With many of us riding and running only indoors due to coronavirus-related restrictions, the topic of Zwift’s “Working from Home” (formerly “Unemployed”) achievement badge is popping up regularly. This is the badge awarded when you (as Zwift says), “Ride a lap 14 days in a row”.
Lots of questions surround this badge, including:
- How far do you have to go in order for Zwift to count your activity for the day?
- Can you get the achievement by running?
- When is the time cutoff each day?
- How many XP do I get for the achievement?
Here are some answers – a few of which aren’t definitive. We invite your comments below if you can provide more definitive information than we’ve got here!
Note: this info also applies to the “Habitual” (3 days in a row) and “Addicted” (7 days in a row) badges.
How Far?
While Zwift’s official line from the forums (and this support post) is 10km, testing shows the limit to be 5km in a single activity. Zwifter Dave Higgins recently received the Working from Home badge, and posted his ride log as proof that 5km in a day will get you the badge:
Ride “A Lap”?
The badge says “Ride a lap 14 days in a row” but clearly that text needs to be updated. No lap of anything is required – it appears to be strictly distance-based. Also, “riding” isn’t required at all… which brings us to:
Does Running Count?
Yes. The limit for runners appears to be 5km in a single activity, just like cyclists. (It’s possibly even lower, but we know it’s not higher than 5km.)
Time Cutoff
According to Zwift support, the 24-hour window in which you must do each day’s activity is based on your local time. So if you ride at 6 am one day, then 10 pm the next day – those should count as two activities on consecutive days. (See Dave’s ride above on Sunday March 29th at 9:26 am and the next ride 33 hours later on Monday at 18:45 as proof.)
It’s the start time that matters, not your end time. So if you start your ride at 23:55, it still counts as riding on the day you began the ride.
We haven’t tested this, but our guess is if your activity shows up on a particular day in the guest world calendar (see orange sections around days) then it will be applied to that day for the purposes of the Working from Home achievement badge.
XP Bonus
The XP awarded for these achievements is minimal: 50 XP.
When Do I Get the Badge?
Here’s one that confuses a lot of Zwifters! You get the badge at the start of your first activity after the one which achieved the goal.
So on your 14th day’s first activity, you won’t get the Working from Home badge. But if you save that activity, then start another one, the badge should pop right up. A bit silly and confusing, but there you have it!
Questions or Comments
We hope this answers a lot of your questions about these badges. Got more questions or comments? Post below! (Note: we aren’t Zwift support. If you think you should have gotten the badge, but haven’t, reaching out to us via comments or email isn’t going to fix anything.)
14 days straight and no badge.
Lets see tonight when I’ll ride again.
It will be the 15th day that it will pop for you.
Either way, please let us know, what did you ride on the 5km and 8km days? Did you or did you not complete a timed lap (like volcanno circuit or any other route?)
I think I did. I’m new to this so I’m trying to understand all the stages and nuances.
Well. Did you get it on 15th?
does it have to be 14 runs in a row and 14 rides or a mix?
Mix is fine.
I did 14 days as a mix and didn’t get the badge.
I recently attempted this badge, and was gutted after finsihing when I read that it needed a 10km ‘lap’ (on day14 I rode 2x ~7km). I logged in in ‘watch only’ mode the following day, and no badge. So I spent my ‘rest day’ planning the next 14 days to try again. But behold! On day 16, when I started a proper ride, up it popped – so happy! Not sure about the XP for badges, but of course there is XP for any miles and climbs completed in attempting the badges. The badges motivate me, so more rides means… Read more »
Thanks for this! I was in the exact same situation this morning. Starting a proper ride rather than “just watch” was the ticket.
I did 14 days straight and did not get the badge. There was a very lazy 4.1km in there. Just another piece of info.
Did you complete a timed lap on the 4km and 9km days?
You don’t need to … as the article says it is distance based, and doesn’t have to be a “lap” of anything. The problem with Yohan’s is that one of the activities was less than 4km.
I got the badge last week – I thought I screwed up cause I did a 7.5KM lap in NYC thinking 10km is the limit but it’s not! Check out my daily activities – the days and times are strange in some of them. Especially the 18th April.
Image didn’t get added on first try
Can you check what the Zwift calendar shows you have done for each day? Particularly that 18th of April?
The 4km ride you did looks like is cancelled by the next longer one on the same day anyway.
Definitely looks like you should have got it 2 days earlier??
The 4km was a run so it probably doesn’t count towards the badge.
They should add the retired badge – 365 days in a row. 🙂
how about a “out of work due corona panic” badge 🙄
Am on day 30 running but 3km per day isn’t keeping the zwift badge gods happy
I got unemployed badge on 4/21, with one ride clearly starting after midnight eastern, 9 pm pacific. I’m not sure what the cutoff is but it’s not exactly at that time.
the lines in the world schedule do show me as riding on the 15th, though.
Interesting!
You have 2 rides on 18th April like me too!
(in my case, i did ride two rides back to back on the 18th to get nyc badges, so that part at least makes sense for me.)
