Scotiabank to begin letting employees return to office in mid-March

(Reuters) – Bank of Nova Scotia said on Friday it will let employees return to the majority of its Canadian offices on a voluntary basis from March 14 as COVID-19 curbs lift across the country.

“Starting on April 11, a ten-week gradual and phased re-entry into the office will begin, with different teams returning on different dates,” Barb Mason, Scotiabank’s chief human resources officer and group head, said in a statement.

Most of the employees will work on a hybrid basis, the bank said.

Scotiabank’s return to office plan comes a few weeks after rival Bank of Montreal said it will be bringing employees back to the office, becoming the first major Canadian lender to do so.

Most banks across Canada had delayed their back-to-office plans late last year due to the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant of COVID-19. https://reut.rs/3BTlBl6

(Reporting by Sohini Podder in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)