Wall Street bosses are saying enough is enough. Bank of America has joined the growing list of banks putting their foot down and forcing workers to comply with its return-to-office mandates—or else.
The bank has just issued warning letters—or as BofA reportedly calls them, “letters of education”—to workers who haven’t been coming into the office as much as it’d like.
While the “majority” of the bank’s 165,000-strong workforce have been showing face at least three days a week as required, some have not—and they’ve just been told they’ll face “disciplinary action” if they continue to foil the company’s in-office policy.
One letter shared online by a Bank of America employee said: “You are receiving a letter of education for failure to follow the minimum expectation regarding your work location set by the Workplace Excellence Guidelines despite requests and reminders to do so.”
The notice gives workers two weeks to comply or face “further disciplinary action”.
“As a reminder you must comply with all Bank of America policies, procedures, guidelines, and conditions of employment…” the letter reads. “Failure to meet expectations of your role in the future may result in further action.”
Since October 2022, America’s second-largest bank by assets has been requiring the majority of its employees to come into the office at least three days a week. Meanwhile, those in more client-facing roles, like sales and trading, are expected to come in five days a week, with some degree of flexibility.
Bank of America declined to formally comment on the matter. However, Fortune has learned that workers in the U.S. apparently received prior warning about not complying with the company’s return-to-work policy, before being sent a formal letter of education.
It comes after the bank reportedly laid off staff in Asia as China’s weak recovery and global political tensions weigh down on deal-making.
Banking execs have had enough of stubborn remote workers
Ever since the immediate health threat of COVID-19 subsided and governments loosened their working-from-home guidance, Wall Street executives have been attempting to stamp out the pandemic-era habit.
Many initially soft-launched mandates to get workers’ feet in the door, only to slap staff with stricter in-office requirements later.
Take JPMorgan for example: it first called employees back to the office on a rotational basis in mid-2021. But by last April, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon had ordered all senior managers to come into the office five days a week—or face “corrective action”.
Dimon has publicly lamented how remote work has, in his opinion, suppressed “spontaneous idea generation” as well as leadership and training.
Likewise, Goldman Sachs’ CEO David Solomon, who famously referred to remote working as an “aberration”, told staff to get back to their cubicles full-time around two years ago.
Throughout 2021, the firm tried to incentivize workers to come back with cocktail nights and free food, but by 2022 it began tightly tracking attendance and keeping tabs on staff’s whereabouts.
Meanwhile, even across the pond, banks in Britain have begun ordering employees to work from the office more frequently.
As the coronavirus restrictions began easing, Nationwide, the largest credit union in the world, reassured its 13,000-strong workforce that they wouldn’t “be forced to return to an office”. But now, two years later, it’s mandating workers show face at least twice a week.
Meanwhile, Citigroup last summer similarly sent a notice to its U.K. employees that it would begin tracking badge swipes, as well as actively enforcing its three-days-a-week attendance requirement.
