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Apple further cracks down on remote work by ‘tracking employee attendance’ via badges

Apple is further cracking down on its in-person work requirements. According to Platformer’s Zoë Schiffer, Apple is closely monitoring attendance via badge records to ensure employees are coming to the office at least three times per week.

Apple’s in-person work rules

In a post on Twitter, Schiffer explained that Apple is giving employees “escalating warnings” if they don’t meet the in-person work requirements. Within some organizations at Apple, employees are being told that “failure to comply could result in termination,” though Schiffer clarified that this “doesn’t appear to be a company-wide policy.”

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman recently reported in depth on some of the changes Apple has recently made in an effort to cut expenses. In that report, Gurman also pointed out that Apple is being more strict on enforcing in-person work requirements.

Apple, like most companies, shifted to remote work in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its policies changed on a regular basis in response to COVID-19 data, but almost a year ago it began a transitional “hybrid” return to in-person work. The plan started with Apple requiring in-person work one day per week and gradually expanded to two days per week. As of last September, the policy requires in-person work at least three days per week.

In January, Apple adjusted its policy for COVID-19 testing, dropping the requirement that employees be tested for COVID-19 before working in person.

Individual Apple teams are still believed to have at least some autonomy in enforcing in-person work requirements. Certain teams might require in-person work five days per week, while other teams can theoretically be more lenient on requiring in-person work three days per week. It’s clear, however, that individual teams may slowly be losing that flexibility as Apple looks for ways to cut costs (read: firing).

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Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is the editor-in-chief of 9to5Mac, overseeing the entire site’s operations. He also hosts the 9to5Mac Daily and 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcasts.

You can send tips, questions, and typos to chance@9to5mac.com.

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