The thing about being able to have remote workers is that it works best when the company culture works in a way where everyone could be remote

In fact, now a disabled person is going to likely be excluded from the team because they're working remotely. How do you include them? By making everyone remote. That way people don't rely on a culture where documentation is interrupting someone at their desk (ps they won't respond on Slack or what have you, because if you really need to ask them something, just come by & interrupt them at their desk)

So now in order to accommodate someone you have to change the work environment for everyone

> The thing about being able to have remote workers is that it works best when the company culture works in a way where everyone could be remote

Not really. It can make good sense for a company to generally insist on working from the office, but to make reasonable exceptions.

> How do you include them? By making everyone remote.

No, you just take reasonable steps.

> So now in order to accommodate someone you have to change the work environment for everyone

No, you don't.

It’s the Sorites Paradox.

If it’s not fatal to make an exception for one person, is it fatal to make an exception for two? If it is, does that mean a team with one remote working exception can’t take on another? Does that fall afoul of reasonable accommodation rules? If so, what do they do? Is the accommodation that was previously workable (and therefore reasonable) now no longer workable?

I get your point, but I probably don’t think it’s quite as strong as you might think.

> I get your point, but I probably don’t think it’s quite as strong as you might think.

Sure it is. There isn't any real question of the sky falling down here.

Plenty of countries have strong laws protecting the rights of disabled employees, and it hasn't ruined their economies.

It's not that hard to insist on reasonable accommodations depending on circumstance. It's not like we force the fire service to hire people who don't have the use of their legs.

> There's value to team cohesion in having a team physically together. It won't be fatal to make an exception, and indeed it's possible run a company purely on remote working, but the point stands.

Citation? I've worked partially remote, fully remote, entirely in open officers, and entirely in a private office. Remote has been the best by far, both all around and for the healthiest team relationships IME.