EY is tracking staff office attendance with 'turnstile access' data, as some teams disregard RTO mandates

Senior employees at EY are looking at "turnstile access" and swipe card entry data to check if staff are complying with return-to-office rules.

• Senior employees at EY are looking at data that shows how frequently staff are in the office. 
• At least 50% of some of its teams are disregarding its mandate to be in the office two days a week.
• EY joins firms like JPMorgan and Citigroup that have made their return-to-office policies increasingly strict. 

Consulting giant EY is keeping track of how often staff attend its offices through turnstile access data as some teams disregard its return to office policies in the UK,  the Financial Times reported first.

Partners at the accounting firm are being shown anonymized turnstile data as well as swipe card entry data so they're aware of how frequently staff are attending its offices, people at the firm informed the FT. The firm's hybrid working policy requires staff to come into the office twice a week, but at least 50% of some teams are flouting this rule. 

One person told the FT that some partners are being shown data that connects office attendance to mid-year performance ratings. 

Another source said the statistics would be used as a "carrot rather than a stick" strategy to encourage teams to follow its hybrid working policies. 

EY is the latest in a string of financial services and consultancy companies firms to put strict return-to-office mandates in place.

Citigroup started monitoring whether workers were coming in for the required three days a week by checking swipe card data in August. It said workers who are consistently not in the office may be disciplined from adjusted bonuses to being fired. 

Similarly, JPMorgan required employees to return to its office three to five days a week, depending on seniority. It also collected data to see which employees were meeting its in-office quotas and compiled it into reports for managers. 

Meanwhile, Kevin Ellis, the boss of another Big Four firm PWC, recently said that junior workers need to be in the office more to progress because AI is ready to take over parts of their jobs. 

"If you're asking me my opinion on how you succeed in your career," he said at the World Economic Forum. "I'd be in the office four to five days a week."

EY declined to comment when contacted by Business Insider.