Companies are using sticks and carrots to enforce RTO policies

The battle over return-to-office (RTO) policies is coming to a head in the tech world, as some companies are rescinding once-generous remote work policies, resulting in employee pushback.

Meta told employees in early June that they’ll be expected to return to the office three days a week starting in September, according to The Information. Amazon also attempted to call corporate employees back to the office at the same frequency as of May 1.

While leaders spearheading these policies argue that in-person work spurs productivity and innovation, workers aren’t as convinced. Corporate employees at Amazon walked out of the retailer’s Seattle headquarters at the end of May to protest its RTO policy, among other issues.

HR Brew compiled a list of recent sticks—and carrots—employers are using to boost in-person office attendance.

Sticks

Tracking employee attendance. Big banks including JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs have reportedly collected data on badge swipes to monitor compliance with RTO policies.

In a memo sent to employees by JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon in April, he warned that managers may take “corrective action” if in-office requirements aren’t met.

Tying office attendance to performance and pay. On June 7, Google told employees it will tie office attendance to performance reviews, a decision that could affect employees’ chances to secure promotions and better pay, and will also monitor badge data.

Some big law firms have imposed a similar stick, warning that associates who don’t comply with RTO mandates may see their bonuses cut. Davis Polk & Wardwell is one such firm, where leadership told staffers in the spring that failure to comply with their RTO policy could result in bonus reductions.

Carrots

Charity donations. Salesforce has pledged to donate $10 to a local charity for each day an employee comes into the office during a 11-day period in June.

“Coming together for our culture, customers, and community is what we do best,” a senior executive wrote in a company-wide Slack channel.

Salesforce’s RTO policy differs from team to team. Employees in customer-facing roles are required to work “in-person with each other or their customers, four days per week,” while office-flexible teams work from an office three days a week. Some Salesforce employees are still totally remote.

Work-from-anywhere weeks. Companies such as American Express, Citigroup, and Google offer work-from-anywhere weeks, allowing employees to work remotely for a certain amount of time during the year.

Rob Sadow, chief executive officer of Scoop Technologies, a hybrid work software platform, told Bloomberg such benefits can be seen as a way for some companies to sweeten the deal on RTO. “Anecdotally, the companies we have heard implement ‘work from anywhere’ weeks often do it at the same time as implementing increased requirements to be in the office,” he said.

Onsite childcare. The RTO push is a concern for working parents dealing with the effects of a childcare provider shortage in the US.

Some companies are working to address that concern by offering onsite childcare. Aflac offers onsite childcare, and CHRO Matthew Owenby told Fortune that it’s part of the company’s strategy to bring workers back into the office, as well as retain female employees.

Covering relocation fees. Some companies are betting that relocation assistance will convince employees to work from an office.

Appian, a cloud-computing company based in McClean, Virginia, paid for 109 people who joined the company remotely to relocate in 2022, according to the Wall Street Journal. Colgate and Walmart also offer relocation packages.

Is your organization struggling to bring employees back to the office with incentives or disincentives? We’d love to hear from you; send us an email at [email protected].