Dell tightens office attendance rules as sales staff told to be onsite full-time

Dell

Dell has issued a tougher return-to-office directive for its North American sales workforce, making it clear that flexible interpretations of its five-day office policy are no longer acceptable. A new internal memo sent by the company’s top sales leadership sets explicit expectations around daily office hours and signals a shift towards stricter enforcement.

The memo was sent by Jackie Miller, vice president of North American Commercial Sales, and addressed to onsite-classified sales employees. In it, Dell states that effective immediately, all such employees are required to work from the office five days a week for a minimum of eight hours per day. The policy applies to staff based at Dell’s major sales hubs in Round Rock in Texas, Nashville in Tennessee, and Oklahoma City.

The message follows internal checks that revealed widespread non-compliance with the company’s return-to-office mandate, which was first announced earlier this year. According to reports, Dell leadership conducted site visits and end-of-day walkthroughs that showed many employees badge-swiping in the morning and leaving well before the end of the workday. In some cases, staff were arriving late or leaving mid-afternoon, despite being classified as onsite workers.

Dell had already instructed its sales teams to return to the office five days a week starting in September 2024. However, the earlier guidance did not clearly define daily working hours, leaving room for interpretation by individual managers. The new memo removes that ambiguity by introducing a specific eight-hour requirement, closing what had become a growing gap between official policy and everyday practice.

In her note to staff, Miller stressed that physical presence in the office is essential for collaboration, communication, and productivity. She also clarified that any time away from the desk for personal reasons must now be accounted for using vacation time or personal business allowances. Informal arrangements that allowed employees to leave early and complete work from home are no longer permitted under the revised enforcement.

The stricter stance has reportedly caused frustration among some employees, particularly parents. Under earlier interpretations of the policy, managers had allowed flexibility for school pick-ups or childcare responsibilities, with employees finishing their workday remotely. Sales leadership has now made it clear that there are no standing exemptions for school schedules or regular childcare needs, a change that has been described internally as disruptive for families.

Dell has defended the move publicly, emphasising that it expects employees to work a regular working day while maintaining limited flexibility in certain situations. A company spokesperson said that staff in global roles who are required to take late-night calls may still be granted some accommodation. However, internal guidance distributed alongside the memo remains firm in most cases.

According to the internal frequently asked questions document, temporary medical conditions or occasional traffic-related delays may be approved at a manager’s discretion. By contrast, ongoing childcare responsibilities, caring for dependents, or handling personal business are explicitly listed as reasons that do not qualify for work-from-home exceptions.