“Whether you log 1 WFA day or 5 WFA days in a given standard work week, 1 WFA week will be deducted from your WFA weekly balance,” the document, which was circulated over the summer shortly before the update went into effect, said, according to CNBC.
The WFA policy update doesn’t apply to all Google staffers and may exclude those required to be in physical offices and data centers. Violations will result in disciplinary action or termination, according to CNBC.
Google did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
According to the WFA policy update, workers aren’t allowed to work from a Google office in a separate state or country during their WFA time due to ““legal and financial implications of cross border work,” according to CNBC.
JobLeads, a Germany-based job search platform, CTO Jan Hendrik von Ahlen told Fortune of the more than 12 million U.S.-based job postings in its database, just under 6% of positions are fully remote, under 7% are hybrid, and almost 88% are on-site.
“That’s comparable to pre-pandemic numbers,” Hendrik von Ahlen said.
Across the sector, companies increasingly track attendance via badges and other tools and present RTO as necessary for culture and productivity, even as many maintain hybrid rather than fully remote models.
The tightening of Google’s policy is in line with the larger trend among big employers that is seeing them slowly dial back pandemic-era flexibility, Kelsey Szamet, partner at Kingsley Szament Employment Lawyers, told Fortune.
“Such a policy change can take a tangible toll on morale and retention,” Szamet said, adding that changing expectations of more flexible in-office work policies may frustrate employees that were hired under the assumption of semi-or-fully remote work.
“That can contribute to disengagement or increased turnover, particularly among high performers who recognize that they can obtain flexible options elsewhere,” Szamet said.
