PwC UK has rolled out a new “traffic-light” dashboard to monitor office attendance, tracking badge swipes and laptop Wi-Fi usage to enforce its policy. The tool labels those below 60 per cent attendance as “amber” and those below 40 per cent as “red”, and links compliance with performance reviews and bonuses.
The new tool, unveiled to supervisors in April, draws from multiple data sources—including office pass swipes, laptop Wi-Fi connections, HR records and employee time sheets—to assess whether staff are meeting the requirement to spend at least 60 per cent of their time in the office or at client sites. The dashboard is accessible both to senior leaders—such as business unit heads, the chief financial, administrative and people officers—and to employees themselves.
This intensification of monitoring follows a memo sent in September 2024 in which PwC told its 23,000-strong UK workforce that it would begin tracking attendance against its three-days-a-week expectation, communicated in the same manner as billable hours.
The Financial Times reports that the increased scrutiny has sparked unease among employees. “I had lost count of the number of colleagues who raised concerns,” said one senior member of staff. Many have called for greater transparency about how data is collected and used. Performance evaluations and bonus outcomes may now be affected by attendance record, although exceptions—including for sickness and family responsibilities—can be granted.
PwC defends the measure as a necessary response to “persistent and deliberate non-compliance”, while emphasising its continued commitment to flexibility. The firm highlights benefits of in-person work for client service, team collaboration and graduate training, and points to summer initiatives such as early Friday finishes to soften the impact of the new system.
In a similar vein, rival EY introduced swipe-card monitoring last year, whereas Deloitte continues to adopt a more relaxed hybrid work stance.
A spokesperson for PwC commented that the dashboard ensures employees can manage their attendance proactively, underlining the firm’s aim to balance accountability with flexibility.
