Microsoft has begun rolling out Workplace Check-in via Wi-Fi for Teams and Microsoft Places, a feature that automatically updates an employee’s office location when their device connects to a configured corporate network, reviving a tool the company delayed repeatedly following employee backlash in late 2025.

The feature builds on existing Teams presence signals by adding an automated work location layer tied to corporate Wi-Fi. When a device connects to a configured office network, Teams records the user as working from that building.

If the device disconnects from the network, the app relies on the user’s existing calendar schedule or manual overrides to maintain status updates, official Microsoft deployment documentation confirmed.

Microsoft announced the rollout on June 12, 2026, framing Workplace Check-in as an opt-in coordination tool for hybrid workplaces. The feature is disabled by default, requires tenant administrators to activate it at the organization level, and gives individual employees the option to decline sharing their location.

Privacy advocates and labor groups have flagged a structural gap in that arrangement. Employees can opt out on their own devices, but only after their employer has already activated the feature across the organization, a control structure that places the effective decision in management’s hands.

The June 2026 rollout marks Microsoft’s second attempt to introduce the feature. The company pulled an earlier version in late 2025 following widespread pushback over workplace surveillance concerns before revising its privacy controls.

Lan Ye, Microsoft’s president of the Teamwork Experiences Group, addressed those concerns in a June 2026 “Ask Me Anything” session on the Microsoft Teams subreddit. Responding to a user who asked why Teams was “designed to tattle on employees at every turn,” Ye stated that “Microsoft Teams does not track employees’ movements or attendance” and described the feature as “not a monitoring or surveillance tool.”