Amazon Cracks Down on ‘Coffee Badging’ to Enforce Return-to-Office Policy

Amazon has initiated monitoring the number of hours corporate employees spend in the office to prevent the practice known as “coffee badging,” where employees briefly show up, grab a coffee, and leave.

As reported by Business Insider, this measure aims to enforce the company’s return-to-office policy.

How Coffee Badging Was Possible in Amazon:

Previously, Amazon did not enforce the minimum hours employees needed to stay in the office. This lack of regulation allowed employees to come in briefly, perform the minimal presence required to appear compliant, and then leave.

To address this, Amazon has now instituted a policy requiring a minimum of two hours per office visit for teams such as retail and cloud computing. Some teams must stay for at least six hours per visit to count as office attendance.

Reasons for Coffee Badging:

Amazon’s return-to-office policy, announced early last year, faced significant resistance. Approximately 30,000 employees signed an internal petition opposing the policy.

Despite the pushback, Amazon has reinforced its stance, mandating that employees move closer to their teams and halting promotions for those who do not comply.

Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan emphasized in an email to Business Insider that the company would “speak directly” to employees who did not meet the required office hours.

Industry-Wide Issue:

Amazon is not alone in dealing with coffee badging. A videoconferencing company Owl Labs survey found that 58% of hybrid worker respondents admitted to this practice.

Additionally, research from WFH Research indicated that managers are becoming stricter with return-to-office policies. Twenty-three percent of managers reported that employees who resisted these policies faced termination, up from 11 percent in 2022.