Apple will allow a limited number of employees back to its HQ from June 15 and is asking them to take COVID-19 tests

• Apple is beginning a phased return to the office for its California HQ workers next week, Bloomberg reports.
• Only a "very limited" number of employees will be allowed to return at first, and the company said in a memo it "strongly encouraged" staff to take company-provided COVID-19 tests before returning.
• Apple is unusual among the tech giants in getting its employees back to work so soon.

While tech giants like Facebook and Twitter have braced themselves for a near-permanent working from home future, Apple is sending the first of its employees back to work next week.

In a memo sent to staff and seen by Bloomberg, Apple said it would begin a phased return to the main California office on Monday June 15.

During this first phase only a "very limited" number of employees would be allowed to return, and only on certain days. Apple said it will be implementing social distancing, taking employees' temperatures as they arrive in the office, and making them take a daily "health check."

In the memo Apple also said it "strongly encouraged" its employees to take company-provided COVID-19 tests either on-site or at home before returning to work. Apple was not immediately available for comment on Bloomberg's report when contacted by Business Insider.

This is the first major phase of returning to work for Apple's tech employees, but many of its US retail employees have been back to work for weeks already. Apple re-opened a handful of stores during the week of May 11, then 25 more the following week. Its stores are taking similar measures to its offices, with mandatory face masks for staff and customers and temperature checks at the door.

Apple is an outlier in Silicon Valley in asking its employees to return to its physical offices. Facebook has told its employees it will open offices in July, but they will be allowed to work from home for the rest of the year. It also signaled a permanent change in saying it expects half its workforce to be remote by 2030. Twitter went even further, telling employees they can now work from home permanently. Google has said it will begin allowing people back to its offices from July 6, but will can perks such as the office gym and nap pods.