TD Bank to Let More Workers Back This Month, With Full Return by June

(Bloomberg) -- Toronto-Dominion Bank plans to give most employees the option to return to the office this month and is aiming for workers to officially transition to their new working models by June.

Staff will hear more from their business-unit leaders about new work routines, whether in-office or hybrid, along with the timing of their return, according to a memo Wednesday from Kenn Lalonde, chief human resources officer at the Toronto-based bank.

“After more than two years, it's time to come together again -- joining the thousands of colleagues already on-site today,” Lalonde said in the memo. “This will be a time of listening, learning and building our new workplaces together.”

Toronto-Dominion is joining other Canadian financial firms including Bank of Nova Scotia, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Manulife Financial Corp. in calling workers back to the office. Those plans are being made even as Ontario, where all of the firms are based, experiences a rise in Covid-19 cases. The province had 1,074 coronavirus hospitalizations as of Wednesday, compared with 611 two weeks ago.

“While the Covid-19 virus will be with us for the long-term, and case counts likely to rise and fall, public health units are much better equipped to handle new waves,” Lalonde said in the memo.

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