As we predicted in our last Newsletter, TSB has confirmed staff will be required to attend the office for 3 days a week from April 2027. However, we are aware that some line managers are trying to implement that new policy now!
TSB has not been honest with staff. Last month it tried to give the impression that the move to new working arrangements was subject to further negotiation with Santander. We don’t believe it was. Instead, because Santander calls the shots the decision to move to 3 working days in the office had, almost certainly, been decided and it was just a question about when it would be implemented. After all, as the bank buying TSB, Santander was never going to change its policies to match TSB’s which is going to be a recurring theme as the months go on.
When the current attendance policy was introduced, TSB led staff to believe that the changes it initiated – 2 days a week in the office – would be permanent. Given what they were told, many staff made significant changes to their personal lives and arrangements, only now to be told that the following the Santander takeover it will be ‘all change’. Understandably, this has angered those staff who made that sort of change and now, effectively, have had the rug pulled from under them.
What TSB Members Want
One might expect TSB members to fall into three distinct categories: those who welcome more office working; those who don’t for reasons of location, cost or convenience and those who can’t work from an office for personal or family medical reasons or disabilities. A significant number of people fall into that category.
All three groups may need advice and possibly representation because ultimately, if push comes to shove, as it will in some cases, all roads are going to lead back to employment law.
We will be the only union prepared to fight cases at the Employment Tribunal. Accord and Unite won’t because they will want to preserve their comfortable relationship with senior management. Fighting for the rights of TSB staff will the last issue on their agenda.
Advising Members
We expect to receive a huge number of requests for advice and representation in a short period. To achieve the high standards we set, we will need to structure the advice process and you will be able to help us by completing a survey seeking basic information which will take a few minutes to answer. We will send that out at the beginning of September.
Members who are approached about changing their office hours or location now should contact us immediately.
MEMBERS SHOULD PASS THIS NEWSLETTER ON TO THEIR COLLEAGUES SO THEY TOO CAN BENEFIT FROM THE ONLY INDEPENDENT TRADE UNION IN TSB