Google is giving its employees an extra month of working completely remotely. As of April, the company will need at least three days a week to return to the office. The new rules will take effect from 4 April this year.

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The tech giant will end its so-called voluntary “work from home” period. Remember, it was introduced at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

According to Google, the change will affect offices in the Bay Area and several other locations in the United States. The decision on which employees will come into the office for three days will depend on the products and services their teams are working on.

Employees can request the extension of remote work opportunities, as well as apply to change the location of the main office. The company announced that since June of last year it has looked positively at about 85% of these applications, from about 14,000. employees worldwide.

Google and other big tech companies were among the first to move home offices entirely early in the pandemic. Since then, it has repeatedly postponed when to return to offices, adjusting rules due to new Covid variants such as Delta and Omicron.

Now, Google is less optimistic about returning to office ads, so as not to make decisions that will have to be rolled back later. Last week, the company stopped requiring face masks to be worn in most of its US offices and restored pre-pandemic benefits such as on-site massages, cafes and gyms.

Microsoft said it will reopen offices in Washington state and the Bay Area, while Amazon has raised the need for face masks for many vaccinated warehouse workers.

Google added that those returning to the office on April 4 will have to be vaccinated. Unless they get the proper approval from a doctor, but then they will have to wear masks and undergo regular tests.