BNP Paribas is tracking the office swipes of its London staff against network logins to make sure employees are working from the office, according to a memo seen by Reuters.
The memo said the policy would allow the bank to make sure employees meet expectations for “working requirements and fairness across teams" and to "more accurately track space needs on a team-by-team basis.” Workers cannot opt out of the tracking, the memo said.
BNP confirmed the memo to Reuters without further comment.
Additionally, BNP’s U.S. and Canada divisions each updated their policies to include “visibility into in-office presence of staff monitoring,” Reuters reported.
BNP maintains a hybrid policy that requires staff to be present in the office at least 50% of the time, according to Financial News London. Some job functions, such as traders, are required to work from the office full time.
Several large banks internationally have made office work a requirement, at least for part of the week, following the continued remote work inclinations of staffers post-pandemic.
Citi, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan have each been tracking employee attendance in the U.S.; and Citi was considering doing the same in the U.K., as of June. While JPMorgan and Citi require more employees to be in the office three days a week, Goldman Sachs has said it encourages five days of attendance.
As of June, Citi was also considering linking in-office attendance with compensation, according to Bloomberg.
Noting the trend, BNP wrote in its memo, "Many of our competitors have already implemented similar measures.”
In instances of bad weather or public transportation issues, staff are expected to make up days in the office to meet their required in-office hours per month.
Consequences for failing to meet in-office targets would be decided by senior managers, the bank said, according to Reuters.
"Attending the office is not merely to demonstrate that you're working particular hours but to facilitate better working relationships and collaboration with colleagues," the memo said.
