I am in management and I have a full time telework agreement, but since August I've been required to report to the office at least two days a week. Our union staff is still home full time, but I'm worried that if we start trying to pull them back in there will be a mass exodus. The state no longer offers great benefits or a pension, and without those it is hard to compete with private employers that pay more. Unfortunately those telework agreements were to protect the state, not guarantee the right to work from home.

I have a hard time with this advice. I grew up with it. You never talk about what happens in your home, with anyone outside your home. This advice benefits abusers. Without the perspective of someone outside, a person may not realize how toxic their relationship has become. I thought I had a difficult marriage, and after my ex had an affair, he agreed to counseling to try to save the marriage. A few weeks in, the therapist asked to meet with us individually. At my next appointment, she handed me information on legal aid, and instructions for filling a PFA in my state. It never occurred to me that what I endured wasn't normal. Maybe if I had been able to talk about it with others, I wouldn't have spent 17 years of my life in an abusive relationship.