Summer vs winter time ? We have that in Europe…
I did this 2 weeks ago on the bike. Its a lap of any course 14 days in a row with choice of any course on any day. You get the badge when you log in after completing your 14th ride. I did this after my last ride on the 14th day and the badge was given.
So… you didn’t read the post above, eh? 😉 Congrats on your badge.
Eric, I managed this badge a couple of months ago after I actually took early retirement myself.
I act found that you can do laps of the volcano and they count from the normal watopia start points.
Also to help I did a quick cheat…. I rode at 2350 hrs and again at 0010 and got 2 x days worth in quick sucession leaving plenty of time between rides. 😋
I seem to recall earning 25 XP for this achievement, a few days ago. It caught me off-guard because it was awarded when I began my 2nd ride of the day, so I wasn’t quick enough to snap a screenshot.
I saw they were actually different in their descriptions – Cut a lap on 3, 10km per day on 7, and cut a lap on 14. I had done lap badges each day because I was following the Route Hero (got up at 3am to ride the volcanos too! But have concentrated on easy laps mainly). A couple of the days in the 7 days I had only done 6 or 8km short routes to get those badges. BUT I had done multiple of those little rides so that my km for the day was over 10km. Then I had… Read more »
Can Dave Higgins confirm on the days he did 5km, did he complete a lap of something? For example Volcano?
No laps on any of them. Not required.
I was literally trying to tease all this information from ZI and other sites (reddit) yesterday. Figured I’d play it safe today and log a 10k min complete route. Good excuse to loosen the legs in a rest day.
In my experience, the badge seems to appear way latter when using an apple tv. 3-4 days latter if my memory is correct despite riding every following days. On a computer though it shows up the next ride like everyone else.
That’s good to know. I ride using Apple TV and should have had it yesterday but still not showing.
Interesting. I use Apple TV. That might be what is happening to me. I’ve road 17 days in a row with the lowest ride being 18km. I didn’t receive the 7 day badge until the 13th day (although support said it was because I didn’t complete a lap 1 day). I’ll be riding tonight because I don’t want to miss it for something stupid. Plus, I’m 4,000 from Tron.
This is great, I am on an Apple TV too, so now I am not as worried my hard work will not pay off. I am 1400m from a Tron Bike… you must have yours by now though
Thanks Eric – was a bit of a fizzer on my end when I got the 14 day badge. A quick tally after the ride was a bonus of 50 XP.
Route distance doesn’t indicate how far you have to ride. Several times I’ve gone on a 3k route to find I had to do 4.5 k before congratulating banner came up. It may have to do with lead. And I’ve check my badges afterwards to see Nope I didn’t get it if I quit before that banner pops up, even though I’ve exceeded the listed distance by a few tenths of km.
I can confirm that it’s 50XP for this badge.
I rode 14 days in a row, and completed a route on each day – as little as 6km on some days..
Add forgot to say, that I got the badge on the following activity 😀
Sorry late to the game on this post but thank you for writing this post regarding the badge. Now I can just link people on the forums to here. Seems like everything has been added or mentioned in the comments, except for the “laps” language. Wasn’t that meant to be a lap of the Hilly Route back in the day when there was only one route?
Yeah the laps thing is confusing, but Dave Higgins says you don’t need to do a lap of anything, only 5km.
Oh I’m not confused by it, I’m just trying to clarify why the achievements have that wording.
I got my badge on the 14th day before I even started riding. 🤔
l’ve got the badge, but the day I got the badge, I saw the notice as soon as I entered a map, before I even started riding.
According to the post’s main image, you just need to complete a lap of a course. So the Volcano Circuit would qualify for it
I got this badge on 5/3. my distances varied from 4 miles to 20 miles.
I did ensure I rode a lap of a route each day.
I think the “lap” thing IS important, at least for the Addicted badge. I got the badge on day 10 of my riding streak, which implies that Road to Sky on day 3 did not count, and the only reason can be that it’s not a “lap”.
If you do 3 days in a row and get the Habitual badge, can you continue the daily streak and get the Addicted badge 7 days later, or does the count start over?
no, keep doing daily an those days will count towards the next badge
Got it today! My merit badge sash is almost full!
I’m running outside since the weather is great. Zwift apparently would not work. Tried it three times. Maybe due to no WiFi? So I used Strava. I wonder if Zwift will get the info? I know it shares in the opposite direction Zwift to Strava.
So I just completed my 14th day in a row, mostly doing set routes. Every day was over 5km – least was 5.9km (although no lap of anything). The last 12 days have all been completing set routes. I think the less than 10km with no lap must be the problem. Thankfully that was day 2, so I am hoping 2 more days of routes / 10km plus and it will pop up. (I did already try the new activity thing – nothing).
If you get the badge for 7 days in a row, can you keep going and get the 14 day badge 7 days later? Or does that count start anew?
You can keep going and get the 14. Don’t need to start new.
Yay! My knees can’t take another 14 days, but I can gut out another 7 hopefully!
