Thread regarding Wells Fargo & Co. layoffs

I do this all the time with no problems. Just stay in the United States when you login. It’s only a week, there won’t be tax consequences. Go enjoy your week.

This whole thing has blown way out of proportion. Covid, we worked from home. The decision to come back should have been presented with two options.

1. Those who want to work in office do so.
2. Those who want to work from home stay home.
   Good grief. Given the options presented in that way, no body could say it's 'unfair' either.

@kx yes, technology executes miracles like the in office dashboard where your manager can see how many partial days youve declared. And HR is getting after managers when they see employees not meeting their in office expectations.

You only think your behavior is invisible

Policy and Real Life are wholly separate worlds. I have no doubt that many of the restrictions and "can't do"'s are real on paper. But again, technology executes miracles. And someone will have to define how many is "too many" half days to get "on a list" because apparently 40, ain't it. So do tell mon frère.

There actually is a policy against this. On your WFH days, you have to be working at your home location. Seriously, it's out there. Ridiculous? of course it is.

Yes. If you take too many half days, you absolutely will go on "the list"

"If you travel on Vacation to another country, you are allowed to use your BYOD smartphone to access the network."

No. This is 100% false. @jh is trolling, trying to get people fired.

@g6
I noticed that they relaxed the rules around BYOD.
If you travel on Vacation to another country, you are allowed to use your BYOD smartphone to access the network.
Laptops of course are Not Allowed to be carried overseas.

As everyone has already said, you are not allowed to work from an overseas location unless you have business travel authorization

It's not as flexible as people responding are making it. Even working in the U.S., depending on the state or city, you may trigger tax consequences for the company if you work outside your assigned work location/zip code. It can depend on the length of time or frequency of work

As long as you connect from anywhere in the continental US you're fine.

@fs
If you have a good manager, yes.
Otherwise, It could go to final warning or termination directly

@g6 clarification: if you leave the country, they will deactivate your company access; not necessarily the device. But they will prevent you from working remote.

If you satisfy the in-office expectations by using your PTO, then largely no one will care. That said, I wouldn't leave the country. And I'd be careful what state you went to.

➡️If you login from another country a) they monitor it and b)they can (and will) block and deactivate your devices (including your phone if you have a BYOD). Even if you are traveling for work out of the country (e.g. to Bangalore or Hydrabad) you are not allowed to take company devices. They do monitor it and they will violate you, its a security risk.

➡️One of the key reasons they're not allowing people to work from anywhere anymore is the tax consequences. If I work one day in minnesota, I owe Minnesota taxes. During covid they weren't enforcing such things. Now states are looking to crack down, so be cautious about where you go.

Shhhh. Nobody better tell on me for WFH-ing out of the country. Half days and Technology are a helluva dr-g.

@OP did it last week. My PTO counted as in office to meet those reporting expectations and the remote days were remote days. Never had a concern on location in the past as long as my average of in office hours was met and the office hours when actually were met were at my assigned one. Out of country you can’t work at all if on vacation but sounds like that’s not the case so I say do it. Worst case they will say something as a warning and then if it happens again it will be added to workday.

Next time just take a full PTO week off from work, cheapskate.

Then you wouldn't even have to worry about such nonsense.

OP here I don't really care about specific rules for licensed roles, unless those rules have led to the setup of firm-wide dashboards that are monitoring the remote login location for everyone, and non-licensed people risk getting caught up in the net. It doesn't sound like that's the case.

I wouldn't be going out of the country, just working from another state for a week. Fortunately it sounds like Wells has not ki-led this level of flexibility yet.

Thanks everyone

I would confirm with manager.
And make sure you have some kind of proof that manager approved.

@at is correct. Look up story name WFA RSL ( WFA residential supervisory locations) on teamworks. All comes from FINRA rule 3110.19 and the requirements for working remotely. The rule requires audits of remote locations & all the requirements for licensed employees. Also requires that to qualify you must be in office 3 days a week unless a wfh accommodation. Thats why you don’t see any brokerage firm doing 2 days in office. This is for licensed people in WIM. I don’t know how the bank rules are.

3 1/2 days? Enjoy working behind the Wendy”s dumpster after you get fired for a spurious cause.

My team member does that. Not sure if she got any permission. Within tech. Non developer role. Family reason connected from different states.

@at lots of completely false statements here. Not sure why you would take the time to make stuff up.

@at

Oh, OK.
Be sure to let the C-suite and BOD know that they're all on the chopping block for termination, every time they log on for work from their vacation homes in Tahoe and Key West.

Ridiculous scare tactics, based on a control-freak mindset.
OP is OK to work under the circumstances stated, stop trying to freak them out.

The effort you described to surveil and reprimand would be better expended shoring-up the cybersecurity of all of the USA's corporate visa-holder employees, dual citizens, and other dubiously aligned contractors and stake-holders who have inside access to the systems.

You are required to work from home at the residence location listed on teamworks especially if you are licensed. The OSJ (office of supervisory jurisdiction) monitors remote locations for FINRA. That where the 3/2 rule comes from. That’s why they have been doing home audit for all licensed employees since returning from COVID. It’s a security issue. If you are caught working from a non approved location you could be terminated. & you absolutely cannot log in to the system if you are outside the US. Firm violation. They track locations & it shuts down access.

Paris, France - NO
Paris, Texas - OK

London, UK - NO
London, Ohio - OK

:)

@a2 - Sh1t, I need to cancel my holed up week in Mozambique.

OMG is this what it has come down to? Such a sad state of affairs all you emplyees have to resort to this type of planning just to get by at work nowadays!
HORRIBLE!!!!!

I work from a different state once a month for 3 days out of the month. I’ve done this since September and my manager knows and it’s never been an issue. I’m an exempt employee and am on a 3/2 in office schedule not sure if that makes a difference.

@OP
Just keep your mouth shut and you should be fine.

WFH doesn't mean that you're literally required to be working from your primary place of residence...it's simply to designate that yes, you're working, but you're not physically "at work" in one of the company's offices.

You've already got one foot into vacation mode with three 1/2-days scheduled for that week, so just relax and enjoy the scenery. Do your work when you're scheduled to do it, then have fun and soak-in the lovely STR surroundings with your wife, for a much deserved change of pace.

I agree with the other post, that it's probably best to stay within the USA.
And if you'll be in a different time zone than usual, be mindful of that.
I would also keep it to myself, rather than inform coworkers, boss, etc. of my whereabouts for that week, and not post on social media about where I am or what I'm doing that week. Just stick to work, and otherwise "go dark."
Other than that, go for it!

If they trust you enough to work remotely, then it's OK to do so from wherever works best for YOU!

Should be fine as long as it is on US territory.
Canada, Europe, other countries are a No-Go.