Facebook parent company Meta Platforms (FB) is delaying employees’ return to offices across the U.S. until March 28 and requiring proof of a COVID-19 booster shot from all workers to help protect against the surging Omicron variant of the respiratory disease.
Meta said on Monday the pushback of the return-to-office date gives employees more time regarding their work arrangements amid the lingering effects of the pandemic.
The social media giant, whose headquarters are in Menlo Park, California, previously planned to fully reopen offices for vaccinated employees on January 31.
If employees want to work remotely after March 28, they will need to request a deferral from Meta by mid-March, the company said, adding the deferrals will last between three and five months.
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 has forced several of Meta’s neighbors in Silicon Valley to push back their return-to-work plans, but Meta is one of the first big companies to tell its employees that proof of a booster shot will be required to work in the office.
Apple (AAPL) told employees last month that it did not have a firm date to be back in the office. In December, Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL) pushed back its January 10 return date indefinitely until a “stable, long-term working environment” could be assured.
Facebook is also the latest in a growing list of U.S. companies to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for employees. Citigroup (C) bank said last week that it would fire all unvaccinated employees across its global operations.
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