A marketing professional from Nashville, Tennessee, found himself in a surprising HR meeting after his 5-year-old daughter briefly appeared on camera during a work video call.
Andy, which isn’t his real name, had been juggling a new role as the head of marketing with family responsibilities, but was stunned when he was pulled aside by his company’s human resources after the incident, which he described in a Reddit post that has since gained viral attention.
In his post, Andy explained that his wife was out of town at the time of the meeting. “I gave my 5-year-old daughter a tablet and let her sit in the office while I took the 8:30 p.m. call,” he wrote. “At one point she got up and momentarily peered over my shoulder. It didn’t cause a disturbance and I wasn’t even embarrassed. These things happen, right?”
But on Friday, Andy received an unexpected call from HR. According to him, the CEO was displeased that his child appeared on camera and requested that Andy begin working from a WeWork shared office space. “I politely declined and said I would not be going to a WeWork,” Andy said. “The company reconsidered, but now I don’t think I can work here anymore.”
Andy, who had only been in the role for three months, expressed frustration at how the situation was handled. “The founder didn’t reach out to me directly with his feedback. He asked a junior HR contractor to call me,” he told Newsweek.
“The HR contractor asked me on Thursday if I had time for a meeting. I said sure and gave him plenty of options to speak, including an immediate chat. Instead, he decided to book a call for 4:30 p.m. on a Friday.”
silvia cozzi/Getty Images
Work and life flexibility is important to parents. A survey by FlexJobs revealed that 61 percent of parents want to work remotely full-time, and 62 percent said they would quit their current job if they couldn’t continue remote work.
The incident left Andy with questions about the balance between remote work flexibility and company expectations. He noted that his remote work arrangement had generally been positive, allowing him to start work early and finish late, while still being able to handle family responsibilities, like school drop-offs during the day. However, the CEO’s reaction to his child’s brief appearance has now caused him to reconsider his future at the company.
“I was giving so much to the company, and instead of feeling appreciated, I got a tone-deaf request to [keep my daughter] away from [my home] office during after-hours meetings,” Andy said.
On Reddit, people overwhelmingly backed Andy, with many even urging him to quit the job. Andy explained that he has decided to scale back his involvement with the company since the incident. “I am canceling after-hours meetings and never turning on my video when taking regular meetings for this company,” he said.
Having previously worked with major companies including CNN, Coca-Cola, and Meta, Andy said he is thinking about other opportunities. “I expect they will let me go at some point soon if I don’t find another role and resign before then,” he said.
Update 09/17/2024 11:09 a.m.: This story was updated to make the poster anonymous.
