There are so many questions about RTO and many wrong assertions. This is what I KNOW based on direct involvement with the process.
- Badge Swipes IN are tracked and reported. The reports are provided to GL 32 leaders every Monday morning. The report contains the employee, the day and the time of the swipe. It also shows through a conditional format those that are non-compliant
- In-office duration is NOT tracked. The only way to track duration would be to have exit swipes. Exit swipes will NEVER be required because they violate fire codes in the US. You can't have the doors lock people in.
- Seats ARE randomly audited but only by "uptight" managers, not as a required practice. I was called out once for not being in my assigned desk. I was actually in the office but opted to use a "huddle room" for work because I was on the phone constantly and the area they had me in was loud with dev teams that had zero to do with my job.
- People have had "swipe teams". That's groups that get together and each week someone brings everyone's badges into the office and swipes for folks. They trade off week over week. It's common in non-guarded buildings and will 100% get you terminated "with cause". It became evident in my city because the swipe report occasionally show entire groups coming in at the same time everyday for a week. The "swipers" were in other words sloppy. I've seen it.