Senior bankers at Lloyds Banking Group risk having their bonuses reduced if they fail to meet new in-office requirements, which mandate being on site at least two days per week.
The move, revealed ahead of the 2024 financial year bonus distribution next month, comes as major employers roll back remote working arrangements in a bid to encourage more face-to-face collaboration.
Lloyds – owner of Halifax, Lloyds and Bank of Scotland – confirmed it is reassessing office attendance as part of its performance-based bonus measures for top staff, including those in hybrid roles who were ordered last year to be in the office for 40% of their working time. That equates to at least two days a week for most full-time employees.
Ged Nichols, general secretary of the Accord union representing Lloyds staff, emphasised the need to apply the bonus-related office policy with sensitivity. “The inclusion of a metric on complying with the requirement for some staff to attend offices for 40% of their working time should not create problems if it is applied fairly, and is sensitive to individuals’ circumstances with mature and reasonable judgments applied.”
A wide range of businesses, particularly those headquartered in the US such as JP Morgan and Amazon, have recently implemented stricter back-to-office mandates. Supermarket chain Asda has introduced a compulsory three-day office week for thousands of workers in Leeds and Leicester, while Santander is finalising attendance requirements for its 10,000 UK employees.
Some staff are pushing back. Several Starling Bank employees resigned after being told to come into the office more frequently, and nearly 6,000 people have signed a Change.org petition calling on advertising giant WPP to revoke its four-day office rule. WPP says it believes its policy is “right for the long-term interests of the company”, acknowledging it may not prove universally popular.
A Lloyds spokesperson noted the bank is “proud to offer an industry-leading approach to flexible working”, but stressed the importance of ensuring it could still meet its strategic objectives and customer commitments. Lloyds has also announced a new bonus scheme that includes 33,000 of its lowest-paid employees, potentially delivering bigger payouts for top performers among them.
Up to 1,000 of the lowest-paid staff – including junior workers across 932 branches – could receive extra bonuses on top of a standard group-wide allocation, if managers deem they have “exceeded expectations” or made a “transformative impact” on the business.
Nichols welcomed the extension of performance-based incentives for lower-paid workers but insisted any higher awards “are not made possible by reducing the value of the standard awards for everybody else”.
The 2024 financial year bonuses will be handed out shortly after chief executive Charlie Nunn unveils annual results on 20 February. It is widely expected that this new office attendance metric will have a tangible effect on some employees’ payouts, underscoring the ongoing tension between flexible working and business-led demands for more in-person collaboration.
