VodafoneZiggo wants staff to spend three days a week in office

Telecoms provider VodafoneZiggo has told its staff to spend at least three days a week in the office or leave the company.

The firm plans to step up its minimum attendance requirement from two days a week as it moves towards “the next phase of hybrid working”.

Employees who are unable or unwilling to meet the new contract terms will be able to leave through a temporary severance deal if the company’s works council approves the plan, a spokesman said.

“This regulation will be available through the month of January and is voluntary,” the company said.

VodafoneZiggo is the latest Dutch company to compel its staff to spend more time in the office as firms move away from the working patterns that were established during the pandemic.

Last week a court ruled that Amsterdam-based travel website Booking could require employees to be in the office for 40% of their working hours, or two days a week for full-time staff.

Booking’s works council had objected to the plan because of the impact on staff’s work-life balances and the cost of commuting, but the judge said that asking employees to travel to work twice a week was “very normal”.

ABN Amro bank also said during collective bargaining talks this year that it wants its staff to spend at least half their contracted hours in the office, replacing a flexible arrangement introduced in 2020.