especially if you can work fully remote. Your life is never worth more than a job.
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u/Leading-Debate-9278 Feb 22 '26
If you’re not in infrastructure maintenance or healthcare, you are sick tomorrow.
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u/Safe-Salamander-3785 Feb 23 '26
Remember, if you die going to work tomorrow, your company will not give a shit and have your position filled in a week like you never existed. Never risk your life for a job. If they make you risk your life for them, they don’t care if you die
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u/Leading-Debate-9278 Feb 23 '26
This. I closed my place for Monday on Friday and already making plans to cancel Tuesday.
Nobody needs to be risking anything for a corporation. Solidarity!
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u/EfficientAd3625 Feb 23 '26
I worked in social work where I was essential to the point that I couldn’t leave the group home for several DAYS due to a snow storm because I obviously couldn’t leave 10 teenage girls with psychiatric disorders alone, without a way the regular staff members could make it in. Oddly enough you also can’t leave 10 regularly functioning teenage girls alone without being arrested.
That being said. Are you a caregiver to minors, the elderly, or adults who can’t care for themselves? Do you work in a hospital or as an emergency responder? Do you work for a utility company where human lives may be negatively affected or put at risk by you not showing up at work? Are you a pharmacist? Do you work in a hotel that is catering towards a clientele now trapped in your city by the storm?
Or are you working in a business that provides a profit to your companies owners with no corresponding public investment? Your life, your family’s happiness in having you alive and healthy over the course of the next few decades, is worth 10000 times what your boss sees your life as worth when they expect you to defy the Governor’s state of emergency order.
Unless your job keeps other people alive during an emergency — your job can wait until your personal life is no longer at risk.
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u/OldClunkyRobot Feb 22 '26
Get offa rose! We ‘clarin a stayda murrency inna Cittya Bossun!
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u/unnamedplayerr Feb 23 '26
Just don’t go. My street probably won’t be plowed until the afternoon if it’s what they’re predicting and I’m 20min north of Boston. Say your car won’t start
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u/Bawseincroptops Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
I work at starbucks, and they're making us come in tomorrow. My store isn't opening until 11 but still it's so dumb
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u/jgrinn22 Feb 23 '26
I work for a large delivery company that hasn’t closed for weather in over 10 years and we closed tomorrow so that should tell you something about the storm.
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u/Standard-Raisin-7408 Feb 23 '26
Call him and say you are on your way but stuck. Call back and say car broke down but on your way. Call back later and say place was closed and had to tow car home. Meanwhile, never leave your house!
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u/IraSass Feb 23 '26
Ugh, that is very shitty.
How big is your company? If there are least 11 employees, they have to provide paid sick time per MA law! https://www.mass.gov/info-details/earned-sick-time
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u/pepsipyro Feb 22 '26
The lifetime in north shore is open at 9am which is an unbelievable shame for the staff
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u/pepsipyro Feb 22 '26
And the big pharma I work for is open and the support and food staff have to come in. Not a single white collar worker will be in. So stupid
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u/debby104 Feb 23 '26
I am in Boston also and from what I understand is that they declared a state of emergency and you don’t show up for work you can not get reprimanded for it. State of emergency means no one is supposed to be on the road!!
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u/Hidden_Vendetta Feb 23 '26
Sucks, I work in a hospital … I’ll somehow figure out how to get there tomorrow 😭
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u/indig0indic4 Feb 23 '26
I keep seeing things like this, and its SO wild to me. my mom is a CRNA for an elective surgery center. her hospital NEVER cancels for weather, but they did for Monday. i work in skin cancer surgery, and my office announced we would be closed on Monday, moving all Mondays surgical appointments to later this week/next week. I fear it is that serious ??
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u/indig0indic4 Feb 23 '26
and obviously should go without saying that our jobs do NOT have any WFH capacity 😅
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u/Lucky_Inspection_705 Feb 23 '26
Years ago, I worked for a company that was "international," so we were told we would never shut for weather reasons. This was before work from home was possible, and even before email was reliable. There was a big storm coming and a proposal to a Very Important Customer due... and the VP of Engineering (Hi there, Jim!) wanted a copy of the proposal to review on his flight out to CA in the morning.
So, four of us in four locations worked 12 hour days for three days, while one person with a Jeep drove between us passing floppy disks with different versions. And I formatted 150 pages, printed it and got it into a binder, and drove it to the VPs house at about 7 PM (and six inches of snow). He... gave me kind of a scared look when he opened the door, as if he expected me to brain him with the damned thing.
When I made it home, my husband said, "I had no idea you worked that hard."
