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In response to
"tricky word. Are you speaking legally or in terms of "it would be bad if they left" because"
by
oblique
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I can see both. And you can appeal for cost savings, too. Improving the company's bottom line is always good.
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Any time a company treats similarly situated employees differently there is a risk of someone making a legal complaint of illegal workplace discrimination.
"But here we are now with some people able to work from home and others not."
If I was the attorney for your company, I'd want to know ...
-- Who evaluates the exemption requests?
-- Who decides whether to approve or deny those requests?
-- Is there a process for employees to appeal denials? -
-- Which employees have been granted requests? And which employees have been denied requests?
Check out the summary of the Illinois anti-discrimination laws:
https://www.workplacefairness.org/file_IL#:~:text=The%20Illinois%20Human%20Rights%20Act%20makes%20it%20illegal%20for%20an,unfavorable%20military%20discharge%2C%20military%20status%2C
If employees are being treated differently on the basis of any one of those factors, there is a legal risk. And especially around Illinois' expanded definition of "disability."
The policy is shitty, unfair, and rather short-sighted. If anything, this pandemic has concretely demonstrated that just about any business can survive (if not thrive) with a solid WfH program.
In terms of the bottom line, see if you can figure out how much the company would save if half your team was working from home each day. You could cut your office space requirements by at least a third (if not half). The company would save on any transit or parking benefits. Energy usage would drop. Etc. etc. etc.
There are a few good articles out there on this topic, too.
https://www.business.com/articles/working-from-home-save-money/
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/253896
https://www.lifesize.com/en/video-conferencing-blog/how-working-from-home-saves-your-company-money#:~:text=4.,a%20better%20work%2Dlife%20balance.
Harvard Business Review even found that WfH increases productivity.
https://hbr.org/2014/01/to-raise-productivity-let-more-employees-work-from-home
https://hbr.org/2019/08/is-it-time-to-let-employees-work-from-anywhere
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