What to Do If You’re Not Ready to Return to the Office

There are many reasons not to want to return to the office. If you live in a city, maybe it’s a fear of taking mass transit. Or maybe you can’t line up child care if school is not back in session.

Regardless, what’s the best way to convey this to your boss? “A mistake that people make is coming to managers with personal reasons for wanting to work remotely,” says Laurel Farrer, founder of the Remote Work Association. And while companies are likely to take those into consideration more so now than before the pandemic, accommodating individual desires is “not how businesses make decisions,” she says. “You need to come to the boss with evidence of how this decision will benefit the business and team.” Here’s how to have the conversation.