No office, no bonus Telecom tells employees they wont get bonuses if they dont follow RTO policy Report: Strict enforcement comes as Vodafone is reducing domestic office space. Scharon Harding Mar 11, 2025 12:44 pm | 51 Credit: Getty Credit: Getty Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreVodafone, a British telecommunications firm, will withhold bonuses from employees who fail to comply with its return-to-office (RTO) policy, The Register reported this week.Last week, Vodafone reminded employees of its RTO policy requiring workers to be in-office 23 times a week, or at least eight days a month," according to a memo viewed by The Register. The memo also reportedly detailed the consequences of failing to adhere to the policy, which sets a guideline for compliance by the end of the company's first fiscal quarter in July:Employees who are not fully compliant with our hybrid working policy by the end of Q1 may be subject to disciplinary action in line with policy. Continued non-compliance with attendance expectations could result in a final written warning, which would mean individuals are not meeting the minimum performance standards and therefore would not be eligible for a bonus in 2026 or in subsequent years in which a final warning is given.The strict policy comes as tech and other firms struggle to get employees to voluntarily return to offices. In desperation, some companies have resorted to tactics like tracking employee badge swipes and VPNs. Vodafone is looking to lure employees into the office by threatening their income, similar to Dells approach of making remote workers ineligible for promotions.Vodafone told The Register that its hybrid work policies remain the same as they were in 2021, when the company first started allowing remote work in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, anonymous insiders told The Register that Vodafone started heightening efforts to get people to work in the office eight days a month during the last nine months, and, according to one of the people who The Register spoke with, it is now a mandate.Adding to the complexity and uncertainty around Vodafones newly strict RTO enforcement are claims of there being limited office space for employees. Vodafone is reducing office space at their offices in Newbury and Paddington, offshoring roles to Mlaga, [Spain], Romania, India, and other countries, and having some colleagues on legacy contracts based at home in the UK, an anonymous worker told The Register.The concerns echo those of employees from other large firms who say they were ushered back to in-person work before their employers procured sufficient office space. Amazon, for example, started requiring all corporate employees to work in-office five days a week as of January. But in December, Amazon reportedly had to delay RTO dates in some US cities due to a lack of properly prepared office space.When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Vodafone didn't respond to questions about the telecom reportedly withholding bonuses or about available office space. The company rep shared a statement saying: "Vodafones hybrid working policy has been in place since 2021, with all employees expected to be in the office 2-3 times a week, or at least 8 days a month. This allows flexibility for staff and for them to benefit from in-office collaboration."For years, including before it started allowing remote work internally in 2021, Vodafone has promoted remote work in marketing materials. For example, a January blog post targeting small businesses detailed the benefits of remote work for employers as including improved recruitment potential and cost savings, better employee retention, and improved productivity.Vodafones RTO push also follows numerous reports concluding that RTO mandates put employers at risk of losing senior-level talent and hurt employee retention.This article was updated with comment from Vodafone.Scharon HardingSenior Technology ReporterScharon HardingSenior Technology Reporter Scharon is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica writing news, reviews, and analysis on consumer gadgets and services. She's been reporting on technology for over 10 years, with bylines at Toms Hardware, Channelnomics, and CRN UK. 51 Comments