"be obligated to do" versus "have to"

Question

Is it possible to say something like

The employees were obligated to work in the previous weekend.

I deliberately didn't use have to in the sentence. So, is it?

Answer 1

Yes, it is possible.

I'd probably omit "in" when saying it, or used "on [the previous weekend]". As to omitting "have to", it's correct because the obligation is already expressed.

"... were obligated to have to work"

is superfluous. Either they had to work, or were obligated to work. Both essentially mean "forced by circumstances". The circumstances can be a presence of some kind of agreement, promise, i.e. obligation.