My employer is trying to enforce return to office (RTO) 3 days per week policy again. The policy states that if I don’t comply I am willfully giving up my employment. Since 2022, I’ve requested an exception to delay the RTO due to: 1) my family responsibilities as a caregiver for both my parents and also 2) a temporary change in my work schedule requiring me to work evenings 2-3 times per week and starting my work day earlier to align with offshore teams to support various Global expansion projects. I have been working remotely since and coming into the office for specific meetings and team building events.

Now my employer is requesting me to comply with the RTO policy. I have been asked to respond formally if I am unable to fulfill the 3 days on-site requirement. I plan on responding with the same reasoning for requesting an exception but wanted to understand my rights before doing so and providing the adequate rationale. The only change is that my father has since passed last summer but I still have responsibilities for my mother who has late stage Alzheimers. If I am not granted the RTO exception and refuse to return to office, can my employer dismiss me without severance? As mentioned I accepted a temporary change to my work schedule during covid in early 2022, would this have been considered a constructive dismissal if I did not agree to this? What are my options now given that I had previously agreed to this temporary change in my work schedule while I work on these global expansion projects? My understanding is that I can either go back to my original work schedule and comply with the RTO policy OR continue to work remotely on the global expansion projects until my employer dismisses me (with severance?) Please let me know what rights do I have as an employee who had temporarily agreed to change his work schedule to support global projects during COVID and has delayed RTO due to the change in work schedule and due to family responsibilities as a caregiver.