That’s the answer I was looking for. I will continue to 14 days in a row from here, since I earned my 7 days in a row badge today
Could you tell me how many days in a row you have to ride for this badge? I’ve now done 17 days in a row all about the same time of day and still not got the badge
you need to complete at least one lap of a route each day.
No you don’t, Frank. The post above explains that you only need to ride 5km. No laps needed.
I have done from the shortest ride being 17km ride to the longest being 90km. I’ve now completed 18 different routes in a row so I’ve had the badges for those but still not the unemployed badge
Is there anyone that can look into this?
[email protected]
I received 50XP for this earlier this morning 👍
I just completed this badge. 50 XP. You have to login for a 15th day and ‘start’ a ride to get the badge. Although you don’t actually have to do that ride – it gives you the badge the moment you start.
The 15th day might be important. I rode 14 days in a row with each ride greater than 10km but skipped the 15th day. Rode on the 16th day and did not get the badge.
ugh… so. much. work. for 50 xp.
I did some trial and error as a runner. 2.8 mi/day was not sufficient to earn the badge (which I’d read somewhere and gave a try). 5k was.
Learned the hard way some of the hints in Eric’s column. I actually rode every single day starting April 23rd, but didn’t not officially earn my badge until June 14th. Lesson #1- you MUST end you ride before midnight. Zwift counts the ride for the date you end, not start, no matter how far you ride prior to midnight. Stupidly, this happened to me twice. Lesson #2- ride the 10k minimum. I wasn’t willing to chance the Higgins 5k proof after already losing my bid twice. What I can tell you is that in my 2nd attempt, I inadvertently rode… Read more »
Guys, I got the badge today. I was suprisded that the 15th ride can be just 5 meters…I logged on zwift and follow a runner…the few seconds of draft was enough to get the badge.
I rode 14 days straight and did not get the badge. Did at least 5km each day, often more. Only thought is that some of the rides were races or group rides and wondering if they don’t count.
They count.
Did you ride on the 15th day yet? That’s when it’s unlocked.
Hi Eric, I just completed the Addicted badge. On a couple of my days I just used the Volcano circuit, which is only 4km. As you mentioned, the badge arrived at the start of the following ride after completing the 7th day.
Where do I find the riding log that people are posting? Is it on Zwift or Strava? I am now at 16 days in a row and no badge, each ride is a min 7.5 miles so I should have it. It did take 12 days to get the addicted badge, so I don’t know what I’m missing.
You need to create an account at zwiftpower.com and link your zwift account.
Ok so after reading all the comments in this thread carefully I went and completed the 14 days to get this badge. I have now completed 16 days straight with no badge appearing. My shortest ride was 6km. I have now searched the Zwift website and it states that you need to complete a 10km per ride, has this always been the case as it certainly doesn’t match up with what is mentioned in this article?
No, the limit is 5km… unless they changed that in the last couple months. Which I highly doubt.
ok further to this I was just checking in Zwift power and noticed that my rides and not refreshed for whatever reason. Upon refreshing the data I could see my rides in zwift power. I then logged into Zwift and the badge popped up straight away….yeah!!😁
I just completed 14 days (at least 10km each day) and tried a new event on day 15 but no badge. I’m using Apple TV so I’ll give it a few days and report back.
wish I read this before hand haha, did 14 days in a row where one day was just under 5km so missed out
Snapped a picture of the XP for the addicted badge (50).
I can confirm that after you complete the 3, 7, and 14 days in a row you have to close out and log back in for the badge to pop up.
Excellent sleuthing! I’ll update the post.
And one more for the unemployed badge… also 50xp. Zwift is quite unimpressed with consistent riding 😂
I have ridden 10 days in a row. Most 30+ kms but one 10 km ,today, as I am getting frustrated. In my activity feed it shows a ride on each day (different date) why no addicted badge?
I’ve seen a badge for Fan View 15 minutes or similar, or paparazzi. What does it take to be awarded that badge?
Yep can confirm the lowest distance i did was 5.1k on a number of days and just started riding the flatest route i could find. as soon as i was at 5.1k saved ride. after 14th straight day reloaded and no badge. gave it 1 hour and tried again and badge awarded.
HELP…..
My wife and I started Monday last week on the “Working From Home” badge. We have done the same rides except last Friday, where I did a 30min structured workout and my wife did a short 5,48km ride.
We both got the “3-day badge” last Thursday, I got the “7-day badge” yesterday, but my wife have not received the “7-day badge” yet, even on todays ride.
This is a Real Life Problem as you can imagine. My wife thing Zwift is cheating on her 😂
Any ideas on what is going on?
My wife think Zwift….
I got 11 days in row now. I would expect to have Habitual and Addicted unlocked by now, but that has not happend. All routes was completed, and long enough.
Not too optimistic about “Working from home” either when I reach my 15th day.
I read that some users had problem with getting the badges on apple tv. I use zwift on android.
I checked in android zwift and had still not got Habitual and Addicted, then installed zwift for windows and checked there. Now I got it. And when checking back on android, I also had them there.
So this is a bug for at least apple tv and android. Maybe the same for ipads too.
If you ride a route doing a training ride workout does that still count ?