RTO Ultimatum to Exit Package: 14 Weeks

Charles: Tuesday night our guest opens Maps, types in the new commute. Fifty-eight minutes one way. Thomas Doan: That's the moment it stopped being abstract for them. Charles: A memo lands and suddenly there's a legal pad full of numbers, gas, daycare, a countdown clock. Thomas Doan: Welcome to the Messy Middle. Today we're tracing what happened between that memo and the call that came after it. Charles: We'll get into the actual playbook, the written exception request, the 90-day deadline, and what companies are offering people who push back instead of quitting. Thomas Doan: Plus, the one question they wish they'd sent HR. before ever picking up the phone. Charles: So let's start with that memo. Before we get started, a quick reminder. We love hearing from you. If you have questions or topics you'd like us to cover, head to the link in the description and submit your question. We read every single one. Just pause. Speaker 3: Again, the invite just said Workplace Update, Tuesday, 2 p.m., no agenda. Charles: And that night she opened Maps and typed in the new commute. Speaker 3: Fifty-five minutes one way." She wrote that number at the top of a legal pad and just sat there staring at it. Charles: That's the detail that stuck with me-the legal pad at ten at night. Speaker 3: She called her husband before she even got to her car-first words: "I don't think I can do this. Charles: I want to press on that, though; a commute getting longer is a schedule problem-why did she read it as a layoff? Speaker 3: Because there wasn't a severance check anywhere in it. In it, the company just made the job cost more in gas and time and child care until people did the math themselves and left. Charles: Which is a quieter way to shrink payroll? Newsweek's 2026 list of return to office mandates shows companies doing exactly that this year. Speaker 3: It's not one company either. Charles: JLL found roughly 54% of Fortune 100 employees working five day a week rules in Q2 2024. 25 a year before it was about 11 percent so Speaker 3: And Remote Work Europe News just reported Airbus moving its office staff and engineers from three days on site to four starting this September. Charles: the intent question is the one that actually matters BambooHR Speaker 3: She used a phrase I hadn't heard before-they wanted us to fire ourselves. Charles: HR survey shows it roughly a quarter of VP and C-suite leaders admitted Admitted they hoped stricter office policy would push people out the door. Speaker 3: So she's got the legal pad, the ninety day notice and a read on why this happened. Charles: So what can she actually get before that deadline hits, regardless of whether it's fair? Building on that read, what did she put in writing to HR Thomas Doan: An exception request, named her manager's prior approval, asked for a formal review, and got a written reply back with a deadline: ninety days. Charles: That's the sequencing that matters. Never resign first; ask what package exists for people who don't comply before you say no to anything. Thomas Doan: She did exactly that, and underneath it, six weeks of quiet of quiet job applications, two interviews she never mentioned at the office. Charles: Companies are already answering the what package question for people. Yahoo Finance reported that NBCUniversal offered eight weeks of pay plus three months of health care for employees declining a four-day return. Thomas Doan: versus Amazon, where some workers were reportedly told to relocate or resign with nothing. Charles: That's the range you're negotiating inside. Eight weeks in health care on one end, zero on the other. Thomas Doan: So what was her actual math? Relocation? Child care? The real numbers? Charles: A relocation quote near the new office, an after school program that didn't cover the new commute hours, and four months of runway in savings. Thomas Doan: Four months, that's a short clock to negotiate against. Charles: Which is why getting the deadline in writing mattered. It turned a vague threat Brett into something she could plan around. Thomas Doan: And stalling quietly doesn't buy the time it used to. Charles: CBRE's survey found roughly sixty nine percent of employers now track attendance up sharply from a couple years back. Slow-walking a return is harder to pull off in twenty twenty six than it was in twenty twenty four. Thomas Doan: So she pushed, got the exception in writing, and walked into the deadline with leverage instead of a guess. Charles: Which leaves the real question, what would you calculate? late before the memo ever landed. Building on that math, she said she'd have run relocation and commute numbers before the memo ever arrived. Thomas Doan: Not after the meeting, before it, because by the time you're on the phone with your husband, the geography's already decided. Charles: Newsweek reported nearly half of companies planned four office days next year, and over a quarter are cutting remote entirely. Thomas Doan: So this isn't a one-off memo. It's a floor moving under a lot of people at once. Yes. Charles: Which is why she says, know your commute cost and moving cost before any policy exists to react to. Thomas Doan: Run the spreadsheet on a calm Tuesday, not the night the memo lands. Charles: And the actual tactic, the one line she wishes she'd sent first? Thomas Doan: Before any verbal refusal, email HR directly. Charles: What'd she say exactly? Thomas Doan: Before I respond, can you confirm whether a voluntary separation package is available for employees affected? is affected by this change, Charles: Get that answer in writing before you say no out loud. Thomas Doan: because, once you refuse verbally, you've shown your hand-the email buys you information first. Charles: Ask the question before anyone can ask it of you. The line that stuck with me: "Calculate your commute costs before the mandate lands, Not after. Thomas Doan: And send HR one written question about voluntary exit package before you refuse anything out loud. Charles: If you're weighing a move, send this to whoever you're texting about it at midnight. Thomas Doan: Subscribe, find us on LinkedIn for weekly clips. Thanks for listening. Talk soon.