By: Will Schena
Remote work is becoming part of everyday life, and many employees want to maintain that flexibility. Some employers, however, are adamant about employees returning to the office for work. Elon Musk, owner, chairman and CTO of X, has made it clear that he does not want his employees working remotely.
X employee Yao Yue was frustrated that Musk was going to require employees to return to the office. Musk went as far as to say that “[i]f you can physically make it to an office and you don’t show up, resignation accepted.” Several other X employees were concerned over the sudden demand to return to the office, which led to Yao Yue taking action. After sheattempted to organize her fellow employees around the issue, Elon Musk fired her, according to a complaint filed by the NLRB’s San Francisco office.
Under the NLRA, private employees have certain rights that cannot be infringed upon. One of those rights, the right to engage in (or refrain from) union activity like organizing, should not be infringed. Musk was clearly violating the law and did not make a convincing attempt to hide it. Yue was reportedly fired for violating an unspecified company policy, which sounds an awful lot like being fired for union activity. Even if there were another reason why an employee would be fired, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will still investigate to find out the real reason. So, even if Musk gave a decent reason why she was fired, the Board would still get to the bottom of it. Further, when union organizing campaigns exist, the Board wants to preserve “laboratory conditions” Monmouth Medical Center v. NLRB, 604 F.2d 820, 824 (3d Cir. 1979). Maintaining laboratory conditions means that an employer or a union should refrain from intimidating, coercing, or otherwise interfering with an employee’s right to choose if they want to be represented by the union. In this case, not only does firing someone for trying to organize violate the act, but the Board will also likely find that Musk intimidated his employees by forcing them to come in and subsequently firing an employee for expressing their reservations. Musk may have committed multiple unfair labor practices during this time. Clearly, he sees some value in having employees present at the office.
Although remote work is popular and here to stay, growing evidence suggests that a fully remote worker is less productive than one who works a hybrid schedule. Previous literature suggested that remote workers were up to 5% more productive;however, newer research is starting to disprove that thought. According to a National Bureau of Economic Research study, randomly selected remote workers were 18% less productive than in-office employees. The study analyzed how quickly employees completed certain tasks and how many tasks they were doing. Still, just as many studies suggest that remote workers are equally, if not more, productive than their in-person coworkers. In fact, one study suggests that employees who worked fully remotely may have spent over two hours more per week working.
However, there are several valid reasons why someone would want the flexibility of working remotely. Workers who have children or attend school while working full–time may value the opportunity to work remotely. Maybe the most obvious advantage, however, is the amount of time saved commuting. According to a study from the University of Chicago, Americans save an average of 55 minutes per day.
Imagine what an employee can do with an extra 55 minutes in their day or an additional 55 minutes of rest. Not only could they be more productive, but then employees would have an extra hour to pursue their other interests outside of work or even invest in their health. According to the CDC, healthier employees are generally more productive. The CDC explains that employees who care for their health daily are less likely to get sick.
Not only are Musk’s actions illegal, but they are unpopular with many American employees. After the pandemic, Americans have started to value the flexibility that working from home provides. Not only can people save time and money on their commute, but they can also decide to live in places that aren’t as close to their office. As living costs continue to increase, people are looking for ways to save time and money. Working remotelyis one way that employees can look to save money.
Student Bio: Will Schena is 2L at Suffolk University Law School. In addition to being a Staff Member on the Journal of High Technology Law, Will is also the Secretary of the Suffolk Chapter of the American Constitution Society. Will studied Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are the views of the author alone and do not represent the views of JHTL or Suffolk University Law School.
