AT&T’s return-to-work policy unfairly burdens working moms by forcing them to choose between their jobs and their families. The lack of flexibility—no remote or hybrid options—makes it nearly impossible for mothers to balance work with getting their kids to and from school, even with before/after care. This policy feels discriminatory, as it ignores the unique challenges mothers face. AT&T needs to recognize that flexibility isn’t just a “mother’s issue”—it’s essential in today’s workplace. Working moms deserve support, not policies that push them out.
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Those of us who had children in the Southern Bell & BellSouth days, were not allowed to work from home. All of us worked hard to do a fantastic job & we were appreciate back then. We all struggled to get our kids to daycare, pick up on time , use our vacation days for their sick days & school functions. These Moms managed & many were on their own, without any help. Either you need to work, or you don’t. Apparently, you have not mastered the work/life balance. Working from home was a plus for those that worked. Those that treated it as a pass to clean house, do laundry, keep kids at home & not in daycare while taking Zoom meetings & calls, playing golf & doing everything but their job, sc--wed it up for the rest of us. Reality is now, you will be in office 5 days a week & no exceptions. I guarantee AT&T will outsource those, who don’t follow the mandate. AT&T does not care about you, or your personal obstacles. Wake up & smell the coffee, or get another job.
And the Amish. Most certainly the Amish.
The world will end tomorrow . . . women and children to be affected the most.
Good luck with your tax fraud. An auditor would reject that sh-t in a heartbeat.
It is not tax fraud. It is compensation owed to you by the company in rumored pending class actions.
Everything you stated above is completely ridiculous.
That is an argument. That is why courts exist. Think you can convince a jury full of people familiar with AT&T customer service of that? I bet you can't.
You and your attitude have ruined WFH for everyone. I hope you’re pleased with yourself.
This single mother worked from home for more than 20 years before being told to go into the office 3x/week over a year ago. Even though I was home, when he was very young, my son went to daycare every day, and when he was school age, he went to after-care. Yup, paid for it myself. WFH was NEVER a replacement for childcare. However, it was extremely helpful if my son was sick or school/daycare was closed for some reason. And it was also helpful after his 'after-care' days that he didn't have to enter an unoccupied house. He was old enough to know not to bother me while working unless it was an emergency.
Since you do not need to be in the office to do your job and you are not allowed to leave your laptop locked in your automobile, guess what that arguably makes your commute? Business travel. Mileage reimbursable use of your personal vehicle for company needs.
Good luck with your tax fraud. An auditor would reject that sh-t in a heartbeat.
" Other grounds for RTO lawsuits: -If you are injured in an auto accident driving to an office you do not need to be at to do your job, the company is arguably liable. -Since you do not need to be in the office to do your job and you are not allowed to leave your laptop locked in your automobile, guess what that arguably makes your commute? Business travel. Mileage reimbursable use of your personal vehicle for company needs."
I am no RTO defender or apologist, nor a Stank sycophant.
You Sir, are living in an alternate universe. Good luck with your lawsuits.
Everything you stated above is completely ridiculous.
I feel for you, and yes, the whole thing is completely ridiculous. Ridiculous that you can't join Teams meetings all day from a T building close to your home. The lack of flexibility on their part on that should tell anyone all that they need to know about the true intent of this whole thing.
All of that said. ..why in the heck are you/ would you commute 5 days a week, 2 and 1/2 hours each way?? For that miserable job? You make it sound as if there are no other options.
There are other places of employment. If I was in your shoes, I would make finding one my top priority.
When I said I moved 2 1/2 hours away from my office for personal reasons, I knew the risk of having to go back to the office 2 days a week (and I fully accepted that risk). Which I did for 5 years prior. You don’t know my situation. I never dreamed I would have to RTO 3 days a week much less 5, but here we are. I will do it but thought I would put my situation out there. My problem is not having to be in the office, it is the unwillingness of leadership to allow alternate solutions for employees. There are 2 buildings I could go to 15 min away and do drop-in 5 days a week however, that is nit allowed either. I thought this was a platform we could speak freely but clearly there are just spiteful, hateful smartazz people here as well.
