‘Coffee badging’ employees are facing crackdown after using controversial trend to avoid the office

Employees who have been 'coffee badging' to avoid returning to the office full time could be facing a crackdown from their employers.

In the last four years since the Covid-19 pandemic turned the world upside down, hybrid working seems to be the norm for millions.

But are some workers now taking things a bit too far in order to have as little office time as possible?

This is what brings us onto the 'coffee badging' trend.

Employees who 'coffee badge' could face consequences. (Getty Stock Photo)

What is coffee badging?

The controversial new trend sees employees essentially rebelling against their company's return to office requirements, following the mass move to working from home.

The ideas is, on days where staff are required to be present in the office, employees tap in with their badges, before staying long enough to grab a coffee - or attend a quick meeting.

They then leave, having only shown their faces in the office, instead of committing to a full working day like they might have done pre-pandemic.

Turns out this isn't exactly what employers had in mind.

Yet it seems to be pretty commonplace among office workers.

Popularity of the trend

In a recent study, an overwhelming number of employees admitted to coffee-badging.

The OwlLabs report, from last year, revealed that 58 percent of workers partake in the trend in order to 'show their face'.

Coffee badging involves tapping into the office to 'show your face'. (Getty Stock Photo)

But since everybody has been talking about the move on social media, it seems employers are now cracking down on the trick and making it more difficult to simply badge in and out.

Company crackdowns

Amazon, for one, is reportedly considering implementing a 'minimum time' requirement, which would essentially mean employees have to stay in the office for a minimum of 2-6 hours.

Slack messages seen by the Seattle Times revealed employees discussing the potential new rule.

Apparently, some employees has been told they needed to be in for two hours, while others said there was a six-hour requirement, according to Business Insider.

The Seattle Times reported that one Amazon worker said on Slack that while the minimum time requirement wasn't mandatory yet "it is brewing.”

“Not sure what this all means. This place is becoming less and less hospitable to work,” they said.

Amazon is reportedly considering implementing a minimum time requirement (Dilara Irem Sancar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Margaret Callahan, an Amazon spokesperson, said: "The company made the return-to-office mandate because it believed that would yield the best long-term results for our customers, business and culture. And it has.

"The vast majority of employees are in the office more frequently, there's more energy, connection and collaboration, and we're hearing that from employees and the businesses that surround our offices."

She added that the company is '[speaking] directly with employees who haven't regularly been spending meaningful amounts of time in the office.'

UNILAD has reached out to Amazon for further comment.