Barclays is facing a growing backlash over return-to-office plans, with thousands of staff calling for payouts to help cover travel costs and an exemption for those living more than 40 minutes from work.<\/p>\n
Unionised staff represented by Unite are pushing back against plans announced by the bank earlier this summer to get staff back into the office at least three days a week from October, with more senior employees expected to come in at least four days a week.<\/p>\n
The current policy requires full-time Barclays staff to be in at least two days a week.<\/p>\n
Unite, which represents nearly 80% of Barclays\u2019 45,000 UK staff, says thousands of employees have now signed an open letter \u2013 first reported by the Financial Times \u2013 that has been sent to the bank\u2019s bosses and widely circulated across its UK offices.<\/p>\n
The union plans to speak to Barclays about staff concerns in the coming days.<\/p>\n
A Unite national officer, Rick Coyle, said: \u201cOne of the issues that has caused consternation is that most employers in banking and financial services are generally embracing greater flexibility. Our members think that Barclays is trying to fix a problem that doesn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n
\u201cThousands of employees have signed the letter and the figure continues to rise. Unite will be speaking to Barclays about the strength of feeling in the days ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barclays\u2019 return-to-office order echoes those imposed by other large banks, which tightened their work-from-home policies after the Covid pandemic, particularly for younger staff.<\/p>\n
That includes JP Morgan, whose chief executive, Jamie Dimon, told Bloomberg last year<\/a>: \u201cIt is an apprenticeship system \u2026 you can\u2019t learn working from your basement.\u201d<\/p>\n
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