- Google’s ‘work from anywhere’ policy is tightened
- The company says it was never designed as an alternative to working from home
- Time off is accumulated per week, so one day off will cost the entire week.
Google is believed to be reversing some remote work policies, tightening its “work from anywhere” (WFA) policy, first introduced as the world struggled to establish new norms in a post-pandemic world.
This comes on top of earlier changes to its hybrid work setup, which requires most workers to be in the office at least three days a week.
Revisions to the company’s WFA policy will mean that Google employees will not be able to work from another destination, such as when traveling, as easily as before.
Google makes major changes to its ‘work from anywhere’ policy
Previously, Google employees were allowed to work from their chosen destination for up to four weeks a year, allowing them more time to spend vacations or extend seasonal visits.
Now, however, even shorter requests will still count toward the one-week allowance. “Whether you log 1 day of WFA or 5 days of WFA in a given standard workweek, 1 week of WFA will be deducted from your weekly WFA balance,” a company document states (via CNBC).
Google VP John Casey reportedly said at a general meeting (via CNBC) that the policy had always been intended to be taken in one-week increments and not as a substitute for working from home.
Workers will not be allowed to use WFA subsidies to work from or near home, the company said. The “legal and financial implications of cross-border work” also make working from abroad inadmissible.
Failure to comply with the policy could result in employees facing disciplinary action or termination, although not all will be required to follow the updated WFA policy, specifically, data center workers and those who must be in physical offices.
TechRadar Pro has reached out to Google for more context on their policies, but we did not receive an immediate response.
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