Come to work or abscond, there is no in between. Can they do that?

Someone I know was given insurance during employment that their job is going to be permanently working from home. To support this they were given a desktop computer and iMac. And the work that she does is really just that of an individual performer i.e. there is no collaboration required, which would warrant a trip to the office.

This person is mother to two kids one of them just four years old. After Christmas, the management decided that everyone should come to the office to work, regardless of who they are And what their prior commitments are.

This person is unable to travel to office and back which takes about two hours in the roundabout trip because she must be home to save her children when they come back from school.

Those who are actually going to the office, or complaining of bad behavior, including micromanagement to the extent that they are not allowed to go to the bathroom at well, no one is allowed to accompany someone else to say the water dispenser are the cafeteria. People are being ridiculed on the office floor by the manager our team leaders.

The management says that she should either start coming to office like others and find ways for the kids to stay back home until she returns, or just stop showing up to work which would let them terminate her without any benefits and no experience letter for the 8 months she has worked there. And there is no in between.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how she can tackle this? She tried to reach out to the HR for help and they were just acting like a mouthpiece for management and were refused to help her in anyway at all.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.