Since COVID-19 restrictions eased, many companies have been calling their employees back to the office.

Some executives and leaders believe productivity increases when workers are in the office together, while others hope to increase in-person collaboration. Some employers are taking extremes to get people back, tracking attendance or threatening to terminate workers who don’t comply.

Companies hired at the fastest pace in 7 months in December ahead of escalating concerns over surging COVID cases, according to a report Wednesday from payroll processing firm ADP.

Private job growth totaled 807,000 for the month, well ahead of the Dow Jones estimate for 375,000 and the November gain of 505,000. The November total was revised lower from the initially reported 534,000.

As the raging omicron variant of COVID-19 infects workers across the nation, millions of those whose jobs don’t provide paid sick days are having to choose between their health and their paycheck.

While many companies instituted more robust sick leave policies at the beginning of the pandemic, some of those have since been scaled back with the rollout of the vaccines, even though omicron has managed to evade the shots. Meanwhile, the current labor shortage is adding to the pressure of workers having to decide whether to show up to their job sick if they can’t afford to stay home.