CommBank staff ‘treated like kindergarten kids’ with office day roll call
CommBank employees claim they are being treated like “kindergarten kids”, asked to check in for mandatory office days.
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CommBank employees claim they are being treated like “kindergarten kids”, asked to mark their attendance on an internal roll call system ahead of the bank’s mandatory return to office next week.
The company insists use of the tool is voluntary, however.
The nation’s largest bank sparked an internal revolt in May after ordering its 49,000 staff back to the office for at least 50 per cent of the time from July 17, as a growing number of businesses and organisations seek to wind back Covid-era work-from-home policies.
Last month, the Finance Sector Union (FSU) said hundreds of CommBank members had written to the union to complain about the edict, with some threatening to quit their jobs.
In a message to staff in May, CommBank group executive of human resources Sian Lewis outlined some of the reasoning behind the change, including that “we build stronger connections face-to-face”.
She also announced the launch of “our new Connect Me tool” inside the WorkDay HR system, which “provides a view of who will be coming into the office each day and allows you to plan for in-person collaboration that maximises time with colleagues”.
Employees have been asked to fill out which days they will be in the office one week in advance.
But one worker, who wished to remain anonymous, told news.com.au it was “ridiculous and annoying” that staff had “become kindergarten kids again, forced to tick attendance at school”.
“They said that by using this system [you can] see when your favourite person will come the next week,” they said. “So if you are my favourite buddy, I can see when you will be in the office so I can come and hang out with you.”
But the staffer said most people were “infuriated”. “They are annoyed at being treated like kids,” they said. “They are fine to return to the office but not the way they treat us like kids, ticking attendance. If we go back to the office we will do it because we want to, not being forced like this. They need to know the way of working is changing now.”
While the employee said they weren’t aware of any colleagues who had quit as a result of being forced back, “I keep hearing people complaining”, particularly those under 30, that they shouldn’t have to as “working from home is more effective and efficient”.
“They also complain that the public transport cost is getting higher and higher nowadays,” the employee said, adding that many were pointing the finger at “baby boomers” who struggled with working from home and “have to meet with others physically to be able to connect”.
“We believe they’re doing this [because] they are renting the office building and it relates with the investment attached to those buildings — they don’t want to lose their investment or make losses,” they said.
Meanwhile, screenshots of internal discussions provided to news.com.au show CommBank staff members complaining about Ms Lewis’ email.
One person wrote that “we should rethink how we advertise working with CBA”, suggesting the bank’s claim that “we’re giving our employees flexibility in how, when and where they work” was no longer accurate.
Another wrote, “When I accepted the offer at CBA 1.5 years ago, I was informed that I can completely work from home for the role. The consideration at the time was combined benefits of ‘work from home’, ‘salary’ and ‘environment’ your organisation provides. When CBA suddenly announces mandatory office, it took away the benefit without renegotiation. This violates the core value ‘care’ CBA tries to achieve. When our bank claims we ‘care’, do we do one-way announcement or do we try to speak with/listen to employees?”
A third said, “I completely support the insights and observations expressed in the email, and I certainly experience these every time I visit my leader and team who are based in Sydney. Unfortunately I don’t achieve these experiences when sitting in the Melbourne office. The flexibility of WFH was one of the benefits advertised for my role I accepted 12 months ago.”
Another person questioned if “this is really about employee wellbeing and productivity/collaboration or more about improving ESG [Environmental, Social, and Governance] score and keeping institutional investors happy”.
“I’m all for transparency and would love to see data on this, it would definitely be an opportunity to dispel all the conjecture in the comments if supported by data,” they wrote.
In a statement, a CommBank spokesman said the Connect Me app was “developed for our employees, in response to their feedback on helping them connect with their colleagues on the days they come into the office”.
“The app is entirely voluntary and is being used by thousands of our people to share their in-office days and see where colleagues they work closely with are planning to work,” he said.
“In recent years, CBA has been transparent on its position that no role should be performed fully remotely. We have a longstanding commitment to flexible working and options to accommodate specific needs where possible. We’re not able to comment on individual circumstances but our guidance for employees is to speak with their manager.”
Late last month, FSU National Secretary Julia Angrisano said Ms Lewis “angered” many members with the edict, adding the direction was issued “without consultation with CBA staff or the union”.
The union and a delegation of members from CommBank “sought to meet with the HR boss last week to have the edict overturned but Sian Lewis failed to show up”, the FSU said in a statement.
Ms Lewis “left it to HR staff to explain to upset CBA workers why the bank was placing limits on its Work From Home policy”, the statement said.
“It is totally unacceptable that CBA delivers an edict to its staff altering work from home arrangements without any consultation,” said Ms Angrisano.
“Hundreds of our members at CBA have contacted the union complaining the bank was overturning working arrangements that have worked well for the bank and its staff.”
Ms Angrisano said FSU members had “raised serious concerns about the significant impact this change would have on them, including on their work-life balance, mental health and wellbeing and caring responsibilities”.
“They complain about the financial impact of increased commuting costs and childcare costs,” she said. “Some say they will now be seeking employment elsewhere.”
She added that for some staff, “their teams are not local so they are being made to go to an office to engage in video meetings with other workers interstate or overseas, or working from home that day”.
“The pandemic showed how well working from home can be achieved and the FSU believes that a new benchmark on remote work has now been set,” Ms Angrisano said.
“We want the CBA to suspend the mandate and engage in proper consultation to jointly develop a working from home policy which should then be enshrined in the CBA Enterprise Agreement.”
A CommBank spokesman said in response that after being contacted by the union, “we responded promptly … arranged the meeting and hosted it with our two most senior executives responsible for industrial relations and key decision makers”.
“It was attended by the FSU’s national campaign manager and three CBA FSU workplace representatives and it was a cordial and constructive discussion,” he said.
“In recognising how important flexibility is to our people, we have been consistently seeking and listening to their views over the past three years. Over that time, we’ve sought feedback through nine group-wide surveys and the responses from tens of thousands of our people on wellbeing, hybrid working and how people preferred to work. Three of these surveys have been in the period since our formal return to the office in March last year.”
He added, “We’ve also provided two months’ notice of our current expectations to help support our people with the time to make adjustments to their current working patterns and raise any questions and concerns they may have. Where someone needs specific support, they can discuss individual flexible working arrangements with their leader that suits both their needs and those of our customers.”
After the initial order, an internal technology town hall was described as a “bloodbath” by business gossip website The Aussie Corporate, which shared screenshots of some of the anonymous comments posted in the online meeting.
NAB, Westpac and ANZ all have set similar targets to bring staff back into offices.
Originally published as CommBank staff ‘treated like kindergarten kids’ with office day roll call
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