Latest news with #officeattendance
Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Times
PwC tracks wi-fi and passes to monitor staff office attendance
PwC, the Big Four accountant, has introduced a 'traffic light' system to ensure staff are meeting a mandate to attend the office at least three days a week. The dashboard uses pass swipes and wi-fi connections to determine whether workers are 'amber', if their office attendance falls below 60 per cent, or 'red' if it dips under 40 per cent. The attendance data, which went live for supervisors in April, can be seen by business unit leaders and chief financial, administrative and people officers. Staff can also access their own data. The firm also traces laptop wi-fi connections and cross references the information with data from the HR platform Workday and employees' time sheets to establish whether staff are working on client's sites. The policy applies to all 19 offices across the UK and Ireland run by PwC UK, which has about 23,000 employees. A senior staff member told the Financial Times, which first reported the system, that they had 'lost count' of the number of colleagues who had raised concerns. Staff whose attendance is not up to scratch can face formal sanctions, affecting their performance evaluations and bonuses, PWC confirmed. Last September, the accounting and consulting firm told staff it required them to work in the office or at a client site at least three days a week, and that they would monitor this in a way akin to billable hours. A PWC spokeswoman said: 'There are clear benefits to in-person work for both our people and clients, and we have seen these borne out since adjusting our approach to hybrid working at the beginning of this year. 'The dashboard ensures our people have easy access to their attendance data, so they can manage and plan their time in a way that works for them, our teams and our clients. We remain committed to flexibility, including the option for people to condense their usual working hours and finish early on Friday lunchtime for six weeks in the summer.' PwC said its approach was 'consistent' with other businesses. Rival EY started monitoring office attendance using swipe card data last year. Deloitte's approach is split between its UK arm, which has no minimum office attendance, and its US arm, which announced in March that swipe card data would be used to determine performance reviews and bonuses. Phillippa O'Connor, chief people officer at PwC, told the Lords committee on home-based working in April: 'We have not seen any impact on recruitment in the round. It is asked about in recruitment processes, so I think people are very alive to it as part of the contract now.'
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
PwC tracks UK office attendance with ‘traffic light' dashboard
The big four accountancy firm PwC has intensified the way it tracks how often its UK employees come into the office by monitoring swipes of work passes and connections to wifi, prompting concerns among staff. Bosses use a dashboard to record attendance and check whether workers are adhering to the company policy that requires them to spend three days a week, or 60% of their time, with clients or in the office. The panel shows staff as 'amber' if they fall below the 60% threshold, while workers show as 'red' if they drop below 40%. The dashboard was first available for use by supervisors in April, while the office attendance data can reportedly be viewed by business unit leaders, as well as PwC's chief financial, administrative and people officers. Employees are also able to access their own data. Employees' wifi connections from their laptop are traced by the system to check whether they are working from client sites on the days expected, according to the Financial Times, which first reported details of the system. This is then cross-referenced with information from staff time sheets and the company's HR platform. The increased scrutiny of office attendance is causing unease among PwC's 23,000-strong UK workforce, and one senior staff member told the FT they had 'lost count' of the number of colleagues who had shared concerns about the monitoring. Another person reportedly said workers were seeking more transparency from their employer about the tracking. Employees who breached the accountancy and consultancy firm's office attendance policy could face formal sanctions that could affect their bonus and performance rating, according to the report, which said those unable to meet the attendance rules because of sickness or for family reasons can request allowances. PwC told UK employees last September that it was going to start tracking their working locations from January, to ensure that all workers spend 'a minimum of three days a week' in the office or at client sites amid a clampdown on remote working. The company told staff in a memo it would track their locations in the same way it monitors how many chargeable hours they work, as the company looked to place 'more emphasis on in-person working'. The rival firm EY began monitoring office attendance at the start of last year using staff turnstile data in an effort to crack down on breaches of its hybrid working policy. PwC UK's chief people officer, Phillippa O'Connor, told the House of Lords home-based working committee in April that the company's monitoring was 'not clocking people in and out'. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion She added: 'This is not an old-school manufacturing world; it is about empowered flexibility – they have attended an office in our world. Where we do not have that data, we look at shared IP.' PwC said there were 'clear benefits to in-person work for both our people and clients' and the approach was 'consistent with other businesses' and 'recognised and accepted by the vast majority of our people'. A spokesperson said: 'We always listen to feedback and are committed to regular, clear and transparent communications about expectations … The dashboard ensures our people have easy access to their attendance data, so they can manage and plan their time in a way that works for them, our teams and our clients.' PwC said the firm remains 'committed to flexibility' and allows employees to condense their usual working hours and finish early on Friday lunchtime for six weeks over the summer.
