Magnific

Apparently if you work from home, it doesn’t really count.

Some people think that if you’re physically in the house, you must be available at any time. But this is not how working from home works.

A man currently living with his parents shares how his family treats his workday basically like free time. Need a favor in the middle of the day? They’ll call him.

So when his mom asked him to take an entire morning off work to drive her to a hospital appointment about 30 kilometers away, he said no.

But after she got upset, he’s now wondering if he was in the wrong for refusing to ask for time off from his remote job.

Read the full story below.

AITA for refusing to take a morning off work to drive my mom to a hospital appointment because she thinks WFH means I’m always available?

I work remotely and currently live with my parents.

It’s been a recurring issue that because I work from home, they often assume I’m just “at home” and available to run errands, like picking someone up from the train station in the middle of my workday.

But that’s not how it really works.

Recently, my mom asked me to take the morning off to drive her to a hospital appointment (nothing serious) about 30km (18 miles) away.

She told me I could just ask my company for “family assistance leave” to justify the absence.

I told her no. First of all, she has a valid driver’s license and her own car.

Secondly, there are easy public transport options available, and she could easily catch an Uber for the final part of the trip if needed.

But now things are tense.

To make matters worse, while the “family assistance leave” she mentioned is legally justified in my country, it is unpaid.

I would literally be losing half a day’s salary just to act as a personal taxi driver for an independent adult who has other options.

She got upset, but I feel like I need to set hard boundaries, or I’ll never be able to focus on my job.

AITA?

What did Reddit think?

A reader shares their thoughts.

It’s a common experience.

Someone shares their opinion.

Another reader chimes in.

If you enjoyed this post, check out this story about a student who did the math and figured out he was better off skipping school than serving detention if he forgot his ID.

Someone suggests what to say.

Some people have a hard time understanding that it’s still a job.

It’s understandable why he feels offended that his family thinks his work hours don’t count just because he works from home.

Although he sounds pretty upset, his mom does have legitimate alternatives for getting to the appointment, so he doesn’t feel like he’s doing anything wrong by saying no.

He just wants his occupation to be respected.