JPMorgan is reportedly no longer reimbursing junior traders taking Ubers to and from work as the bank orders staff back to the office

• With JPMorgan bringing its employees back to the office on September 21, the bank is no longer compensating junior employees for their use of Ubers to get to work, a program that had been in place since March.
• This news comes a day after a reported COVID-19 case at the bank's New York office led to employees being sent home.
• The change could lead employees who had relied on the reimbursements to opt for alternative transit into the office, including potentially more crowded modes of transportation, like subways or buses.

As JPMorgan prepares to have sales and trading employees return to the office on September 21, the bank has ended reimbursements to junior employees for Uber trips to and from work, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. The program was put in place toward the beginning of the pandemic to offer an alternative commuting option that wasn't as crowded as public transit, according to the report.

Anyone below managing senior director, specifically junior traders at the company, were able to take part in the program, according to Bloomberg.

The end of the perk was messaged to employees last week, according to the report.

A spokesperson for JPMorgan declined to comment.

JPMorgan's push push to return to work is because the bank has seen a decline in productivity, "particularly on Mondays and Fridays," while traders were at home, CEO Jamie Dimon previously told an analyst. Dimon mentioned that there had also been a drop in productivity among younger employees working remotely.

Recently, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced an executive order stating that anyone who doesn't wear a mask while riding public transit will be fined $50.

The end of JPMorgan's Uber reimbursements comes just one day after a confirmed positive COVID-19 case in the office forced the company to send some employees home. The positive case is from the bank's equities trading division, according to Bloomberg News.