After 4 delays due to COVID, Wells Fargo details plans for workers to return to office
After postponing its return to work indefinitely over the holidays, Wells Fargo has set a date for its employees to come back to the office.
Most of the bank’s workers will begin to return to a “hybrid flexible” work model beginning March 14, according to an internal memo from Chief Operating Officer Scott Powell.
The date marks just about two years since the bank first sent workers home during the initial COVID outbreak.
Eligible employees could voluntarily return to the office beginning Wednesday, Feb. 9, Powell said in the Wednesday memo. That includes fully vaccinated workers in client-facing and enterprise roles.
Those employees can also resume business meetings, travel and client visits, according to Powell.
Wells Fargo is San Francisco-based but has its largest employment hub here in Charlotte, with more than 27,000 employees here. The bank employs more than 260,000 total workers.
Mask requirements
Vaccinated and unvaccinated employees will be subject to different policies when they return to work, the bank memo said.
Employees who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will only have to wear a mask at work if local mandates require it.
Workers who haven’t gotten their coronavirus vaccine shots will be subject to testing requirements and must wear a mask at all times unless eating, drinking or working in an enclosed room. That doesn’t include a cubicle, the memo added.
Those employees in customer-facing retail locations — such as branches — are still required to wear a mask at all times.
‘Spending time together in the office’
Wells Fargo employees will be expected to return to the office on-schedule regardless of their vaccination status, the memo said.
Powell said the bank’s hybrid flexible model “emphasizes spending time together in the office” while introducing hybrid work options for employees in most jobs.
“We strongly believe in the benefits of seeing our colleagues on a regular basis,” Powell wrote in the memo.
Other banks return to work plans
Charlotte’s biggest banks — some of the city’s largest employers — have taken different approaches to bringing workers back to in-person work after the initial COVID outbreak cleared out uptown office buildings two years ago.
Truist invited more employees back to the office on a voluntary basis last month, but those who can work remotely weren’t required to come back to their cubicles. The Charlotte-based combination of BB&T and SunTrust launched its return to the office plans in October.
Most of the bank’s office workers are still working remotely, Truist told the Observer in January.
Bank of America invited all vaccinated employees back to the office in July. But amid the omicron spike, it asked employees that had been coming in to work to stay home.
This story was originally published February 10, 2022 at 9:51 AM with the headline "After 4 delays due to COVID, Wells Fargo details plans for workers to return to office."
