Nationwide has told the 13,000 staff it had said would not be forced to return to the office when Covid lockdowns ended that they must start coming in from early next year for at least two days a week for most.
During the coronavirus crisis the UK’s biggest building society unveiled one of the most far-reaching flexible working policies, called “work anywhere”, telling all staff who did not work in its branches that it was “putting our employees in control of where they work from”.
Joe Garner, the then chief executive, said that although the business was continuing to invest in office space to foster social contact, collaboration and creativity, workers “won’t be forced to return to an office”.
However, on Tuesday his successor, Debbie Crosbie, who was appointed at the end of 2021 as Nationwide’s first female chief executive, unveiled a new policy that will require most staff to be in an office for at least 40% of their contract – two days a week for a full-time employee.
While the policy, which has been agreed with Nationwide’s union, will come into force from 1 January, a transition period to allow staff who have made major lifestyle changes will mean it will not be “enforced” until 1 April 2024.
In a “special issue” of the Nationwide group staff union magazine, Rapport, staff were told they could apply for exceptions but the “requirement to work from Nationwide premises has always been a contractual obligation”, despite the policy unveiled by Garner.
“The [Nationwide Building] Society will be monitoring data on access to offices to understand site utilisation and identify non-compliance with the minimum requirement,” the Rapport report said. “However, the society has given us an assurance that such data will only be used to inform discussions, and not as an absolute measure of compliance.”
Earlier this year, Crosbie wrote an article for International Women’s Day citing the benefits of getting staff back into the office.
In a message to staff, she said the new policy retained the “positive aspects of working flexibly” while ensuring “we use our office space to share knowledge and skills, strengthen relationships and support one another”.
She added that Nationwide, which recently launched a high-profile ad campaign touting its customer-friendly credentials starring The Crown actor Dominic West, would continue to “support a range of flexible working options, including part-time hours and job sharing”.
However, for many staff who embraced the ethos of the “work anywhere” policy, the transition is likely to be a financial and logistical burden.
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“Many staff have completely changed their lives, some have moved houses, decided they could now expand their families or got pets, and so the news has been pretty upsetting,” said one staff member. “Many of us are also feeling the strain financially with the cost of living crisis and mortgages. It is a real blow.”
The Rapport document acknowledged that the enforced partial return to office would be “challenging” for employees such as those who live “some distance” from their contractual place of work, or who have “made life changes based on previous commitments given by the society”.
It said Nationwide has had guidance in place since last year advising staff to attend the office at least two days a week, but that had not been adopted “consistently”, which had led to “a lack of clarity and very low compliance”.
Nationwide said: “Hybrid working is an important part of Nationwide’s flexible arrangements. Colleagues are already expected to work in an office for at least one or two days per week, depending on their role. This change simply moves the minimum to two days for everyone.”
