- Favoritism has long existed in the workplace, and now it’s dictating who has to abide by widely despised RTO rules. Experts say top performers get preferential treatment because they have unique leverage—but it’s fueling a toxic work environment.
Companies are bringing down the return-to-office hammer—but the rules don’t apply to everyone. Some bosses are turning a blind eye to their golden children slipping out early, or not showing up at all.
Millions of workers have been forced back into the office since pandemic-era restrictions lifted. Amazon, Microsoft, JP Morgan, and Dell are just a few on the list of employers who are returning to in-person, despite outrage from their staffers. In return, many staffers are fleeing for hybrid and remote options elsewhere—especially top performers. To avoid losing their favorite employees, some are letting RTO defiance slide with high-achieving workers.
Chris Pelesky, a former lead channel manager at AT&T, told The Wall Street Journal he found inconsistencies with enforcing the company’s five-day RTO mandate. He noted “many cases of favoritism,” and that some employees were allowed to be more lax with the policy than others.
“Some people were correctly protected by classification, that’s understandable, but there were a lot of ‘teachers’ pets’ situations as well,” he said.
Experts told Fortune there have been instances of preferential treatment toward some employees; but also that favoritism long existed before the normalcy of hybrid work. They say top performers and senior staffers are often not held to the same rules as others, because they have more leverage and different responsibilities. But when others notice the bias, disdain can spread and create a toxic work culture.
“You can say it’s favoritism, you could say it’s preferential treatment. You could call it a host of different things, and they’re all probably right,” Dan Kaplan, senior client partner at Korn Ferry’s CHRO practice, told Fortune. While there’s no one-size-fits all approach, employers are “creating more exceptions, which looks floppy. It looks like favoritism.”
Top performers have more leverage—and they’re the first to jump ship after RTO mandates
Put simply, top performers are treated differently because they know they’re harder to replace. Daniel Zhao, lead economist at Glassdoor, told Fortune businesses generally don’t want to lay off all RTO violators—especially their star players.
“When you’re setting a new policy, you need to emphasize that it will be enforced. But also companies don’t want to have to fire everybody who violates the policy, especially if it’s a minor violation,” he says. “Top performers or more senior employees often get more leeway because they have more leverage. That’s not just about return to office, but in general in the workplace.”
Korn Ferry’s Kaplan has also seen instances of favoritism and loose RTO enforcement—especially among those who don’t track in-office attendance. Many in-person policies are still quite squishy, with specific rules for different teams, changes between three and five days in-office, and discretion coming from middle-managers. As companies test out the best ways to move forward, they often lack a coordinated effort. And when it comes to top-performers, some bosses don’t want to step on their toes.
“If you know your top performers are going to perform, you want to get out of their way and let them perform,” Kaplan said. “You want to spend time and energy enabling them to become even better performers.”
This likely stems from the fact high-achieving workers are the first out the door when in-person work is mandated. Intent to stay among top performers dropped 16% after receiving a five-day RTO mandate, the highest out of all groups, according to a 2024 study from Gartner. Experts say this is likely because they know they have options—and can find a good remote gig elsewhere.
“Even though the job market is not as hot as it used to be a couple of years ago, for top people, they will always have choices,” Gord Frost, global rewards solution leader at workplace consulting company Mercer, told Fortune. “Top performers will always have other opportunities, and I think organizations are sensitive to that. So there’s certainly a balancing act that you need to strike.”
Senior leadership get a pass—and it’s always been that way
Favoritism goes beyond top performers—company executives also have more leeway when it comes to RTO.
“Some companies delegated the policy down to the manager. There are inconsistencies, and some of those inconsistencies could be executives or leaders having the privilege of working in a flexible or non-mandated RTO environment,” Mike Small, president of North America at IT service management company Akkodis, told Fortune. “That sends a very inconsistent message to the overall workforce.”
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Preferential treatment toward the higher-ups has always existed though, Kaplan said. It’s a tale as old as time—leadership slipping out a few hours early or showing up late to the office, yet getting no flack for it. Their seniority has always been a buffer.
“Everyone looked the other way when on Friday, senior folks and anyone who had the freedom to afford it would leave. They take the shuttle bus out to the Hamptons, Lake Tahoe, Lake Michigan,” Kaplan said. “There always have been special situations.”
But experts say there might be a more profound reason why executives get a free pass. Their jobs often carry greater responsibility, which requires traveling for interviews, client dinners, or attending meetings. Flexibility has always been core to their in-person attendance.
“With executives, that’s more the nature of those jobs,” Frost said. “They require that you be more flexible in general, because your scope of responsibility is larger.”
Favoritism driving tension at the office
Turning a blind eye to anyone who disobeys RTO policies while others are following suit will invariably sow a seed of disdain at the office, experts say.
“If there’s a perception that you’re willing to play favorites, that can be really damaging for your culture,” Zhao said. “It’s important to have a clear set of standards, because otherwise you just open yourself up to a whole can of worms.”
An overwhelming number of employees already hate RTO. About 99% of companies that enforced in-person mandates saw a drop in their workers’ overall job satisfaction, and reaped no financial improvement, according to a 2024 study from the University of Pittsburgh. Witnessing that the rules don’t apply to everyone only makes it worse.
“Every survey is showing that people are feeling disenfranchised and disconnected to their employer. So if you’re feeling uninspired, now you feel like there’s a gun to your head forcing you to go to the office five days a week,” Kaplan said. “It’s just throwing salt on an open wound because it has been so mismanaged.”
