Lots of messages here are complaining against physical work resuming and saying WFH is better. I would like to caution my young friends from having such an attitude. It gives a very bad impression if you tell your seniors and HR manager all this. Everyone knows that WFH was just a temporary measure. How can it be a permanent fixture? I request all the budding young lawyers to please try and show more sincerity and humility. Please remember your seniors have suffered even more loss and trauma, as many are married with children.

Regarding Covid vaccine, by now everyone had got at least one dose. The latest information as per experts is that the vaccine is 60% effective against the Delta variant even in one dose. If prover Covid protocol is maintained it will not be any problem to rejoin office.

Please take this in the right spirit and show a better attitude from now on.

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/covishield-single-dose-61-effective-against-delta-covid-panel-chief-2465519

WFH was thought to be a temporary measure in a pre-COVID world where your chances of getting a terminal disease like cancer or AIDs were one in a million with very very low chances of contagious infection.

In a post-COVID world and 21st century, virus pandemics like these will be a common place every 5-10 years:

1. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/364371
2. https://theconversation.com/the-next-pandemic-is-already-happening-targeted-disease-surveillance-can-help-prevent-it-160429
3. https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/next-pandemic/nipah-virus
[ ... just Google 'next pandemic' for a thousand more such links]

In fact, even the current pandemic is not over yet. Even with adequate vaccines supply and almost 70% herd immunity, there is another wave coming which could be twice as worse: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/indias-third-covid-19-wave-may-arrive-by-october-report-101624009841199.html

I really don't know what trauma you with your wife and children went through and I pray everything is fine with you but I lost my father to COVID. It happened right after omniscient Managing Partners at law firms proudly declared in Feb-Mar that the pandemic is over, come back to offices. I started going to office in Delhi. That is where I caught the virus and my father got it from me.

I am not blaming the firm because on paper the offices were still closed. My partner 'preferred' working in office and so I went. I should have had the "impoliteness" to

I work at a mid level law firm. We were forced by the managing partner and HR to resume office. Many of us were forced to travel from other cities to Mumbai/ Bengaluru. We had to find places, pay rent and security deposits for accommodation. After a senior associate and his entire family got covid, wfh was reimplimented. It was shocking to see the partners and HR disregard life. We do not have drivers or BMWs. Then we returned back home and continue wfh and cannot leave the accommodation due to lock in. Shame on such people who have utter disregard towards life. Not to forget an entire family getting covid.

[continued]

.."impoliteness" and "attitude" to tell him I will not. I would rather quit but not come to office for collaborating on a Word document. May be, my father would have been alive then. I have quit my job now. But it does not matter.

Also, speaking of vaccines, yes he had just taken his second dose. Your "60%" effectiveness did not include him.

Now, my mother and younger sister are the only family I have left. My sister was in the ICU too. I cannot risk their lives on that 40% probability. And for what? Just so that my boss can see my face? Please explain to me which part of your job cannot be done online and I will find you a solution.

This is not meant to be rude. I genuinely don't want others to go through what I went through. So, if you REALLY think that permanent WFH is so impossible, please tell your problems and let us figure out the solutions to it.

There are solutions to every problem. There is no solution to death.

You want to know what trauma looks like? Just go read the comments on this video (almost all of them are from this week itself):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ-Cy6pD5NE

"need to be more sincere." You need to stop taking yourself seriously.

I pray you and your family never have to go through the worst, but if you ever do, I wish you come back to this thread.

Your post makes me feel sad for you. I really hope you're trolling.

Stop taking your job so seriously. I'm not my job and the job is not me. If I wanted to kill myself over a job, I'd join the army not a soulless cubicle. I will not risk the lives of my family (any my own) to "collaborate" over virtual data rooms and emails. You don't get to dismiss my trauma because you have one. HR and seniors can live with our bad impressions, god knows we live with theirs.

Can the author of this post explain the principles of 'sincerity'.... The way I understand it... One of the principles of 'sincerity' provides that seniors should be 'sincere' enought to understand that they are responsible for health and well being of their team mates and young ones in particular. I don't understand the co-relation between the requirement of being physically present in office in time of such unprecedented pandemic and 'sincerity'. Important fact is that work should happen, quality should not suffer and turnaround time should be good and if all of the above conditions are satisfied, in my opinion, the criteria of 'sincerity' is satisfied. It really does not matter if work is being done from home. I sincerely hope that people give up their ego and narcissistic tendencies due to which young ones are forced to attend office physically despite a 40% chance of deadly threat to their lives.

P. S. While expecting 'sincerity' please demonstrate compassion and empathy, world will be a much better place to live in. 🙏

Why is my comment on how it is right to ask associates to turn up to office only if the Managing partner and all other partners also come to office as regularly as Associates (and not just once a week or once a fortnight), marked as trollish? Don't understand how asking for the same human courtesy and respect for human life as partners can be trolling?! Not asking for the same pay as partners.

The original post appears to be sanctimonious. Freshers and juniors showing concern for their health and well being should not cast a bad impression on HR or partner. It rather shows partners indifference to the health and well being of their colleagues and would rather create a toxic work environment. Everything can be done online or remotely. This desire for reopening offices seems to a misplaced sense of power trip and desire for control over their colleague. We are just out of second wave and people are completely forgetting about the disease and the fact that it is not going anywhere. I really feel bad for the poster who lost his father. My condolences.

Rehashing this post so that firm HRs don't conveniently forget the cost at which "learning" and "work from office" happens.

Every email you send reminding people that offices are going to open soon is an open taunt to the people who have lost their lives to COVID.

COVID is not over. The third wave is coming!

Bumping this thread up since law firms have so quickly forgotten what the cost of the COVID second wave was.

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/features/coping-with-loss-of-loved-ones-in-covid-times-274683

All of this happened right after law firms decided they wanted to open in February-March. With almost all top agencies from ICMR to MCI to AIIMS to WHO opining that there may be a third wave by October - it all seems like deja vu!

I understand WFH may not be the most convenient, but is waiting till the end of the year at the cost of saving lakhs of lives really such an inconvenience to the partners?

What's with the mysteriously high number of downvotes in any post/comment criticising back to office policies? Consensus clearly seems to be that this is a bad idea. Is law firm HR army busy downvoting from multiple accounts or is there some technical glitch?

@kian - could you please clarify? This seems odd and suspicious.

Oh boy. What times.

When they called us back to office 3 days a week, my then boss started by making us come to office 5 days a week. When they themselves didn't come more than 2 days a week.

I eventually put in my papers within a month or so. Quit law firms altogether. Life has been so good after that. I get to have indulge in recreation and hobbies and I also make 5x or more in monies.