Best Buy will bring a "small number" of teams with heavy holiday-season responsibility back to its Richfield headquarters in November.
The return — in a hybrid model — will serve as a pilot for its broader back-to-work plan to return office workers in early 2022, the company said.
Many companies in the Twin Cities and across the country had planned to bring employees back to corporate campuses over the summer or early fall, as more Americans become vaccinated against COVID-19. However, the surge in cases because of the delta variant has postponed plans in many cases.
Employees who return to Best Buy's headquarters in November must be vaccinated. The company said it will make work-from-home accommodations for those workers with health and religious exemptions. The exact details of the company's back-to-work plan could be revised as details of the Biden administration's broader vaccination mandate are disclosed.
Other exceptions to working in the office will be limited, but could include an employee who has young children who cannot yet be vaccinated.
Almost 90% of Best Buy corporate employees are vaccinated, the company said.
All employees who are fully vaccinated, both in stores and at headquarters, will receive a $250 bonus. The company also will continue to hold vaccination clinics for employees and in some cases their families.
Over the summer, Best Buy had launched a sweepstakes for vaccinated employees with 21 workers winning $5,000 in cash prizes.
