She booked a non-refundable trip, then got called back to the office — lawyers say she's likely out of luck

While the COVID-19 pandemic ushered successful the epoch of distant work, galore companies are bushed of their unit logging successful from home.

In fact, the Federal Reserve reported an "upturn of return-to-office announcements," and Fed information (1) reveals that astir 22% of U.S. workers were moving from location astatine slightest sometimes successful 2025, with the fig of telecommuters down by conscionable nether 1 percent constituent from 2024.

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Unfortunately, immoderate radical who are being called backmost into bureau person recovered themselves facing ruined plans and perchance superior fiscal harm due to the fact that of it.

Let's pretend, for example, that Tanya has been called backmost to the bureau for her bookkeeping job. She was readying to enactment from Paris during a summertime abrogation successful August and already booked non-refundable tickets. But present her institution told her to travel backmost successful July.

Tanya is facing the imaginable of changing her level tickets, oregon cancelling the travel altogether, and that means she'll beryllium retired at least hundreds of dollars. Now, she's wondering whether her leader should wage her backmost the wealth lost.

So, is the institution connected the hook for the tickets Tanya tin nary longer use?

Employers person wide discretion successful RTO policies

While Tanya whitethorn beryllium upset with the situation, the world is that her leader astir apt has the close to change the policy, with immoderate constricted exceptions, contempt the harm that the alteration volition bash to Tanya's question plans.

"Employers person wide discretion to abruptly alteration remote-work policies, unless those changes impact a protected class," Christine Hintze (2), an employment lawyer astatine Phillips & Associates, told MoneyWise.

Hintze explained that if Tanya had been fixed support to enactment from location owed to disability, complaints astir harassment, oregon different protected conduct, her leader astir apt couldn't conscionable alteration the rules.

But extracurricular of those situations, companies can typically change their policies astatine immoderate clip due to the fact that of at-will employment (3) rules successful the U.S. And, if they bash marque a alteration that affects a worker's trip, there's nary instrumentality that says they needfully indispensable reimburse employees for altered plans.

"In astir states, an leader that changes its return-to-office argumentation is not automatically required to reimburse an worker for nonrefundable flights, hotels, oregon different idiosyncratic question expenses," Hintze said.