It's never a happy moment for employees as companies ask them to start returning to the office more frequently or full-time. TikTok is using new tools to monitor employees' office attendance, and those found to be enjoying the comforts of home more than they are allowed to do could face disciplinary action.
TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, told its employees in the United States that they would join many other tech employees forced to return to the office, The New York Times reported. Beginning in October, it will be required to be in the building at least three days a week, with some teams required to be there every day.
This year we have seen many workers protesting demands to return to the office. For TikTok, the company’s use of a new tool, an app called MyRTO, will undoubtedly fuel employee anger.
myRTO is built into the company's in-house software and can track office attendance by monitoring card swipes. Anyone found to be "deviated" - absent on a day when they are supposed to be in the office - will be asked to explain.
The system also comes with a dashboard where attendance data can be viewed by employees, supervisors and the company's human resources department. Additionally, employees at TikTok’s New York office were reportedly told that lunch allowances would be tied to the app and they would need to register at the office to receive funds.
The shift away from home working has been one of the most contentious employment issues for many years. IBM and Zoom are the latest companies to bring employees back to the office, following the likes of Amazon. Corporate employees were outraged by Amazon's decision, sparking petitions and protests. But they never help. CEO Andy Jassy recently warned those who don't want to come back that "it's probably not going to work out well for you."
Zach Dunn, a hybrid work expert and founder of hybrid management company Robin, told the New York Times that ByteDance may be wondering what all the fuss is about. He said employees in the Asia-Pacific region where the owner is based have mostly been back in the office, often as full-time employees, for more than a year.