Amazon HQ in Seattle. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)

Amazon will allow employees who can work from home to do so through Jan. 8, 2021, according to an internal policy page obtained by GeekWire.

Amazon’s corporate offices are open now but the company says “employees who work in a role that can effectively be done from home are welcome to do so.”

Employees who want to go to the office must clear it with their managers. Amazon’s corporate buildings have implemented temperature screenings upon entry, physical distancing measures, and new sanitization practices.

An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the new policy to GeekWire.

“We continue to prioritize the health of our employees and follow local government guidance,” the spokesperson said.

Amazon was among the first large employers to authorize remote work when the coronavirus hit the U.S. In April, Amazon extended its work from home guidance through October 2020.

Microsoft still plans to give employees the option to work remotely through October. Meanwhile, other Seattle-area tech companies are foregoing their physical offices and shifting to a remote model indefinitely.

Employees are expected to continue working from the country, state, or province where they are based, according to the employee memo.

“There are several risks for the employee to consider such as personal income tax, visa requirements, and for the company, such as payroll and corporate tax associated with working from a location that is not an employee’s regular, contracted county, state, or province,” Amazon said in the document.

Amazon’s hometown, Seattle, just passed a payroll tax on top salaries that the city’s largest businesses pay.

The latest extension is troubling news for restaurants, shops, and service providers that operate in and around Amazon’s sprawling campus north of downtown Seattle, which has been largely empty since early March. Seattle restaurateur Tom Douglas permanently shuttered two of his restaurants in Amazon’s backyard on Wednesday.

Amazon is offering $10 million in financial assistance to businesses around its Seattle offices impacted by employees working from home.

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