Can I Be Forced to Return to the Office?

In most cases, yes. As part of the at will employment rules, employers have broad discretion to change the terms of employment. That applies to compensation as well as the details of the work environment, specifically the decision to bring employees back to an in person environment who have been working remotely.

There are some exceptions. It is possible (though unusual) to have an explicit enough agreement with the employer to be binding, at least for the term of the agreement. It is also possible that the employer would have to consider remote work as a reasonable accommodation for an employee with a disability, or with a religious objection to a practice that makes in person work unsuitable (for example, an objection to taking the COVID vaccine).

Learn more here about post-pandemic remote work in Massachusetts.