Google tightens ‘Work From Anywhere’ policy with new restrictions

Google has significantly revised its pandemic-era Work From Anywhere (WFA) policy, imposing strict new limits on where employees can work remotely. The updated rules, which took effect earlier this summer, mean that staff can no longer use their WFA allowance to work from home or from Google offices in other states or countries.

Previously, the policy allowed employees to work from any location outside their main office for up to four weeks per year, offering flexibility to split those days as they pleased. Under the revised system, however, WFA days can now only be used for locations away from both home and the primary office.

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According to internal documents cited by CNBC, “Whether you log one WFA day or five WFA days in a given work week, one WFA week will be deducted from your annual balance.” In effect, this means that even a single remote day taken during the week will count as a full week from the employee’s yearly WFA quota.

The new restrictions also prohibit employees from working at Google offices in other regions or countries during their WFA periods, citing “legal and financial implications of cross-border work.” Furthermore, employees may be required to align their working hours with the business hours of the location they are operating from.

This move marks another step in Google’s broader effort to reassert in-office discipline after years of pandemic-driven flexibility. Earlier this year, the company warned that employees in remote roles could risk losing their positions if they failed to comply with stricter hybrid schedules.

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