Corporate America revamps back-to-office plans on Omicron threat

 (Updates Starbucks, Alphabet, Goldman Sachs and adds GE; a
previous version of the Factbox was refiled to add media
packaging code)
    Jan 19 (Reuters) - Companies across the United States are
revising their back-to-office plans, driven by rising
uncertainty around the Omicron COVID-19 variant that has pushed
up infections to record levels in the world's biggest economy.
    U.S. financial firms were among the first to encourage
employees to return to offices, but rising cases have forced
most of the major banks to rethink their plans and tighten
vaccination mandates.
    
    Here is a list of companies that have taken new actions as
Omicron cases rose: 
        
 Company                    Latest action
 Meta Platforms Inc         Delays office reopening to
                            March 28 from Jan. 31, mandates
                            booster jabs for workers
                            returning to office
                                        
 Alphabet Inc               Delays January return-to-office
                            plan globally for an indefinite
                            period of time; temporarily
                            mandating weekly COVID-19 tests
                            for those entering Google
                            offices or facilities in the
                            United States             
                                        
 Amazon.com Inc             Shortens isolation to one week
                            from 10 days for those testing
                            positive for COVID-19 after
                            updated guidance from the CDC
                                        
 Starbucks Corp             Suspended COVID-19
                            vaccine-or-test requirement for
                            U.S. employees after Supreme
                            Court ruling, but strongly
                            encourages vaccinations and
                            boosters as well as disclosure
                            of vaccination status
                                          
 Walmart Inc                Reduces paid leave for workers
                            testing positive for COVID-19
                            to one week from two weeks
                            after updated CDC guidance
                                        
 Kroger Co                  Will stop providing paid
                            COVID-19 leave for unvaccinated
                            employees and will apply $50
                            monthly health insurance
                            surcharge to salaried non-union
                            workers who are unvaccinated
                                        
 General Electric Co        Suspended COVID-19 vaccine or
                            test requirement for employees
                            after the U.S. Supreme Court's
                            ruling             
 Chevron Corp               Postponed a scheduled January
                            full return to office for its
                            two largest U.S. work sites,
                            did not specify new return date
                                        
 Bank of America            Offers on-site vaccine booster
                            clinics, encourages employees
                            to work remotely             
 Citigroup                  Will begin implementing a
                            'no-jab, no-job' policy for
                            employees starting Jan. 14,
                            unless they have been granted
                            an exemption             
 Goldman Sachs              Told employees they could delay
                            returning to office to Feb. 1
                            after having previously allowed
                            workers to work from home until
                            Jan. 18             
 JPMorgan Chase & Co        Offers staff option of working
                            from home for the first two
                            weeks of 2022, with a caveat
                            that all employees are expected
                            to return to office no later
                            than Feb. 1             
 Morgan Stanley             Asks employees, contractors and
                            visitors to show proof of
                            vaccination before entering its
                            New York headquarters
 Wells Fargo & Co           Delays plans for employees to
                            return to the office "given the
                            changing external environment"
                                        
 Jefferies                  Asks staff to work remotely
                            until Jan. 31, according to a
                            post on Instagram from the
                            investment bank's chief
                            executive officer             
 Ford Motor Co.             Says it will push
                            return-to-work hybrid plan to
                            March as the state of the
                            COVID-19 pandemic remained
                            uncertain             
 
 (Compiled by Nivedita Balu, Akash Sriram, Praveen Paramasivam
and Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)