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Amazon is attempting to clamp down on ‘coffee badging’ by mandating teams to stay for multiple hours when they visit its offices.
According to Business Insider, multiple teams have now been told the number of hours they spend in the office will be monitored, with minimum expectations varying from two to six hours per visit.
Amazon workers – like many other employees at businesses enforcing return-to-office (RTO) mandates – have reportedly been circumventing the company’s RTO policy by visiting the office and scanning their badge but only staying long enough for a hot beverage, also known as ‘coffee badging.’
Across recent months, Amazon told teams including in retail and cloud computing that failure to remain in the office for a minimum of two hours will not count as an in-office visit.
Internal Slack messages viewed by Business Insider also reveal that some teams have been told to stay for a minimum of six hours if they wish the visit to contribute to their in-office attendance record.
Amazon introduced its RTO mandate last year, requiring workers to come into the office three times per week.
Amazon staff hit back at RTO enforcement
The move has been met with staunch opposition from Amazon workers. Around 30,000 corporate employees signed a petition demanding the policy be revoked, but the e-commerce giant has played hardball.
Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, told workers if they did not wish to comply and come into the office three days per week, they should quit.
Meanwhile, as with other employers implementing RTO mandates, some workers have been forced to choose between relocating to be closer to an official office site or leaving the company, with other staff left ineligible for promotions for failing to comply with the policy.
The move has been met with criticism from Amazon employees, who reportedly believe the policy is unfairly harsh and has raised more confusion.
Per Slack messages viewed by Business Insider, one worker questioned how the hours spent in the office would be tracked, and whether it was legal. Another said Amazon has not officially announced the move or given a justification for why it will monitor the hours workers spend in the office.
"It's all just so not transparent, it's maddening," the employee stated.
"Remember when we were measured on metrics that actually mattered?" another asked.
Others suggested that just as they turned to coffee badging to bypass the RTO mandate, Amazon staff will find a way of dodging this latest development. One employee said this behavior will continue “if you treat employees like high school students.”
Indeed, one worker wrote in Slack that they scanned their badge in at a back room of a local Whole Foods store. As Whole Foods is owned by Amazon, the scan counted toward their attendance.
"Could I badge into this door 3 days per week and save myself from having to commute to the office?" the worker quipped.
Amazon says RTO policy has brought more “energy, connection, and collaboration”
Margaret Callahan, a spokesperson for Amazon told Business Insider in an email that the company believes its RTO policy has been hugely beneficial for the company.
"Over a year ago we asked employees to start coming into the office three or more days per week because we believe it would yield the best long-term results for our customers, business, and culture,” wrote Callahan.
“And it has. The vast majority of employees are in the office more frequently, there's more energy, connection, and collaboration, and we're hearing that from employees and the businesses that surround our offices.”
Callahan added that Amazon is already meeting with employees who aren’t meeting RTO requirements.
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"Now that it's been more than a year, we're starting to speak directly with employees who haven't regularly been spending meaningful amounts of time in the office to ensure they understand the importance of spending quality time with their colleagues."
Many companies implementing hybrid or in-office policies using RTO policies have struggled with opposition from staff. According to an Owl Labs survey of workers, 58% of respondents who were ‘hybrid’ said they had practiced coffee badging.
At other companies, like Dell, some employees have flat-out refused to comply. The technology giant introduced an RTO mandate in February, informing workers they must classify as a hybrid worker or a remote worker, with hybrid workers required to be in the office a minimum of 39 days per quarter.
While those working remotely were told they would be overlooked for promotions, nearly half of full-time staff have reportedly refused to come into the office. Moreover, the company’s latest employee engagement survey reveals Dell’s employee net promoter score – whether someone would recommend someone to work at Dell – dropped from 62 to 48 in one year.
Candice Gottlieb-Cla
Having created a training platform that addresses these issues, I know that the problem is broad and impacts every industry and nearly every business. The options ahead are training (retraining) about the world of work, giving pink slips to those who don't comply, or continuing to allow the tail to wag the dog - and accept the consequences that come with that choice.