Ford Motor is cracking down on remote work, with some white-collar employees saying they’ve been warned their jobs could come to a screeching halt if they don’t start showing up at the office.
The Dearborn, Mich., automaker informed salaried staff in June that starting Sept. 1, most would need to be in the office four days a week, an escalation from the three days in-office workweeks most people adhered to, according to Reuters.
The company framed the change as part of CEO Jim Farley’s broader push to make Ford a leaner, faster-moving electric vehicle company.
Since then, employees say, Ford has begun sending automated attendance warnings based on badge-swipe data, flagging those not meeting the new requirements, according to Business Insider.
Three current and former employees told the business news website that the emails threatened “discipline up to and including termination.” Two said they had received those notices even though their in-office schedules had been cleared with managers under previous flexible arrangements.
