Amazon employees are outraged by a new warning about individual office attendance: ‘Is this supposed to scare people?’

• Some Amazon staff got an email warning them about their office-attendance records.
• Some employees say they got the email in error and that they are complying with Amazon’s RTO policy.
• It’s the latest controversy in Amazon’s effort to bring employees back to the office.

An email blunder concerning Amazon’s return-to-work policy has sparked further debate among its corporate workforce.

According to a copy of the email obtained by Insider, some Amazon employees received an email on Wednesday accusing them of failing to follow the company’s return-to-office policy, which requires coming into the office at least three times per week.

“We are reaching out because you are currently not meeting our expectation of joining your colleagues in the office at least three days a week, even though your assigned building is ready,” the email stated.

Some email recipients claim the warning was sent to them by mistake because they had been arriving at the office on time. According to an internal ticket obtained by Insider, at least one employee raised the possibility of a technical error in data generation and processing, stating that it is “not clear” why they received this email.

“I’ve seen many people across the company who believe they received the same notification incorrectly,” according to the ticket.

Amazon responded to the ticket by thanking employees for their input and explaining the criteria. The email was intended for employees who had badged in for fewer than three days per week for five or more of the previous eight weeks, who had not badged in for three or more of the previous four weeks, and whose building had been ready for eight weeks or more.

“While we’ve taken several steps to ensure that this email was sent to the correct recipients, we recognize that there may be instances where we got it wrong,” the company responded. “If you believe you received this email in error, please contact your manager to discuss your situation and ensure that it is correctly reflected in the system.”If you are a manager and believe an employee should not have received this email, please contact My HR.”

This is the latest incident involving Amazon’s contentious return-to-office process. In February, Amazon announced that most employees would be required to begin working in the office at least three times per week, reversing a pledge made last year not to force people back.

Amazon employees have staged a walkout and filed a petition in protest of the company’s return-to-work policy, and have repeatedly raised concerns about it during internal meetings. Those efforts have thus far been in vain, as the company recently doubled down on its policy, informing employees that they must relocate to central office locations or face a “voluntary resignation,” as previously reported by Insider.

‘Is this supposed to scare people?’

The email and internal ticket also suggest that Amazon is tracking individual office-attendance records, despite previously claiming that it only saved “anonymized” data.

Following the email incident, some employees compiled a list of questions for an internal “correction of error” report.

“Why were managers not given access to this data before the email campaign was sent out?” one of the questions asked. Another question: “Why was this communication sent to employees without any clear explanation of how the data was calculated?”

According to screenshots of an internal Slack channel reviewed by Insider, some Amazon employees are outraged.

Someone asked if they should start taking selfies just to prove they were at work. Another said it was “peak absurdity,” because most of the employees who received the warning email had been following the rules. Another person speculated that Amazon may be tracking the number of hours spent in the office in addition to the badge check-in data.

Some speculated that the email was a precursor to more layoffs and a full five-day-a-week return-to-work policy.

“Is this supposed to scare people?” one user asked in the Slack channel.

They also criticized the tone of the email, particularly the part that stated that the return to work has resulted in a “surge in energy and collaboration” at Amazon offices. One of the comments added to the internal ticket stated that future communications should avoid using “gaslighting-like language” because “it does not come across well.”

Here’s the full text of the email:

Hello,We previously stated that employees should work three or more days per week from the office. We’ve had three months with a lot more people back in the office, and you can feel the increase in energy and collaboration among Amazonians and across teams. We are contacting you because you are currently failing to meet our expectation of joining your colleagues in the office at least three days per week, despite the fact that your assigned building is ready. We anticipate that you will begin coming into the office three or more days per week. If you are unable to do so for any reason, or if you believe you received this email in error, please contact your manager as soon as possible. As a reminder, you can find frequently asked questions about working from home on Inside Amazon News and My HR.Thank you very much.