Big Four PwC ramps up office attendance monitoring
Big Four firm PwC UK has increased its monitoring of employees’ office attendance by tracking key card usage and WiFi connections to ensure staff comply with in-office requirements.
According to the Financial Times, the firm has implemented a “traffic-light” system that enables senior partners to view staff attendance, with those falling behind flagged as “amber” or “red” on the dashboard.
Last September, PwC instructed staff to spend at least three days a week – or 60 per cent of their time – with clients or in the office.
If someone’s attendance dips below 60 per cent, they are marked as “amber”, and if it falls below 40 per cent, they are marked as “red” on a dashboard that went live in April.
The nature of the business, especially its consultancy arm, means associates and partners, when working at client requests, may need to be based at their clients’ offices.
In addition to monitoring key cards, the system also tracks work laptop WiFi connections, which indicate whether the staff member is at their client’s office.
According to the FT, those who breach the policy can face formal sanctions, with their performance evaluations and bonuses potentially affected.
However, the FT reported that the increased surveillance on staff has raised concerns over how people are being tracked, with one source quoted as saying they had sought more transparency.
In January, it was revealed that rival Big Four firm EY was monitoring its UK employees’ card key swipes to see if staff were adhering to its hybrid working guidelines.
This increased pressure on office attendance has been grappling the City over the last year, with several financial firms pushing on monitoring attendance, while others have removed flexible working structures, including Blackrock.
A PwC spokesperson said: “There are clear benefits to in-person work for both our people and clients, and we have seen these borne out since adjusting our approach to hybrid working at the beginning of this year.”
“Our approach is consistent with other businesses and is recognised and accepted by the vast majority of our people. We always listen to feedback and are committed to regular, clear and transparent communications about expectations.”
“The dashboard ensures our people have easy access to their attendance data, so they can manage and plan their time in a way that works for them, our teams and our clients.”
“We remain committed to flexibility, including the option for people to condense their usual working hours and finish early on Friday lunchtime for six weeks in the summer,” they added.