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Return-to-office (RTO) policies are associated with higher self-reported technology-based workplace deviance in one peer-reviewed U.S. study, but the study does not show that RTO caused it or that sabotage is rising. A separate survey of workers who had recently faced stricter RTO rules found reports of rule evasion and reduced output, alongside suspicions about employer motives. Those findings are worth taking seriously—but they describe different behaviors and do not prove a new era of RTO-driven sabotage.
What counts as workplace sabotage?
“Sabotage” can suggest deliberate damage, but the evidence here covers a wider range of conduct. The peer-reviewed study defines technology-based deviant workplace behavior as “an employee’s voluntarily using organizational technology to engage in behavior that violates significant organizational norms.” It measured 18 behaviors in three categories, rather than treating every workplace conflict or act of noncompliance as sabotage.
- Time abuse: Three items, including excessive personal internet use during work hours.
- Communication deviance: Four items, including pretending to attend a virtual meeting.
- Production deviance: Eleven items, including unauthorized access to shared files or emails.
These categories matter. Intentionally reducing output may fit production deviance; leaving early after swiping in is attendance-rule evasion in Enhancv’s survey. Applying for another job is exit planning, not automatically sabotage.
What did the peer-reviewed study find about RTO?
A 2025 study in Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal found that the presence of an RTO policy was consistently associated with higher technology-based deviance in its statistical models. The analysis used two samples of 643 and 585 drawn by randomly splitting the same dataset of 1,228 U.S. working adults—not two separately recruited representative populations. Participants answered an online survey between mid-September and mid-December 2024. Read the study at Springer Nature.
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This is an association, not proof that a mandate made employees behave differently. The survey was cross-sectional and self-reported, so it did not track the same people before and after an RTO change. The authors also did not record when each policy began or how strictly it was enforced. Most participants reported that their employer had no formal RTO policy, and hybrid work was the dominant arrangement. The study therefore cannot establish that misconduct increased over time or that RTO created a “new era.”
The study’s reported associations also point to supervisor relationship quality and employees’ perceptions of unfulfilled employer promises as relevant factors alongside RTO policy. These findings identify factors connected in the models; they do not establish which factor came first or what would prevent misconduct.
What workers reported after stricter RTO rules
Enhancv says it surveyed 1,000 full-time U.S. workers through Pollfish who had experienced a new or stricter RTO policy within the prior 12 months. Participation was limited to respondents who confirmed both full-time employment and a mandatory shift. Its percentages describe this selected group’s reports and perceptions, not verified conduct across all workers or employers. Read Enhancv’s report.
| Reported finding | What it describes |
|---|---|
| 72% suspected their RTO mandate was intended to drive voluntary attrition | Respondents’ belief about employer intent; it does not establish that an employer used RTO for that purpose. |
| 46% reported “coffee badging” | Swiping in and leaving early, as described in the report. It is attendance-rule evasion, not necessarily damage to an employer. |
| 36% reported applying for a new job from their current office desk | Job searching or exit planning, not by itself sabotage. |
| 32% reported intentionally reducing daily output | A self-reported behavior closer to production deviance. |
One anonymous respondent told Enhancv, “The idea that we need to be present is asinine. Many come in just to socialize and then go home. No more work is getting done here than at home.” That comment illustrates one respondent’s view; it is not an independently verified finding about productivity.
How to read the findings without overstating them
The studies cannot be compared by simply putting their percentages side by side: they asked different questions of different groups and measured different things. The peer-reviewed work examined a broad sample of working adults and an 18-item behavior measure; Enhancv focused on people who had recently experienced mandatory RTO changes and asked about specific reports and perceptions. Neither design establishes that an RTO mandate caused sabotage.
A separate Resume Now survey offers context about workplace conflict, but not evidence about RTO. Its Pollfish survey of 1,010 U.S. respondents was conducted on February 3, 2025, and asked about blame-shifting and related behavior generally. Resume Now reported that 61% said they had been thrown under the bus at work, 63% had witnessed it, and 29% said they witnessed it at least weekly. These are broad workplace responses, not RTO-specific measurements. Keith Spencer, a career expert at Resume Now, said, “Workplace blame-shifting and sabotage can have significant consequences on team dynamics, productivity, and employee morale.” Read the Resume Now survey announcement.
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What employers can take from the evidence
The findings do not test specific management interventions, so they cannot show that any one policy will prevent misconduct. The academic study’s authors recommend setting clear expectations for technology use and supporting employees through management. As practical considerations, organizations can also make attendance requirements and performance measures explicit, explain the business reasons for an RTO policy, and give employees a constructive way to raise concerns about broken expectations. These are evidence-informed considerations, not experimentally proven fixes.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallFor employees, it helps to distinguish a policy disagreement from conduct that violates workplace rules. If an RTO requirement is unclear or seems inconsistent with earlier promises, ask for the expectations in writing and use established channels to discuss the conflict. Planning a job search is different from deliberately undermining work.
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