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
‘Traffic-light' dashboard lets PwC in UK monitor office attendance
PwC has stepped up the monitoring of its UK employees' office attendance with a dashboard that allows senior partners to track pass swipes and WiFi connections, sparking concern from some staff. The increased scrutiny has triggered unease among some staff over how they are tracked, two people at the firm told the Financial Times. One senior staff member said they had 'lost count' of the number of colleagues at the accounting and consulting firm who had raised concerns. Another person said employees had sought more transparency as the firm began 'pushing hard' to increase attendance. PwC told its UK staff last September that it would monitor their office attendance like it did billable hours and require them to work in the office or at a client site at least three days a week. READ MORE Staff who breach the policy can face formal sanctions, with their performance evaluations and bonuses potentially affected, according to guidance for staff seen by the FT. [ Working from home 'trending upwards' despite moves to bring workers back to the office Opens in new window ] Staff show up as 'amber' on the dashboard, which first went live for supervisors in April, if they dip below 60 per cent office attendance, and 'red' if they fall below 40 per cent, according to the guidance. Attendance data can be accessed by business unit leaders and chief financial, administrative and people officers. Staff can also access their own data via the dashboard. The system traces laptop WiFi connections to check whether employees are working at client sites on the days they say they are, the policy documents state. The firm also cross-references this information with data from HR platform Workday and employees' time sheets. Staff who are unable to meet the in-office quota for reasons including sickness or family issues can seek allowances, said a person close to the firm. PwC's rival EY early last year started using swipe card data to monitor office entries, while Deloitte has maintained a more flexible policy. PwC UK's chief people officer, Phillippa O'Connor, told staff in a video in December that she was aware of concerns over whether monitoring workers' office attendance was consistent with the firm's mantra of 'trust' and 'empowerment', according to a transcript seen by the FT. Monitoring attendance 'aims to address persistent and deliberate non-compliance', O'Connor added in the video. 'It is not designed to penalise anyone for the occasional times when life events and unforeseen circumstances mean you aren't able to come to the office as planned.' PwC said there were 'clear benefits to in-person work' that have been 'borne out since adjusting our approach to hybrid working', adding: 'Our approach is consistent with other businesses and is recognised and accepted by the vast majority of our people.' 'We always listen to feedback and are committed to regular, clear and transparent communications about expectations,' the firm said, adding that it remains 'committed to flexibility', including early Friday finishes for six weeks over summer. 'Our dashboard ensures our people have easy access to their attendance data, so they can manage and plan their time in a way that works for them, our teams and our clients.' - Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
Daily Mail
21-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
HSBC warns staff their bonuses could be cut if they fail to spend enough time in the office - in a bid to curb the WFH trend
Workers at one of Britain's biggest banks have been told their bonuses could be cut if they fail to turn up at the office. HSBC said if they fail to come in for the required three days a week, they could end up being paid less. It is the latest example of the battle by bosses to reverse the working-from-home trend that started during the pandemic. HSBC emailed staff at its Birmingham-based business, which employs 23,000 people across offices and branches, on how its 'hybrid' policy would be enforced. The bank has had the rule, which requires staff to be in the office or with customers for at least 60 per cent of the time, in force for around 18 months. Its email informed employees that internal attendance data would be used when making decisions on their pay, according to Bloomberg News, which first reported the move. HSBC declined to comment. In January, it emerged that rival Lloyds would review office attendance as part of performance-related bonus targets for senior bankers. But, in the case of Lloyds – which previously faced a backlash when it told staff they must come in for at least two days a week – the rule applies only to a small number of senior staff. At HSBC, the latest memo applied to a broader sweep of office-based staff. It came as a separate study yesterday showed workers are increasingly likely to resist orders to return to the office. Researchers at King's College London found only 42 per cent would comply with a mandate to be at their desks five days a week, down from 54 per cent three years ago. And it revealed that 50 per cent would look for a new job which allowed some home working if their employer tried to make them come in full-time, up from 40 per cent in 2022. Many formerly office-based staff who were forced to decamp to the kitchen table during Covid lockdowns grew used to avoiding the daily commute and in some cases moved into bigger homes away from their city centre offices. But five years on from the pandemic, bosses, as well as some politicians, have become frustrated that a return to the normality of a nine-to-five five-day working week has yet to return. Many fear working from home can be less productive and limit career opportunities, especially for younger members of staff.
Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- Times
HSBC orders staff back to the office or it will cut their pay
Thousands of staff at HSBC in Britain have been warned that their pay packages could be cut if they do not go into the office at least three days a week. The FTSE 100 bank sent staff a memo saying that 'consistently not meeting 60 per cent office attendance will be considered in an individual's overall performance assessment … which could lead to variable pay being impacted'. It also said that attendance would be more closely monitored from September, when managers will be given monthly data about employees who have failed to come in at least three days a week. The warning was sent to staff who work at HSBC's UK high street and commercial banking division, which employs almost 24,000 people. They were told
