Abusive Customers Update

Spotlight on Personal Banking Telephony

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“Nobody comes to work to be abused by the public.” That’s what you told your Unite reps in Personal Banking, Pendeford, in 2022. Since then, reps within PB and wider have campaigned to get policies put in place where colleagues can be confident that they are less likely to suffer abuse from customers, and that when they do, something will be done about it. 

In that time, we have secured IVR messages across multiple department phone lines, signage in branch, thousands of warning letters have been sent to customers, and hundreds of accounts being closed, a sign that the bank are taking our concerns seriously. 

Leadership in Personal Banking, following feedback from staff and the unions, are looking to go a step further and give colleagues more tools to deal with customers who are being abusive, introducing:

• Zero-tolerance to abuse - removing the ‘three-strike’ rule and allowing colleagues to decide whether to warn a customer or terminate a call.

• STMs can now authorise account closures. TMs will still send out warning letters and should now feel more confident in doing so.

• Panel decisions for more complex cases will be decided by people from within Personal Banking. Assistance may still be sought from outside but your leadership will make the decisions on your cases. 

Get me home safely campaign!

As well as safety within your role, Unite believe that employers should keep workers safe when they finish late from work. 

We know that there are workers at LBG who finish late at night or after their expected finish time. We also know that there are workers who due to changes in strategic hubs will now need to set off for work in the early hours of the morning. Your LBG reps want to know whether you have any concerns or worries about getting home from work and also getting to work.

Do you travel to and from work at unsociable hours, when public transport is more unreliable, there is less visibility and greater chance of feeling isolated? We believe an employer's duty of care should extend until their workers are home safely. 

Take 5 minutes to fill out this survey to help us understand what your issues are when leaving work late. Together we can work to fix them through our union at LBG. We regularly talk about personal safety with the bank and your responses will shape our talks with the bank. 

SURVEY LINK - uniteinlbg.org/gmhs/survey