Patreon raises in-office days to three for US and Porto staff

Patreon is raising its in-office requirement from two to three days a week for employees assigned to its offices in New York, San Francisco and Porto, Portugal, a company spokesperson told Business Insider. The change is expected to take effect in the coming months, though no specific start date has been announced.

What changed

Office-assigned staff will now be expected in person three days a week, up from two. The compliance threshold is 75% attendance, meaning employees can miss roughly one of every four scheduled in-person days and still meet the requirement.

Crucially, the rule applies based on HR classification rather than where a person currently lives. Employees formally classified as fully remote are exempt — even if they live near a Patreon office. Conversely, someone working abroad but still assigned to San Francisco, New York or Porto remains subject to the attendance policy.

The move follows layoffs that affected around 20% of Patreon's workforce, which the company framed as an effort to improve agility and efficiency.

What it means for nomads

For remote workers employed by Patreon, the key question is a paperwork one: does your contract and HR system list your role as office-assigned or fully remote? That single designation determines whether the three-day rule applies to you.

If you are office-assigned but working from abroad, the new policy could mean living within practical commuting distance of one of the three offices, or absorbing more frequent — and more expensive — travel to hit the 75% threshold. Patreon has not published a public process for converting an office-based role to remote status, so anyone hoping for an exemption would need to raise reclassification directly with a manager or HR before the policy kicks in.

There is also an immigration angle worth flagging. For expats, a workplace listed on a visa or permit can be tied to a specific employer location. Any change in where you are formally expected to work may touch those records, so it is worth confirming both your employment classification and how it interacts with any permit you hold.

The bigger picture

Patreon's shift is a small but telling example of a broader trend among tech firms tightening remote flexibility after years of looser arrangements. For internationally mobile employees, the takeaway is not to assume that current location equals contractual status. The practical first step is simple: check how your role is classified in writing, and clarify with your employer before making any relocation or travel plans around it.

Originally reported by Stamped Nomad.