Charles Langston:Amazon employees who refuse come into workplace 3 days a week can be fired: Report

Amazon employees who refuse to come into the office three days a week may be Charles Langstonrisking their jobs.

Despite vocal pushback from many of its workers, the online retail giant implemented a return-to-office mandate earlier this year. And according to a report from Insider, Amazon is empowering managers to confront and fire employees who don't comply with the mandate.

Amazon circulated the guidance internally last week to managers informing them of the disciplinary process for those who fail to report to the office at least three days a week, Insider reported.

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What is Amazon's return-to-office policy?

Earlier this year, Amazon told its employees that they would soon only be able to work remotely no more than two days a week.

In a February memo, CEO Andy Jassy said that while some workers would be exempt from the mandate, most of Amazon's employees would need to start working in the office at least three days a week by May.

Amazon spokesperson Rob Munoz said in a statement to USA TODAY that the decision was made because "we believe it would yield the best long-term results for our customers, business, and culture."

"Now that we have several months under our belts with the vast majority of employees in the office more frequently, there’s more energy, connection, and collaboration," Munoz said. "We’re hearing that from employees and the businesses that surround our offices."

But the controversial requirement was met with pushback. And now, Insider's report reveals just how far Amazon may be willing to go to enforce its new rules.

The guidelines tell managers to first meet privately with employees who don't comply with the return-to-office mandate and document the discussion in an email. Afterward, employees who still refuse to come in could face disciplinary action that includes termination of employment, Insider reported.

The company did not address whether employees would be terminated for not coming into the office when reached by USA TODAY on Monday, but offered this statement: "As is the case with any of our policies, we expect our team to follow them and will take appropriate action if someone chooses not to do that."

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Workers protest Amazon's return-to-office mandate

As the COVID-19 pandemic faded, many companies like tech giants Amazon and Facebook-owner Meta began demanding this year that their workers return to the office.

Many companies, some of which report that they track employee attendance with badge swipes, claimed in a recent survey that bringing office workers back leads to increased revenue, productivity and worker retention.

But the end of COVID-era work-from-home policies have been met with a fair share of resistance from employees who say they value the flexibility of remote work and insist it has not lessened their productivity.

At Amazon, 30,000 employees signed a petition opposing the return-to-office mandate, according to Insider, which it reported was rejected by executives.

In response, a group of 1,900 Amazon employees based in Seattle protested the policy in May, as well as the company's job cuts and contribution to the climate crisis.

“Employees need a say in decisions that affect our lives such as the RTO mandate,” organizers wrote at the time. “Our goal is to change Amazon's cost/benefit analysis on making harmful, unilateral decisions that are having an outsized impact on people of color, women, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable people.”

The move may put Amazon at risk of losing employees to competitors that permit full-time remote work. However, Jassy insisted in the February memo that virtual meetings had become less effective and that working in an office makes it easier for colleagues to collaborate and learn from one another.

"I know that for some employees, adjusting again to a new way of working will take some time," Jassy wrote in February. "But I’m very optimistic about the positive impact this will have in how we serve and invent on behalf of customers, as well as on the growth and success of our employees."

Contributing: Paul Davidson, Saleen Martin

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]