The controversial workplace trend of ‘coffee badging’ has forced some big companies to act.
For those not in the know: coffee badging is the practice of turning up for a shift at the office, signing in by whatever means to show you’ve been in the office, then disappearing home under the guise of heading out for a coffee.
It’s become particularly common since companies began mandating returns to the office. The Covid era saw a boom in working from home, with many members of the workforce struggling to cope with the time, energy, and social pressures of heading back to the office.
With work-from-home productivity figures showing it can be a more effective way to work than going to an office, many feel that return-to-office mandates are about employer control more than ensuring everyone does a good job.
Coffee badging has been used as a way to circumvent office time, essentially by showing face in the office to meet the criteria of being in on certain days for an undefined period of time.
According to a 2023 study by Owl Labs, it’s a pretty common practice among hybrid workers who split their week between days at home and days in the office.
It speaks to a broader point of friction between employers and employees, with many employees now having experienced the lower costs and increased productivity they get from working from home.
For many, the social side of being in the office doesn’t appeal, and they feel that they’re able to collaborate effectively with colleagues over video calls and instant messaging apps.
Employers worry that they’re not seeing enough productivity out of workers, despite many figures pointing to an increase in productivity from home workers compared with office workers, and others view hours logged in the office as a sign of commitment that’s more worthy of promotion than any results delivered from home.
One company that saw fit to crack down on anyone trying to get around their office-working mandates is Amazon, which took to monitoring how many hours each employee spends in their local office.
As of January 2025, the retail giant has gone several steps further by mandating full-time office work for all of its staff.
"Over a year ago we asked employees to start coming into the office three or more days per week," said Amazon spokeswoman Margaret Callahan whilst discussing the firm’s initial curtailing of coffee badging. "Because we believe it would yield the best long-term results for our customers, business, and culture."
"And it has," she continued. "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."
The full-time office hours have seen a backlash from Amazon staff, with Telegraph reporting that 500 workers had signed an open letter saying the move was “non-data-driven” and that it was “dismissing their humanity”.
“Employers who are considering changing their flexible working policies should survey staff on their preferences around working set-ups,” Molly Johnson-Jones, CEO and co-founder of flexible working platform Flexa, told HR Magazine. “They should try to understand why employees want certain ways of working, not just what they want.
“Using this information, employers can understand the true impact that returning to the office will have on staff. This enables informed decisions about what set up is truly best for team wellbeing, productivity and retention.
“If employers ultimately decide that returning to office-based work is the best option, they can help staff with the transition. For example, offer subsidised travel and childcare, or implement flexible hours so that parents can fit work around the school run.”
Featured Image Credit: Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty ImagesTopics: UK Food
Rachael Davis