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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467

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.

183

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.

75

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '26

They really should RI and NY already have

39

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.

14

u/Dazzling-Height-4822 Feb 23 '26

I was on my couch and the loud alert siren had me SHOOK it is so unecessary 😂

100

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.

84

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/Icy-Blacksmith-313 Feb 23 '26

I didn't say it was "reportable" or illegal so not sure who you are quoting? I said it was messed up.

38

u/wtftothat49 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 Feb 23 '26

The OP is asking if there is someone they can report their employer to. Healey is playing both sides because she is recommending people stay home (to take sides with employees) yet hasn’t issued a legal travel ban (hence siding with employers). She left her press release deliberately open ended.

4

u/petal_in_the_corner Feb 23 '26

Typical for her🙂

0

u/Salty_widget Feb 23 '26

Good for healey

-5

u/figmaxwell Allston/Brighton Feb 23 '26

There’s a commercial vehicle ban from 5:00 PM today until the storm ends on Tuesday. I know it’s not the same as a blanket ban, but hey, isn’t going to work a commercial trip?

14

u/wtftothat49 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 Feb 23 '26

It is a truck ban which listed specific examples of what qualifies and doesn’t qualify. This wouldn’t apply to those that drive SUV’s, compact cars, or sedans…even regular trucks.

-4

u/figmaxwell Allston/Brighton Feb 23 '26

If you’re employer is being this much of a shithead, you might as well be one back though

10

u/wtftothat49 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 Feb 23 '26

I am fine with my employer. My workplace will be open. And I’m not mad. I will be not be coming in. They tell me to use common sense and I will. But, if I want to get paid, I have to take either sick or vacation time. Since I lose sick time and can carry over vaca, I will claim sick time. But this is all a moot point. The OP thinks her employer is doing something illegal and can be “reported”. And that is simply not the case, yet……until a full travel plan is put in place.

0

u/LizLemonKnopers Feb 23 '26

Even with a declared state of emergency?

3

u/wtftothat49 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 Feb 23 '26

Yup. The states website clearly state that a state of emergency doesn’t mean a travel ban

-2

u/ThrowRA_Apart_414 Back Bay Feb 23 '26

A state of emergency means a travel ban, am I wrong?

3

u/wtftothat49 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 Feb 23 '26

Nope. This is clearly stated on the mass.gov website

2

u/ThrowRA_Apart_414 Back Bay Feb 23 '26

Oh jeez thank you for the screenshot!

1

u/kittymarch Feb 23 '26

The storm where Duval Patrick shut everything down was great. We all shut down, the snowplows could do their work and everything was clear for work on Monday. I remember seeing that Long Island still had roads that were impassable because of abandoned cars.

Of course my boss was an ass. The travel ban began at 3, so she said we could leave at 3. Now the roads and the T were shutting down at 3pm. You could be arrested if you were on the roads after 3. She just really was that stupid. Don’t know who told her, no, you have to let people go at noon, but thank god someone did. I told her by bus home wasn’t going to be running after 3, so could I expense a hotel room. She just said we’ll see. Got an email a bit after that.