The Financial Services Union (FSU) says it has accepted the outcome of arbitration that has backed Bank of Ireland’s decision to require staff to work on-site at least two days a week or eight days a month.
The union said it accepted the minimum requirements would apply, but suggested it had secured some concessions with more hubs to be opened by the company to facilitate staff faced with long commutes.
Requests by staff to be exempted from the requirements on the basis of exceptional circumstances will be heard by an independent party, with appeals also heard by a third party, it said.
The eight-day minimum requirement, meanwhile, will be applied on a pro-rata basis to those working part-time.
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The company, it said, had also accepted the issue of hybrid working was one the union was entitled to engage on and any further proposals regarding changes to the current arrangements will be the subject of talks under normal dispute resolution procedures.
[ Bank of Ireland loses patience with hybrid workers’ lack of flexibilityOpens in new window ]
The arbitration, overseen by Liam Doherty, took place last month with the recommendations delivered to both sides last week.
The FSU’s Caitleen Desetti said negotiations on the issue had been “intense” and she said “engagement over pre-existing arrangements and appeals will continue, but an independent mechanism is now agreed on both of these items”.
“We will continue to challenge some implementation issues, including the use of swipe data for performance ratings, and we welcome the bank’s restatement that any further changes will follow our normal dispute resolution procedures,” she said.
“The last six months have been a challenging time for a lot of our members whose way of working changed. This agreement will give certainty to workers for the foreseeable future.”
A Bank of Ireland spokesman said: “We are pleased that our position on hybrid working is unchanged. Our hybrid approach supports collaboration and balances personal working preferences with the needs of our customers, colleagues and the company.
“Having a clear plan, while retaining one of the most flexible models among our sector in Europe, ensures our approach to hybrid working can remain enduring into the future.”
The FSU has also been in mediation recently with AIB over its decision to bring staff back to the office a minimum of three days a week.
The move was announced in the middle of last year with a January start date and has been the subject of repeated exchanges since.
