{"id":2208630,"date":"2026-10-20T14:50:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T11:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2208630"},"modified":"2026-10-20T14:50:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T11:50:19","slug":"union-attacks-natwest-plans-to-get-workers-back-to-the-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2208630","title":{"rendered":"Union attacks NatWest plans to get workers back to the office"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/7ac8\/live\/b29c3c60-cc8b-11f1-bed8-c51b95c602ec.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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\"Newscast\/UniversalNewscast\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The Unite union has hit out at a plan by NatWest to reduce the rights of 30,000 of its employees to work from home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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NatWest says it is moving to a hybrid approach where workers will be required to attend the office at least two days a week, from February.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The bank says this is still very competitive with the rest of the finance industry, and exceptions will be made for colleagues who require additional flexibility.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But Unite said NatWest’s decision was “out of touch with the realities facing its workforce”, with many facing higher travel and childcare costs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Firms have been gradually drawing people back into the office since working from home became the norm for some office workers during the Covid pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In January last year, Amazon required staff to return to the office five days a week after they had been working two days at home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Other firms such as Boots and JP Morgan have brought in policies requiring head office staff to be in every day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But Barclays faced a backlash from staff last month over plans to require workers to go to the office three days a week. It brought in a longer transition period in response to staff and union complaints.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Unite said NatWest was abolishing its “remote first” employment category, which allows 13,497 workers to attend the office around twice a month, and requiring 17,272 hybrid workers to increase their office attendance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The union says that many of the affected workers are lower-paid grades, and the new requirements will increase cost-of-living pressures, while disrupting the arrangements of disabled workers and carers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In a statement, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham called NatWest’s move a “kick in the teeth” for its workers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Thousands of workers face higher travel and childcare costs and disruption to caring responsibilities,” she said<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“For NatWest to impose these changes while reneging on existing agreements shows complete contempt for its workforce.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Graham called on NatWest to “ditch these proposals and engage properly with its workers”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A NatWest spokesman said: “Flexible working remains an important part of how we work but we’ve also learned more about the value that spending time together brings for our colleagues and customers – helping teams collaborate, share ideas, build relationships and learn from one another.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“That’s why we’re introducing a more consistent approach across the bank, with colleagues expected to spend at least two days a week in the office, depending on the needs of their role and business area.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“We recognise this will be a change for some colleagues and we’re giving them time to plan ahead and will support them through the transition.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cmly0qwnlgdvo”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/7ac8\/live\/b29c3c60-cc8b-11f1-bed8-c51b95c602ec.jpg”] Newscast\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images The Unite union has hit out at a plan by NatWest to reduce the rights of 30,000 of its employees to work from home. NatWest says it is moving to a hybrid approach where workers will be required to attend the office at least two days […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-2208630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2208630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2208630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2208630\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2208630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2208630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2208630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}