TD Bank opens offices for staffers as COVID cases ease – Reuters

A man wearing a protective face mask walks by TD Bank in the financial district, as the provincial phase 2 of reopening from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions begins in Toronto, Ontario, Canada June 24, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio

April 6 (Reuters) – Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) said on Wednesday its employees will return to offices on a voluntary basis this month, with an official return set for June.

The second-largest Canadian lender said in an internal memo seen by Reuters that it was preparing for the return of more than 65,000 employees to its offices in the months ahead.

Financial institutions across North America, which were forced to put their return-to-office plans on the back burner late last year after COVID cases surged due to the rapidly spreading Omicron variant, are now looking to bring employees back.

TD said in the memo while it expects the virus to remain in circulation with case counts moving higher and lower, public health units were now better equipped to handle new waves.

The bank added it will monitor and make adjustments to guidelines and mask mandates in its locations in line with local laws and conditions.

Canadian lender Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) issued a similar guidance in February allowing employees to return to the majority of its domestic offices on a voluntary basis from mid-March.

Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli

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