Should it be required to have the camera on when you log into a work meeting remotely?

The boss in today’s story seems to think so, but one of his employees has a very good reason for keeping the camera off.

Let’s read all the details.

Turn my camera on? Fine…

In 2021 I was working on a project with this manager called Mark who was a real stickler for the rules.

He was the kind of dude who wouldn’t allow chitchat in his team and loved an office day more than anything, despite the fact that our team was external and all of us lived crazy far away.

I’ve got a chronic disease which, at the time, was kept relatively under control with infusions at the hospital every few weeks.

Seeing as Mark didn’t want to chitchat, he wasn’t aware that I live with this disease.

He attended the team meeting while at the hospital.

One day I was in the hospital, working from the bed with a cannula in one arm.

We had our daily meeting planned and I figured it would be fine to call in without my camera, as they could still hear me just fine, and I didn’t want to freak anyone out with the infusion line in the picture and whatnot.

I get onto the call and Mark immediately comments that he can’t see my face.

I tell him that I’ve not got my camera on today and don’t elaborate, figuring that it’s a 15 minute call and I could just as easily be driving or something.

Mark is not happy with the camera being off.

Mark responds by asking me to stay back on the call after we finish.

I comply, and he chews me out for not turning on my camera, saying that it’s a rule that we all need to show our faces.

Fine.

Mark suddenly seemed to regret what he’d said.

I turn on my camera and watch his face go from red to white, as he sees me in what is very clearly a hospital room.

I tell him I’m uncomfortable being on camera while I’m getting treatment (also not elaborating on what it’s for).

His sweaty little face still brings me joy.

It was a really nice moment to bask in, and I think about it pretty often when I get managers who like rules just a little too much.

It shouldn’t be a rule to turn a camera on during a meeting no matter what.

There have to exceptions for certain circumstances like the one in this story.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted.

This person wishes the other employees could’ve seen the boss’s reaction.

This person had the union on their side.

Managers need to trust their employees.

This manager doesn’t use his camera.

This person points out one thing the manager did right.

Sometimes there are very good reasons for not turning on the camera during a video call.

And a good boss should be able to take a hint.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.