Summary
A significant change to the working week for Barclays bank’s 45,000 UK staff which was due to kick in this coming Monday will NOT now be insisted upon after Unite, the trade union which represents 36,000 of the bank’s staff, says a concession was won on the new rule .
Details
Barclays attempt to change its working T&Cs began back in June this year when a memo told staff that that the baseline requirement for full-time UK employees would rise from two days to THREE as of October 5, with senior staff being bumped up to four days.
Barclays chief reasoning for the change surrounded claims that many employees already work in the office for three or more days, while that being on-site fostered better collaboration and helped people learn from each other. The memo told staff that there were cleart “benefits of balancing flexibility for colleagues with the importance of working together in our physical locations”.
By August though, Unite formally took staff grievances over the proposed change to the bank’s board and an open letter from thousands of staff was shared with the media. Unite officer Rick Coyle said thousands of employees had signed the letter calling for Barclays to reverse the decision, with the number of signatories continuing to rise.
He said that making its working-from-home rules less flexible meant Barclays was “trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist”. The letter raised key counter-demands from staff for: Exemption for people whose commutes are longer than 40 minutes or 35 miles. Exemptions during Christmas, summer, and school holidays.
A maximum one day in the office for carers. Flexibility for wrap-around childcare, with childcare vouchers and onsite creches to be explored. A one-off payment to offset costs.
Barclays’ move to try to tether staff to office attendance fell into line with similar policies adopted by Amazon, Boots and JP Morgan who sought the change in the wake of dirsupted work patterns during the pandemic. However, in the wake of intense debate over the staffing issue, Barclays CEO CS Venkatakrishnan has sent an email memo to staff announcing a partial climbdown.
While the bank stays firm on its demand that in-person attendance is necessary for collaboration and training, it has conceded that anyone needing more time to adjust personal schedules will not be forced to meet the new three-day requirements until 2027.
Report source: Punchline Gloucester
