NatWest Orders 30,000 Staff Back to Office Two Days a Week

By Grace Kim

NatWest will require at least 30,000 employees to attend the office a minimum of two days a week starting in February, and Unite is calling it a "kick in the teeth."

The bank frames the shift as a hybrid approach it says is still very competitive with the rest of the finance industry. Exceptions will be made for colleagues who need additional flexibility, NatWest says.

Unite disagrees, loudly.

How many workers are affected?

The numbers are specific. NatWest is abolishing its "remote first" employment category, which currently allows 13,497 workers to attend the office roughly twice a month. Separately, 17,272 hybrid workers must increase their office attendance.

Add them up and you get the 30,000-strong group whose working patterns change in February.

Unite says many of the affected workers sit in lower-paid grades, and the new requirements will increase cost-of-living pressures while disrupting arrangements for disabled workers and carers. That's the union's core argument: this lands hardest on people with the least financial cushion.

What did Unite say?

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham didn't mince words. She called NatWest's move a "kick in the teeth" for its workers.

"Thousands of workers face higher travel and childcare costs and disruption to caring responsibilities," she said.

"For NatWest to impose these changes while reneging on existing agreements shows complete contempt for its workforce."

Graham called on NatWest to "ditch these proposals and engage properly with its workers."

The union's broader charge: the bank's decision is "out of touch with the realities facing its workforce."

How did NatWest respond?

A NatWest spokesman defended the policy on collaboration grounds.

"Flexible working remains an important part of how we work but we've also learned more about the value that spending time together brings for our colleagues and customers - helping teams collaborate, share ideas, build relationships and learn from one another," the spokesman said.

"That's why we're introducing a more consistent approach across the bank, with colleagues expected to spend at least two days a week in the office, depending on the needs of their role and business area."

The bank acknowledged friction. "We recognise this will be a change for some colleagues and we're giving them time to plan ahead and will support them through the transition," the spokesman said.

Where does this fit in the return-to-office trend?

Firms have been gradually pulling people back to the office since remote work became the norm for some office staff during the Covid pandemic.

The pressure points:

• Amazon: required staff to return five days a week in January last year, after they had been working two days at home.
• Boots and JP Morgan: both brought in policies requiring head office staff to be in every day.
• Barclays: faced a staff backlash last month over plans to require three days a week in the office. It introduced a longer transition period in response to staff and union complaints.

NatWest's two-day minimum sits at the softer end of that spectrum. But Barclays' experience shows the reputational cost of even moderate mandates when unions push back — and Unite is pushing.

The February start date gives NatWest months, not weeks, to negotiate. Whether it uses that time to engage, as Graham demands, or holds the line will shape the next round of Britain's return-to-office fights.

The takeaway: 30,000 workers, one scrapped category, and a February deadline — the burden of proof now sits with NatWest to show two days a week is a compromise, not a concession it's taking back.