Other grounds for RTO lawsuits: -If you are injured in an auto accident driving to an office you do not need to be at to do your job, the company is arguably liable. -Since you do not need to be in the office to do your job and you are not allowed to leave your laptop locked in your automobile, guess what that arguably makes your commute? Business travel. Mileage reimbursable use of your personal vehicle for company needs.
I love the reference to "9 to 5." The only place that ever existed was in a song, and maybe for school teachers, but they were more like 8 to 4 or 7 to 3:30.
This is a U problem, not a T issue.
Everyone on this forum is at the bottom of the why are we fighting one another rather than against the oppressors? This is what they want. To divide us.
“Pretty s-xist for you to assume ONLY mom’s take care of kids.”
Dads are SO important too. I don’t know what I would do without my husband. But the thing is that usually the mom is the “default” parent. Of course there are exceptions, but mom is USUALLY the one to schedule the doctor appointment in between calls, usually the one to have to stay home if the kid is sick, usually the one to get the call from daycare that the kid has a fever and needs to be picked up. RTO is tough on dads for sure but even more rough on moms (again, in general).
Ah yes, all those stating you did it so why are we complaining! Well, you did it when a fax machine was the closest thing to virtual work and dsl dial up was the newest invention. Wake up, we have been successfully working remote and virtually for the past 4 years AND we were praised for having high productivity! And what now? let’s go back to fax machine and DSL days folks, because our fearless leader says so in the name of “culture”. We all know what this is, folks. They want attrition without having to pay you anything. This is at&t squid games. Who will survive the at&t games? Don’t let them win
I am not a working mom but I fully support those who are. There are moms (and dads) that juggle it all and are proven hard workers and deliver in my experience. I agree that these changes add extra burdens. I will no longer work late nights and weekends myself. No more 10 hour days either. If we’re going to be so insulted to be treated as children - I see no reason to go the extra mile anymore. Work/life balance, right?
You know who I really feel bad for? Stankey’s kids.
I see some here are so damn bitter and you boomers too, do not even compare the life now versus when you were fertile. You worked and died in the same zipcode. Not one of you were told to move from CA to TX or else. I am a GEN Y and most of us + GEN Z are not having kids because of this rigid structures. Ya'll complaining how nobody is going to help u when you are old, this is the problem. I know T does not care. But T has the ability to care, to offer work-life balance and flexibility but they chose not to and now we are hating on each other. Hate T, not the working moms or dads. Just because you didnt have the option, you also want everyone to suffer like you. How disgraceful. BTW, for 18 years I was a hybrid worker, coming in 2x a week because our team is the 1st responders for calamity. We work nights/weekends and on call hrs. The 5 day mantra doesnt work with me, so I am leaving.
I've officially reached my limit on reading about RTO complaints. What's next - complaints that your dog walking schedule has been interrupted? At some point, you have to "man up" and handle your own business. Or just stop pretending like spending time with your kids is so important. After all if it was, you probably wouldn't have 2 car payments and a mortgage you can barely afford. You could have even chosen to stay home like my wife did, but of course we've never purchased a new car and we don't live in the fanciest subdivision. It has been a real hardship having the older model GPS units in our vehicles over the years and we've only ever had heated seats in the front. It's been rough.
“ I was hired in my position as a part time telecommuter. 3 days TC and 2 days in the office. I moved 2 1/2 hours away from my office after Covid in 2020, for personal reasons.”
Hmmm, when I bought a house in 2020 I purposely only searched within a 1hr drive of the office just in case. You decided to take a risk. That’s on you.
Wow! These comments are both shocking and so disappointing.
A lot of “I had to do it so you should too.” Shouldn’t we want what’s best for our kids, which is to be with their parents as much as possible instead of daycare? Why shouldn’t I be disappointed in RTO when it used to be that I was only away from my kids from 9-5 when now I’m away from them 7-6:30.
Lots of other comments blaming moms who would work while taking care of their kids. I have NEVER done that except when my kids are sick. Always had a nanny or kids were in daycare the WHOLE time I worked from home.
It is 2024. There is NO reason a parent shouldn’t advocate for remote work when our entire jobs are virtual anyway. At 5 pm I want to be hugging my kids after a long day, not starting my hour and a half commute home.
Y’all are sick. I feel bad for your kids.
