#returntooffice

Starting 01/05/2026 five days in office required and a push to have less remote staff

I know people are getting new security badges. People are telling me these are being used to track time in-office. Is that correct? Why wouldn't they just track your time connected to the office network?

For the coffee badgers since RTO, seems we have been busted big time.

Anyone has any idea how to game the system with this 8 hour rule.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

HR buried a story that starting in January 2026 teammates are expected to be in the office five days a week. Not surprising that HR buried that article and gave no warning to people managers.

May have been asked before. Sorry if that is the case.

Does anyone have the details of when the next round of the co-location strategy layoffs or relocation offers will occur?
Particularly if you are the only one on your team at a site but it is a hub. Thanks

How was the RTO for those in the MN/DC office? Did you have monitors on the desk, was it clean, the cafeteria open, etc?

How was the RTO for those in the MN/DC office? Did you have monitors on the desk, was it clean, the cafeteria open, etc?

How was the RTO for those in the MN/DC office? Did you have monitors on the desk, was it clean, the cafeteria open, etc?

If you needed reminding that HR / Allegations department / Ethicsline / Loudspeaker isn’t for employees this is it. They are closing out all cases about RTO with either no response besides “we have closed this case” or this canned response:

“We have reviewed your concern and wanted to provide additional information.
Our success depends on Wells Fargo being collaborative and innovative. We all benefit from seeing our colleagues on a regular basis. When we're together, it's easier to build relationships, get in-the-moment coaching identity career opportunities, and brainstorm ideas.
With this in mind, our approach emphasizes spending the majority of our time together in the office and also provides flexible work options based on what makes sense for different roles. The expectation to work full workdays is not new, and reinforcement of full workday expectations does not change our continued commitment to providing flexibility as situations arise. Employees should discuss with their manager when additional flexibility may be needed.
The case will be closed at this time. If you have additional concerns, please discuss with your manager.”

As I enjoy the peace and quiet of the office at 7am I’m reminded of that scene from Braveheart. The English charging on horseback. William Wallace and his merry band of highlanders waiting for the inevitable sla-ghter.

Wallace imploring his warriors to HOLD the line, HOLD … and then bam up come the long spears and the tide is turned.

We must do the same my friends. Do not give into these cowards, those that want to take our freedoms and treat us like children.

Do not resign under and circumstances. They will be forced to capitulate if we stand together. Want us to quit DF? Kiss my hairy ar$e.

No rumors? Nothing at all? Strange! I'm also curious on how WFH is going in USA, in Europe nothing changed as far as I know (many peer competitors still offer 3 days a week here, while AIG has only 2)

Managers: “Work in the office OR ELSE HR will catch you! 🤬”

HR: “new managers misunderstand the policy and we have a 3rd party vendor, managers are notified of a trend before us”

So is the truth that managers get a higher bonus for people being in the office? Perfect attendance has done nothing positive for my career. Just makes it harder for me to do my job.

Starting December, toll booths will be installed at the entrances to SOMO, Peak, Westlake and LT. The access charge will be $10/day or $100/month. They're making a toll to get around parking fee regulations.

The installations should be done by Q2.

Upset?

Good. Then why do you accept the same costs in virtual tolls for RTO?

FYI coming soon

Req that was posted yesterday says “for all hires in Minneapolis, Virginia, Maryland, or Washington DC”. You will be required 4 days in office.

Has anyone heard for sure if exempt (professional and managers) are part of the 8 hour RTO requirement? It’s odd that exempts are not paid for working a specific number of hours, yet they’re requiring it by proxy through this RTO policy. I see that becoming a labor issue.

Let me preface this by saying that I understand and support that in the US everyone is free to look for a better opportunity.   I also support that the company needs to change in order to compete and drive value to the shareholders.  
Assuming an employee makes it to January and supports these ideals we haven't heard what that means to the employee.  The reality is more than a few must work for a living not just for their passion.  Right now, without any communication to that end, we are facing up to a 17% increase in health care costs (10% discount program removed and increased employee cost 7%) plus the additional cost of going to the office everyday.  When will you be able to communicate something in relation to the financial benefits of working faster and harder other than being lucky to work here? 

