As a city worker who is celebrating the potential return of working from home (and who can absolutely perform their job from home), is everyone suddenly pretending that working from home doesn't have tangible value, or that it isn't worth that much? People who have the option of remote work have the option not to spend money on commutes in potentially health hazardous conditions, have the option not to spend 1-2 hours of their lives (if not more) on that commute, and don't have to make the choice between preparing lunch outside of work or paying extra for an LIC or Manhattan lunch. The very same people here who would probably say they'd leave if their office mandated a return to office turn to those denied that option and say that it's not worth all that much because (according to some of these posts) essential workers have the right to work paid overtime. Would you, in the same position, really trade the ability to work from home for the right to paid overtime?

There's an argument that compensating office-essential workers "creates two tiers of employees." Well, COVID already made clear there were two tiers; people who have the liberty to work from home and people who do not have that liberty; ergo, the people who faced real hazards to survive, and the people who clanged pots and pans for them at 7 pm but apparently won't condone the idea of pay commensurate with their conditions. And yes, even with COVID (mostly) gone, there are real hazards to commuting and working in the office: extra transportation costs, exposure to disease, crime, traffic, and commuter disruptions that can cost hourly workers their pay due to no fault of their own, plus the time lost spent with family, friends or themselves. There's a reason embassy US workers in Yemen are paid 35% more than their compatriots doing the same job in Switzerland; hazards and risk have a quantifiable value. We understand that costs of living might vary based on your living conditions (nevermind that commuting costs are part and parcel of cost of living calculations), and yet can't grasp that the risks and extra costs incurred by essential workers have a monetary cost? The fact is that Essential Workers (like all workers) don't want support, they want salaries commensurate with the dangers and costs. If the city's goal is to retain its shrinking municipal workforce, it should both allow remote work for those jobs that can allow it and provide additional incentives to sign up for jobs that don't, lest it be even more attractive to be a school administrator than a schoolteacher.