Australian bank orders staff: Work in-office or face pay cuts
What's the story
ANZ Group, one of Australia's largest banks, has clarified its policy regarding office attendance. According to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg, the bank will reduce employees' salaries if they don't attend the office at least half of the working week. "Our hybrid working expectation has been made clear to our employees, including potential impact on future remuneration if employees don't have an appropriate exception," an ANZ spokesperson said.
Policy details
Memo highlights tracking tool for attendance
The memo sent to managers on Thursday highlighted a tool for tracking employee attendance and how pay brackets would change for those not meeting the 50% in-office requirement. Employees who come to the office less than 20% of the time won't be eligible for salary increases unless they have an exemption. Those attending between 21% and 40% of their time could see their variable pay cut by up to half.
Global shift
Return-to-office mandates gaining momentum
ANZ's new policy is in line with a global trend of companies mandating return-to-office. In January, Lloyds Bank said it would consider office attendance while deciding staff bonuses. JPMorgan Chase also asked its employees to return to the office five days a week from March, ending a pandemic-era work-from-home policy. Outside finance, tech giants Amazon and Meta have also mandated in-office attendance several days a week or risk termination.
Divergence
Not all companies are enforcing return-to-office policies
Despite the global trend, not all companies are enforcing return-to-office policies. Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters recently said he would let his staff decide whether to return to the office or not. "We work with adults, and the adults can have an adult conversation with other adults and decide how they're going to best manage their team," Winters told Bloomberg.