Have you heard any locations or organizations that are only required to come in 1 or 2 days a week? Shout them out so those of us that are required to do 3 can look for job openings.

To be announced to certain groups on Friday.

random team meeting scheduled for next week, no context given. curious if anyone has heard rumors

To get people to quit at first, then fire the rest that don’t follow the rules.

https://fortune.com/2025/10/09/in-office-mandates-new-hires-employers-are-sneaking-in-a-hybrid-creep-after-your-offer-letter/?utm_content=socialShare_null&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=social_share

what's your department like? Any word of 4-5x/week back in office?

Why is it that the 5G Engineering and Technology team gets to stay remote in Washington when the rest of us need to work in Philly? They don't even have an office to report to there. Is it because they have an AVP that is also privileged and gets to work from home in Washington?

What's the current situation? "Asking for a friend."

This past week I know 2 people from different groups who were told they need to move to the same office as their manager for co-location. Thought it was random but now confirmed that this is the next big thing.
Not sure what happens if your manager is on the other side of the country but guessing some major changes are coming like re-orgs ??!!

Has anyone heard anything about the hours we need to be in office for RTO? Is there a dashboard with hours?

the RTO is so successful that they have already had to resort to bribery.

This week there are raffles for iPad, iPods, Grills/Air Fryers etc, what an absolute cluster

Hearing it's going to be big org changes. Also, all you publicly complaining about RTO and trying to protest coming into the office, you will get the response of finding out who is in charge.

Ah the results of RTO are upon us!

Look at all that productivity!

That’s a 20 Billion dollar loss. Way to go Stankey and BOD!

Get reports that are business critical? I mean there are so many things that are backwards but we’re focusing on keystrokes and badge swipes? Priorities seem a little backwards. If employees can’t deliver get rid of them for cause. If employees deliver and they aren’t in the office a certain number of hours what’s the difference?

If this is documented in Teamworks or somewhere else, let me know, but does 4 hours of PTO still count as a day in the office? And if we take 4 hours on two separate days during the week, does that count as two days in the office?

Have any other UGH/Optum employees taken a look at the manager center return to office documentation they've provided on Sharepoint? It's an absolute joke.

There, you'll find such gems as how to maximize your RTO with "group flow, the state where teams work in sync with shared purpose and energy." As if this neo-hippy BS concept weren't silly enough all on its own, half the document where this is found (amidst the other documentation that is supposed to soften RTO, mind you) is spent talking about how to best achieve this mythical state while working remote. They seriously spend half of a RTO document talking about best practices for when you're working remote. Just one more sign that this RTO thing is misguided and half-hearted. Makes me think the people who say they are simply trying to force resignations are on to something.

Another document, designed to help address resistance to RTO, contains features such as a super Orwellian discussion of "understanding the resistance" complete with a creepy rating system that has these awful color codes and faces that are all frowny-sinister on one end and stupid-silly happy on the other. Each face corresponds to a type of employee and tips are given on addressing them. There's even direction on how to "build support for change" by "exposing employees in the neutral category to those in the active supporter category" in order to sway them. SMDH...

This is going to go over like a led balloon. I've already had a couple of contacts from companies because people I work with have used me as a reference in their job search.

I am frustrated regarding the company's return-to-office policy with a disparity in its application. Employees are required to be in the office at least four days a week, with consequences for non-compliance, while some Directors are permitted to work from home. I know three Directors who work remotely, one of whom was recently hired back to Ford, with the other two working in Chicago and California. The upper management should lead by example and adhere to the same policies, advocating equal treatment and respect for all employees.

Do you really think hacking a few screens is going to make a difference when it comes to RTO? The decision has been made. The only way to avoid it is to quit, which is most likely exactly what they’re hoping will happen. That’s it. This kind of performative rebellion is useless.