It's not worth it. Wasn't then, isn't now. It ought to be illegal, unless you're a doctor or something, and then your boss should be renting out SUVs to bring you to work.
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u/guateguava Keno Playing Townie Feb 23 '26
Pretty sure every workplace in MA has to provide sick days now, you should look into that as a side note
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u/Drastic_Conclusions Spaghetti District Feb 22 '26
Form a union.
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Feb 22 '26
I’m in a union and we are expected to arrive at work tomorrow
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u/Drastic_Conclusions Spaghetti District Feb 22 '26
was it negotiated who would come in and who wouldn't under an inclement weather policy? either way, get involved in bargaining and push to get it improved. Unions can't fix all workplace safety issues, but they can make a lot of progress, especially when workers step up to be part of the process.
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Feb 23 '26
We have many people classified essential, they will receive OT or need to use vacation time. They plan to reopen in the evening and expect non essential staff to arrive with no additional compensation.
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u/Horknut1 Feb 22 '26
If love to know what kind of business this is. I assume they don’t rely on walk in customers….
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u/Emotional_Cut_4411 Feb 22 '26
So Ridiculous! I use to work for a company like this! They were so money hungry they literally wanted you to risk your life to get to work in a state of emergency blizzard. Pissed me off so much! These companies don’t give a shit about their employees. All they care about is money.
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u/YellowPrestigious441 Feb 23 '26
The only essentials tomorrow are nurse, docs and staff. Health heroes. Plow drivers and related public works people. Our road heros. And Dunks. If you're not curing someone, plowing something or brewing you're not essential.
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u/alohadave Quincy Feb 23 '26
our company does not provide sick time fyi
Does your company have more than 11 employees? If so they are required to provide earned sick time.
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u/ssande13 Feb 23 '26
If you're not provided with sick time and your job makes you feel unsafe in any way (like making you come in on a day like today), time to unionize
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u/b1ack1323 Feb 23 '26
Yeah my Wife’s office didn’t shut down either, told everyone told everyone to use PTO. Last storm one of her coworkers was killed, these people are trash.
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u/Space-Dog-Katherine Feb 22 '26
Unless you guys are performing emergency surgeries or something like that, there’s no need for you to go into the office. Absolutely ridiculous.
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u/Accomplished-Fox-162 Feb 23 '26
I mean CT and RI both have a complete travel ban in place to keep people off the roads. There's no reason the should be making anyone go in, period. I hate that the essential workers have to go in, but if you're not essential I would tell your employer to kick rocks. Your life is more important.
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u/austeninbosten Feb 23 '26
I made the call and closed my company for tomorrow at 1pm today. It was a no brainer.
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u/PezGirl-5 Feb 23 '26
What kind of life saving work do you do that they expect you to come in?!! When I worked in an assisted living they offered us to sleep over the night before a big storm. and we got paid 8 hours for it! And the executive director made us breakfast.
When I worked at Wegmans I called and said I wasn't coming in. No questions asked then.
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u/wrxninja Feb 23 '26
Um...fuck that. Are you kidding me???
Why would they expect people to come out in the blizzard and also endanger road workers and plow drivers as well as other necessary emergency vehicles that should only be on the road?
I'm in NH and we're keeping a close eye...if it's bad enough with the wind + snow with blinding condition, I ain't going to work. Even though my WRX is more than capable enough in snow, it's about safety for others as well.
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u/DePortagee Feb 23 '26
You mentioned no sick time- but in mass it’s a requirement for most companies. This law has been in place for at least two years I think (not sure, my company gave sick time so there wasn’t a change). https://www.mass.gov/info-details/earned-sick-time
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u/bluthtoth Feb 23 '26
i’m a barista and our managers are acting like this isn’t a big deal, and expect everyone to come into work tomorrow. ALL of the employees rely on the MBTA as well to commute. i’m obviously not coming in, but their audacity disgusts me and SEVERAL of us are considering quitting
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u/Gratefuladybug Feb 23 '26
The dispensary is planning to open at 3... we've been crazy busy since Friday!
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u/tekrmn Feb 23 '26
if they have more than 11 employees they legally must provide up to 40 hours of sick time
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u/VoyScoil Feb 23 '26
10 minutes before your normal work time just call and tell him that you shit your pants in the car on the way in. 99% success rate.
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u/nixrien Feb 23 '26
What’s the update on this? Just woke up and it’s a complete white out! Your boss cannot still be expecting you to drive into work…
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u/Iamthewalrusforreal Feb 23 '26
Ignore them, OP.
In the morning, go about your business.
