COMP NEWS – Law firm David Polk & Wardwell LLP is serious about bringing its employees back into the office — so serious, in fact, that it’s threatening to slash bonuses for those who don’t comply.

Companies are starting to get serious about enforcing return-to-office policies. And if you’re one of the workers who doesn’t want to come back, you might see it reflected in your paycheck.

The Wall Street Journal reports that at least one company — the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP — told employees that they could see their bonuses cut if they don’t work from the company’s office at least three days per week. 

“We’re very focused on having our team in at the same time,” Neil Barr, chair and managing partner at Davis Polk, told the Wall Street Journal. “The expectation is that you come to the office and you support the culture of the firm by being here in person.”

Davis Polk did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

Companies have been increasingly laying on pressure to bring workers back into the office. While some have taken an easy approach, others are becoming more aggressive — and sometimes threatening consequences — in the way they rebalance existing remote and hybrid work schedules.

While many companies have called employees back to the office at least a few days per week, they haven’t always had an easy time getting employees to comply. Some companies have continued to take a fairly lax approach to enforcing these mandates, but others have begun actively tracking employees’ in-office time, threatening to fire workers who don’t return, or in the case of Davis Polk, saying workers’ bonuses could be impacted.

 

One way or another, it seems, working remotely could mean lower pay for many workers. That’s because even companies that have chosen to embrace remote work may be doing so in part because it allows them to pay workers less. Nearly half of surveyed US remote workers said they’d be willing to take up to a 5% pay cut to continue working remotely at least part-time, according to the State of Remote Work survey that Owl Labs and Global Workplace Analytics conducted last September.

 

A National Bureau of Economic Research working paper found that 38% of firms in the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Survey of Business Uncertainty reported using remote work as a way to both keep employees happy and moderate wage growth pressure. That was particularly true among larger firms. 

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