From one working mom to another whose life has been turned upside down since RTO, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for this post. It isn’t spoken about enough. I will have to quit if (when) 5 days in office is announced.
“ Working for home is not the same as spending time with your kids. When I worked from home, the only time I came out of the office was to use the RR or grab my lunch. They knew not to interrupt me when I was working. It's like I wasn't there.”
This is exactly how the majority of us worked/work when WFH. I’m at the office, don’t bother me. It’s a shame folks ruined it for everyone else. I worked more hours as well and was more productive. Coming to the office has been a huge negative for most people and impacted overall productivity. Especially since a lot of us were FTW pre covid.
Pretty s-xist for you to assume ONLY mom’s take care of kids.
Working from home ALWAYS had the stipulation that you were working full time and not babysitting part time. Mine went into daycare at 6 months old and had to use before and after care when school-age AND summer camp until age 13. There was no WFH then. You can do it!
I was hired in my position as a part time telecommuter. 3 days TC and 2 days in the office. I moved 2 1/2 hours away from my office after Covid in 2020, for personal reasons. 3 years later, they start RTO 3 days a week company wide. Not my regular schedule pre-Covid. Now we are going to 5 days a week in April 2025, if not sooner. I drive 5 hours a day to and from the office. I have asked for a FT telecommuting schedule several times to no avail. They say we aren’t the same company we were when I accepted my position. I’m sorry, but I am still doing the same job, if not more, as I was before. It has been and is going to be more difficult to get to work on a daily basis! My son is a Junior in HS and I am not about to move back now. It is sad that the company I have worked for, for 24 years, does not care about everyone’s well-being!! My leadership knows my situation all to well and they don’t care either. 🙄
Being treated like everyone else is not discrimination.
Got the T cut recently after 20 years of service and with my boss’ knowledge of knowing we had a baby on the way. They simply do not care. The more you think they care or will adjust, the more heartbreak you’re going to feel.
If lawsuits are not for you, write to your elected officials. T is terrified of regulatory intervention as much as they are civil liability.
Lawyer up, ladies. You are our best we-pon against RTO. The courts LOVE working moms and hate evil corporations. Call it gender discrimination and get the lawsuits filed. The company will fold like a lawn chair if enough of you sue.
Sure, you make it work. But some of us actually like spending time with our kids.
I also love spending time with my kids but made the most of it outside of work hours, not on company time.
If you were hired as a an Office Worker, before covid, this argument is moot.
But some of us actually like spending time with our kids.
Working for home is not the same as spending time with your kids. When I worked from home, the only time I came out of the office was to use the RR or grab my lunch. They knew not to interrupt me when I was working. It's like I wasn't there.
Ok, ask AT&T to cut your pay check and time to work in half. Or start your business and start hiring people around their kids schedule
Maybe you and your husband need to reevaluate your roles and break from some of the beliefs that are holding you back.
When my kids were young, I (the husband) took them to daycare everyday. Whomever got off work first picked them up; it was usually me because she had a longer commute than I. If one of them got sick, we compared whose workday would suffer less, or who had commitments that couldn't be shifted, or who could get there quicker. It was usually 50/50. Once they were school-age, they were in an after-school program either at school, or a program that transported them, and then see above for picking up. Once they were in sports, we paired up with parents/families who could either take turns or some who had a SAHP would drive for a small weekly gas concession.
Or heck, when I was a kid, I either went to a neighbor's house or let myself in and took care of myself for the couple hours before they got home after about age 9-10 (but check your state laws, GA is something like 2 hours for ages 9-12). My neighbor's teenager gets home before the elementary bus drops off, and then she babysits for 2.5 hours until the parents get home.
Ok working mom here. You should’ve thought about this long before having kids. Mine have always been in daycare with hours that supported my working hours for drop off and pickup. School is no different. There is before/after care and middle/high schoolers can take a bus and walk home or figure out another solution leveraging their friends, your friends or other family.
The company should not bend around the life you created for yourself. Think outside the box and figure out how to make it work like the rest of us have had to do since the dawn of the working age.
This entitlement is what ruined WFH for the rest of us and I’m sick of it.
What can be, unburdened by what has been.
Sure, you make it work. But some of us actually like spending time with our kids.