Calls to return to offices on a more regular basis continue to be a theme as we head into 2025, with several big organisations ordering their workforce to increase their time at the desk. Now Lloyds Banking Group is doing the same – with the possibility of bonus cuts for those who don’t comply.
Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Sotland are all owned by the Group, which has recently announced plans to let customers of any of those brands use the others to do their in-branch banking, fuelling concerns that more branches may close in areas where they are doubled up.
Senior bankers at Lloyds are expected to receive payouts next month for their 2024 performance, with annual results detailed on 20 February, but the group has confirmed that reviewing office attendance will now comprise one part of performance-related targets, per the Guardian.
In 2023 hybrid staff were told to be in the office 40 per cent of the time, which equates to two days a week for full time employees.
“The inclusion of a metric on complying with the requirement for some staff to attend offices for 40% of their working time should not create problems if it is applied fairly, and is sensitive to individuals’ circumstances with mature and reasonable judgments applied,” said Ged Nichols, general secretary of the union Accord, which represents Lloyds staff.
A Lloyds spokesperson added that the bank “offer[ed] an industry-leading approach to flexible working which delivers many benefits for our colleagues while ensuring that we are well-placed to deliver on our ambitious strategy to transform our business and continue to deliver for our customers”.
Lloyds also have a new scheme which offers junior staff and the lowest-paid members of the workforce the chance to earn bigger bonuses based on performance, which Nichols labelled a “welcome introduction”, as long as it was “funded separately and are not made possible by reducing the value of the standard awards for everybody else.”
JP Morgan, which employs over 300,000 people worldwide, received complaints from some staff after asking them to return to the office five days a week starting in March.
Starling Bank, Britain’s online-only bank which is backed by Goldman Sachs, told staff to come back to the office in November despite reportedly not having space to accommodate them, prompting a wave of resignations.