LBG LAUNCHES GROUP-WIDE RAID ON COMPRESSED HOURS!!!
Updated: Jul 26, 2023
LBG have today announced the full- scale rollout of its ill thought-out compressed hours
pilot following the initial launch on the 27th April of pilot schemes in Consumer Lending and
People & Places.
Again due to Unite’s continued pressure and making LBG aware of our intentions to signpost this important statement on people's ability to refuse to be forced to change their hours in Unite comms the bank have now added the guidance wording to the FAQ document.
Read the full newsletter here:
Newsletter text:
LBG have today announced the full- scale rollout of its ill thought-out compressed hours pilot following the initial launch on the 27th April of pilot schemes in Consumer Lending and People & Places. A decision which signals LBG’s desire to remove compressed shift agreements from those colleagues who have them. This brings into question whether LBG can still be considered a leading employer for flexible working. Today’s announcement is accompanied with what LBG considers to be a ‘new’ and ‘competitive’ flexible working offering.
Unite the union view
Unite the Union totally disagree with the enforced removal of compressed working agreements. We said it on the 27th April and we repeat it loud and clear today, this is a regressive policy for all LBG workers and which also amounts to a discriminatory attack on carers, parents and all workers who value and benefit from compressed working arrangements. The decision also has potential to make LBG a less attractive place to work and put off key talent and applications from various diversity pools who truly value flexibility as part of the overall colleague package from joining the Group.
LBG workers know Unite and its members have vigorously opposed this ongoing assault by senior leadership on compressed working arrangements and have pressed them to reverse their decision and provide clear and transparent assurances in writing to all LBG workers who have compressed hours, that they will not be removed without their consent and that they reserve the right to ‘say no’ to any changes that are asked of them. LBG have refused to issue this clear and transparent statement to all LBG workers. This refusal flies in the face of Charlie Nunn’s recent statement during a town hall event on the banks handling of the initial pilot and communications, in which he said....
“‘I launched the comms in the spirit of transparency. I never wanted to hide anything. I didn’t want it to be a skunkworks activity behind the scene but what I completely was naive about, misunderstanding was the level of uncertainty it would create in all of our colleagues”.’
It seems the GEC haven’t taken on board the lessons learned following its mishandling of the 27th April announcement, they have yet again issued comms which lack transparency and fail to provide real assurances that these sought changes to working arrangements should only come about by mutual agreement only. Whilst the bank are happy to verbally tell the unions behind closed doors that no one will be forced or coerced into coming off their compressed hours, they are afraid to put it in writing because, LBG is relying on uncertainty to deliver the objective of getting hardworking LBG colleagues to give up their compressed working patterns. There is no legitimate excuse to justify this approach.
Collective Grievance update
Unite representatives met with senior leadership to hear the 3,649 strong colleague collective grievance on 10th July. Following the meeting the business requested an abundance of information pertaining to signers and relating to carer status, gender, disability, working hours status and much more. Unite refused to delay the process any further by going back to signers with LBG’s intrusive request for this data as it would not assist LBG in making a decision on the central principle of the grievance that colleagues should not have compressed hours removed against their will and that it is a regressive policy. The Group have come back stating that in the absence of this information they will not be issuing an outcome.
Unite find this position totally unacceptable and it acts as another example of LBG not wanting to address legitimate LBG worker concerns. Despite the failure of the Group to issue this assurances to signers, Unite have received the following assurance whilst supporting a member during a grievance ‘the Group is looking to gather information as part of the pilot and explore if any changes are possible by way of agreement. No changes will be enforced as part of the pilot’. This is important to reiterate, no changes can be implemented unless YOU agree to them! Due to Unites continued pressure we are pleased that management have been informed of this position in their guidance packs to assist with 1-2-1 conversations.
NO CHANGES UNLESS YOU AGREE!
'The Group is looking to gather information as part of the pilot and explore if any changes are possible by way of agreement. No changes will be enforced as part of the pilot’
LBG flexibility offering - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!
The majority of the new/'enhanced' features within LBG’s new flexible working package are things they were either already doing with a lacklustre approach or already existed somewhere within the group, and they have simply been packaged in a way to deflect from the assault on compressed hours. Whilst some of these could be considered positive enhancements/additions it is important to acknowledge that the unions have not been provided with detailed information nor seen guidance on how it will be applied. Without which it is difficult to support, as we all know, the devil is in the details. Unite will be issuing further comms on the banks flexibility offering in the coming days but want to hear from you and what you think. Get in touch via LBG.Support@unitetheunion.org
UNITE SUPPORT
Unite have no choice but to say clearly to all LBG workers, if you have compressed working arrangements that you wish to retain and management seek to remove them just say NO! And get in touch with your local Unite representative or contact us via LBG.Support@unitetheunion.org or call 08081 449 595.
Previous Unite hybrid working support & compressed hours comms via QR below or uniteinlbg/org/news/categories/flexibility
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