On face value, Amazon is going tough on return-to-office policy by allowing managers to dismiss inappropriate behaviour and those who fail to come to work three times a week, according to recent reports. However, this is one of the ways that Amazon is making its back-to-work policy more stringent.
According to Insider information, Amazon has released updated global manager guidelines on the post-COVID return-to-office policy. Managers are being informed through an internal channel about these guidelines, aimed at helping them deal with employees who ignore the three-day-a-week office requirement. This is evidenced in reports suggesting that Amazon is giving its managers the opportunity to get rid of non-cooperative employees.
Nonetheless, it must be noted that failure to obey the return-to-office policy isn’t a direct cause of termination. Amazon has developed a rigorous three-step process to which managers should strictly adhere.
Managers are first expected to hold a private discussion with the employees who did not comply with the directive and the ensuing follow-up email will be used as documentation. The first step here is to alert the employee that he/she has to come to the office three times a week.
In case, there is no compliance after the first step and the employee still keeps insisting on not going back to the office, the second meeting is organized within a reasonable time period, which is mainly about one to two weeks. In this second meeting, managers are supposed to repeat that the job requires coming to the office for at least three days a week as well as remind about possible disciplinary action, including termination if there is no valid reason for ignoring these rules.
The third and final step involves getting human resources involved, where they may issue a written warning or take other appropriate actions, ultimately leading to termination if the employee remains non-compliant. This marks a significant and unwavering move by Amazon to ensure adherence to its return-to-office policy.
This stricter stance reflects Amazon’s strong commitment to bringing its employees back to the office, aligning with its broader return-to-work strategy. As the company continues to navigate the evolving landscape of remote work and office presence, it is clear that Amazon is taking a determined approach to ensure that employees are physically present in the workplace as per their policy.
