‘Emphasis on office attendance': NAB changes WFH policy
Most employees will need to increase from two to three days a week, while team leaders are required to make an appearance in person four days a week instead of three.
The most senior leaders at NAB are already required in the office five days a week.
It is a move the Finance Sector Union has slammed as 'completely unnecessary'.
In an internal memo announcing the new rules last week, seen by the Australian Financial Review, the bank's group executive of people and culture Sarah White said the company was building towards an 'office-based working model,' according to the publication.
The email stated NAB's current 'ways of working are evolving' as the bank aims to bolster the number of hours staff work in the office since Covid-19 lockdowns.
Ms White told news.com.au in a statement the changes would happen 'later in the year' and NAB would consult with employees before implementing the push for more office time.
'We continue to evolve our ways of working to foster an engaging work environment that is fair and flexible for colleagues and good for customers,' Ms White said.
'NAB is implementing an increased emphasis on office attendance because it supports collaboration, teamwork and problem solving for customers.'
Ms White claimed the bank was 'taking an approach that ensures flexibility and supports all colleagues to respond to personal-life circumstances'.
'NAB is commencing a period of consultation with colleagues prior to the implementation, and we are committed to listening to, and considering, colleague feedback regarding our ways of working before any changes come into effect,' she said.
The Finance Sector Union (FSU) has labelled the change to working from home as 'completely unnecessary,' highlighting that it came only a week after the bank revealed a $3.5 billion half year cash profit.
'These profits prove we can (and do) deliver results no matter where we work,' the union argued.
The FSU has written an open letter to NAB CEO Andrew Irvine strongly opposing the increase in mandatory office attendance.
The letter said any move to scale back flexible working in 2025 was 'regressive'. It highlighted concerns for workers' mental health and morale, those employees with family and caring responsibilities, and the financial pressure some may face with the added cost of commuting.
FSU national president Wendy Streets told The Australian 'a lot of members' said they would quit.
ANZ and Commonwealth Bank require staff to spend half their work time in the office, while Westpac's policy is at least two to three days a week in the office.
Earlier this year, news.com.au launched The Great Aussie Debate, a wide-ranging, 50 question survey that has uncovered what Australians really think about all the hot topics of 2025.
Over two weeks, more than 54,000 Australians took part in the survey, revealing their thoughts on everything from the cost of living and homeownership, to electric vehicles and going shoeless in supermarkets.
From the survey, it was clear the majority of Aussies prefer a hybrid approach to work, where possible, with 61.59 per cent favouring between 1-4 days at home.
The most popular response was 1-2 days at home at week, with a further 21.11 per cent preferring 3-4 days working remotely.
Of the respondents, 28.77 per cent believe full time office work is best.
However, there was an interesting detail in the statistics.
The age group most likely to choose this option have hit retirement age. More than half (51.18 per cent) of the 70+ group want people in the office five days a week.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
19 minutes ago
- ABC News
Calls for Commonwealth housing fund to dedicate half to regional
The federal government is being urged to dedicate almost half its national housing target to regional Australia.
ABC News
19 minutes ago
- ABC News
Business considers changing states to avoid work-from-home laws in Victoria
Real estate agent William Bonnici regularly finds himself speaking to clients across two states. His real estate business has three offices: two in Victoria, in the towns of Beechworth and Wodonga, and one in New South Wales, in Albury. He said a Victorian government proposal to make working from home two days a week a legal right was an overreach, and he would consider closing his Victorian offices if the laws passed. "When state legislation starts dictating to a business — and I know that this government has been referred to as a dictatorship in recent years — as to how they should run their business, then it's going to make me question whether or not where you're based is where you should be based," he said. Several staff at Mr Bonnici's real estate agency regularly work from home, but he said it was not a specified regime and some tasks at his workplace could not be afforded flexibility. Mr Bonnici said he believed the proposed laws could lead to calls of inequality from those who had no choice in where they worked, such as paramedics, nurses or baristas. "Laws are there to be put in place to protect employees from recalcitrant employers and to protect employers from lazy employees," he said. "I don't see how this can be legislated and then policed effectively without someone claiming victimisation." Business Wodonga chief executive Graham Jenkin said the proposal had angered businesses and would bring more bureaucracy and frustration. Mr Jenkin said the passing of the legislation, along with higher land taxes and rents, could mean businesses may be enticed to move across the border. "Victoria is a very difficult place to do business at the moment … so often you'll find that similar office in NSW might be considerably cheaper and better off than here in Victoria," he said. Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said mandating working from home within Victoria was "perplexing". "If Victoria moves away from the legislated national system, businesses will move interstate and jobs will be lost," he said "If we want businesses to be productive, and to raise the economic prospects of everyone in this state and this country, we need to get out of their way and let them operate in a way that best suits their model." While some businesses might not want to offer work from home as an option, accountant Tom Hall said working from home suited him and his family. "I'm able to make more time for my kids, and it gets more time back in the day because you aren't losing time in the commute," he said. Mr Hall lives in Baranduda, just outside Wodonga, but works for Albury-based Dream Accounting. His boss Hayley Foot said she offered flexible work as an incentive to entice employees. "It was increasingly hard to find skilled staff, so in November last year [we had] to advertise for new staff," she said. "We put an ad up … and gave candidates the option to work flexible hours with a portion within business hours to meet clients' needs, and we got a huge response. "It speaks for itself." Albury Business Connect general manager Glen Robinson said he believed the laws would only apply to a small subset of the workforce in Wodonga, considering healthcare and manufacturing were the lead industries in the region. He said the cost of moving a Wodonga business to Albury would be outweighed by having a robust conversation with a staff member. "I know a number of people who can work quite comfortably, whether they're in an office, whether they're at home, whether on the international space station, as long as they've got access, it doesn't matter where they are," he said. The Victorian government on Tuesday opened up feedback on the proposed laws, which will include roundtable discussions. Industrial Relations Minister and Northern Victoria MP Jaclyn Symes said she was confident that businesses on the border would not move to NSW because of the legislation. "So when people say that people might be attracted to NSW, I would say that I think employers want the best and brightest, and the best and brightest like flexibility, and that'll be right here in Victoria." Consultation on the proposed legislation closes on September 28.
News.com.au
19 minutes ago
- News.com.au
CBA calls back humans, U-turns on AI firings
Australia's biggest bank has backflipped on its decision to axe dozens of jobs replaced by an AI chatbot, admitting it made an 'error'. The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) last month announced it would cut 45 call centre jobs after rolling out an artificial intelligence voicebot to answer customer inquiries. The bank has now reversed the decision, offering impacted staff the option to stay in their roles or accept a voluntary exit payment. CBA chief executive Matt Comyn said the bank was engaging with impacted staff. 'I think it's important to set a good precedent,' he saidafter the government's Economic Reform Roundtable on Wednesday. The Australian Finance Sector Union called the news a 'massive win' but said the 'damage is already done for the 45 workers who endured weeks of unnecessary stress, not knowing if they would be able to pay bills or support their families'. 'This is a massive win for workers, proving what can be achieved when members stand together — but let's be clear, this is no victory lap,' Finance Sector Union National Secretary Julia Angrisano said in a statement. 'CBA has been caught out trying to dress up job cuts as innovation. Using AI as a cover for slashing secure jobs is a cynical cost-cutting exercise, and workers know it.' 'CBA likes to talk about being a digital leader, but real leadership means investing in your people, not tossing them aside and blaming the technology.' The bank admitted calls had increased after the rollout of the voicebot, with team leaders having to be pulled onto the phones, the AFR reported. The bank said it has apologised to impacted workers, admitting it had made an 'error' over staff workloads. 'CBA's initial assessment that the 45 roles were not required did not adequately consider all relevant business considerations and this error meant the roles were not redundant,' a CBA spokesman said in a statement provided to 'We have apologised to the employees concerned and acknowledge we should have been more thorough in our assessment of the roles required.' The bank added it was reviewing its internal processes 'to improve our approach going forward'. At the time of the jobs cut announcement last month, a CBA spokesman told NewsWire the bank has hired more than 9,000 people in the 2025 financial year and were currently investing more than $2 billion in their operations. 'To meet the changing needs of our customers, like many organisations, we review the skills we need and how we're organised to deliver the best customer experiences and outcomes,' the spokesman said. 'Our investment in technology, including AI, is making it easier and faster for customers to get help, especially in our call centres. By automating simple queries, our teams can focus on more complex customer queries that need empathy and experience. 'We currently have around 450 open roles across retail banking services, more than 220 on the frontline.' It came after CBA cut 164 jobs from its technology division in March. According to the World Economic Forum, Artificial Intelligence is expected to create roughly 69 million jobs in the next five years, but around 83 million will be eradicated.
