Amazon starts tracking employee badge swipes to enforce return-to-office policy

This week, Amazon escalated its battle with employees over returning to the office.

The company is now tracking employee badge swipes to enforce its policy, which requires corporate employees to be in-person three days per week.

Until recently, Amazon only shared data on badge swipes in aggregate, not on an individual employee level. But now, employees can log into a dashboard that shows how often they were recorded badging into an Amazon building.

In a statement, Amazon said swipe monitoring will guide conversations between employees and managers about coming into the office with their coworkers.

“This tool gives employees and managers visibility into the days they badged into a corporate building,” said Rob Munoz, a spokesperson for Amazon.

Swipe monitoring does not account for paid time off or personal time, the company said.

Amazon has emerged as one of the most aggressive enforcers of hybrid work in the wake of the pandemic. CEO Andy Jassy recently implied employees who don’t comply with the policy won’t have a future at Amazon.

Despite pressure from the top, many employees are still resisting the in-office mandate. Workers in Seattle staged a walkout in May protesting the policy.

RELATED: Amazon CEO says ‘it’s probably not going to work out’ for employees who defy return-to-office policy

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was edited to more accurately explain Amazon's previous policy when it comes to sharing data related to badge swipes.

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