What Does Telecommuting Discrimination Look Like?

Discrimination is often invisible to those who haven’t been on the receiving end of it, and that makes telecommuting a rather odd bird for such discussion.

On the one hand, it’s a rather unique case in that many employees have experienced telecommuting at some point in their careers. Contrast this to the most notable Title VII protections: you don’t get to walk into work one day as a black man, and the next day a woman, and the next day a Muslim, and the next a person with disabilities. Those experiences, you have to learn second-hand. But telecommuting? You’ve probably worn that costume a few times, so you ought to understand.

Yet ironically, so many once-in-a-blue-moon telecommuters paint themselves as culprits, not victims. Maybe it’s because they’re actually abusing the rare day away from the office to relax… maybe it’s because they actually got their entire day’s work done at 1pm and feel guilty about it. Point is, the folks who ought to empathize with telecommuting prejudice are instead some of the most rabid torchbearers of such discrimination.

On the other hand, pretty much everyone loves the flexibility of working from home and wishes they could do it more. Where does a full-time telecommuter get off complaining about such a great perk? Is it discriminatory to be jealous of people who have cushier…