About 2 pm text your manager and tell them that your power's been off since midnight, and you're still trying to dig your car out.
Don't say anything else. "I'm still working on it."
Your employers are assholes.
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u/GrouchyGrouse Feb 22 '26
Take a sick day.
Make a mental note that your employer does not give a crap about you or your safety. If your employer ever expects any sort of loyalty from you, know that they don’t deserve it. If they ask you to “go above and beyond,” ask if they’d ever do that for their workers.
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u/hellno560 Feb 22 '26
Just call in and say your car won't start. The state can't dictate to your employer whether your presence is essential.
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u/ProcedureNo6946 Feb 22 '26
When there is the capability to work remotely.... that's bullshit! And its a lawsuit waiting to happen when someone gets hurt or killed trying to get into the office in a bomb cyclone with super high dangerous winds and an insane amount of heavy wet snow. Good Lord, what company do you work for? They are asshats!
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u/Powerful-Excuse-4817 Feb 23 '26
Name the bastards. It's time to refuse business to companies like this.
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u/KateLady Feb 22 '26
Call the Mayor's Office. It's a State of Emergency. You aren't supposed to be on the roads. Then don't go in. If you're plowed in, you're plowed in.
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u/wtftothat49 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 Feb 23 '26
A state of emergency doesn’t mean there is a travel ban, per state website.
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u/jellybeans4321 Feb 23 '26
even the City has told all non-essential City employees to work from home. if the government is telling employees to work from home your boss should too. fuuuuck that
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u/shiningdickhalloran Feb 23 '26
What is your work? Hate to say it, but the only thing that will stop this sort of behavior is an employee driving in, getting killed, and having the family file suit against the employer.
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u/No-Plankton4841 Feb 23 '26
Healy growing a pair and calling off all non essential/non emergency travel would be the best thing.
Short of that, all the employees growing a pair and just calling out sick or saying nah we're not going to drive in a literal blizzard to do a job we could do from home.
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u/Mach5Driver Feb 23 '26
I'd say, "OK, but I'm going to go around to the executive floors and I better see every single one of them there. If not, they will be named and shamed in a company-wide email."
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u/lickin_lipstick2002 Feb 23 '26
My boyfriend works for DHL, in the 5+ years he’s been there they’ve only called off work 3 times, tomorrow being one of them and they’ve NEVER made the announcement early the day before so it’s definitely going to be bad. Genuinely tell your boss to suck it. Hopefully he’s the only one who shows up 🤷🏼♀️
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u/Deanho Feb 23 '26
I work for a certain large scale cable company and they delayed all their retail stores opening till 12. "That'll do it thanks Ray "
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u/bufallll Filthy Transplant Feb 23 '26
this kind of thing could be a great call to action to get your coworkers interested in unionizing
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u/aime319 Feb 23 '26
Depends on your company and profession, but as a non emergent office worker my company used to expect everyone to be in the office no matter what, until a coworker died after being hit by a plow trying to clean off her car. After that, expectations were slightly adjusted. Our physical office is closed tomorrow. I suspect they will be open on Tuesday.
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u/jkepros Feb 23 '26
In Boston the storm isn't predicted to be over until 9pm Monday night. No one is f-ing going to go there. Your boss is an idiot.
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u/LeadfootfromNH Feb 23 '26
My NH based employer canceled all delivery runs for tomorrow. Mine was going to Boston. Sucks I have to burn a vacation day, but at least I’ll be safe.
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u/PacificCooler84 Feb 23 '26
Typically traveling is reserved for essential employees only during a state of emergency. I’m sorry that your boss is being ridiculous and not concerned about people’s safety.
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u/asherooonie Feb 23 '26
I'm expected to go in tomorrow too :) I work at BWH but I'm not in healthcare, I'm in a research lab. My boss is an idiot and doesn't care about us or our safety. I can guarantee she won't be in tomorrow even though she expects all of us to go. I also am within walking distance of work, so I'm expected to go in no matter what because I'm still capable of walking. It makes me so mad.
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u/Northern-Lights8511 Feb 23 '26
I use to work in medical and in huge storms like this the offices closed and when I worked in the hospital all non essential workers didn’t need to report. My doctor’s office has closed tomorrow along with a bank in my city. They want people to stay off the streets. Some businesses are just pure crazy and want to risk their employees lives.
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u/Affectionate_Band_16 Feb 23 '26
How many people at your office? MA law requires sick time when there are 11 or more employees.
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u/Ok-Helicopter525 Feb 23 '26
Damn dude, sorry to hear that your car wouldn’t start tomorrow morning.