News from across the business
Welcome to our members’ newsround for May. It’s an interesting time as we all look forward to lockdown restrictions easing and life becoming a bit more normal.
We’ve continued our regular dialogue with TSB on a wide range of issues which effect your working life in the bank. Here’s a brief round-up of the news.
Branches
Branch opening hours have generally returned to 9am – 5pm, with local branches working within the 9.30am – 4.30pm window. Saturday opening hours are still being considered but those branches that are open from 9am - 1pm will continue to do so for the time being.
We’re keen to see what happens to demand for branch services as restrictions ease. If customer demand returns quickly to pre-covid levels, some branches might struggle because of the job reductions which have taken place.
On the other hand, if the shift away from branches is more permanent, this will bring forward other questions about the size and sustainability of the network over time.
We hope that the new strategies and training that have been implemented over the last few months will support both the business and colleagues in these new times.
We’ll continue our regular dialogue with the bank but we’d also like to hear from you about what’s happening in your branch.
Please contact in confidence, one of our branch reps or Linda Crouch (see contact details at the end of this update).
Customer Services Operations
It’s been very busy for staff in the telephony business as customer demand moved from branches to telephone and internet channels during the lockdown. It will be interesting to see if customer call levels reduce in the coming months.
As branch staff who have been supporting this business area start to return to their previous roles, the bank is recruiting new staff to meet expected demand.
We’ll continue to monitor the situation, but if you have any concerns then please do let us know.
Transactional Fraud
The increased volume of customer calls has highlighted a need for more cover at peak times and weekends. The business is seeking to recruit more staff to ‘plug the gaps’, but is also asking for more flexibility from current staff and has reviewed shift patterns.
The next step is for 121 discussions to take place between colleagues and their line managers to discuss the proposed shift rotation and the options that are available.
Whilst we understand the business rationale for change, individual circumstances must also be taken fully into account and we’ll support any members who cannot change their working patterns. We encourage members to have positive exploratory discussions in their 121s but to contact us if they feel their circumstances are not being taken properly into consideration.
It’s also been announced that the business intends to increase the opening hours of non-plastic teams and align with the plastics team which are 8am - 9pm, Monday to Saturday.
Application and Post Application Fraud (APAF)
Three changes have been announced today in the APAF team:
- Changing working hours from 8am - 4pm to 9am - 5pm
- With effect from August, Bank Holidays will be treated as normal working days with a day off in lieu offered to compensate (which is in line with the rest of Customer Operations)
- The current pay progression scheme will be aligned to the Customer Operations pay progression scheme. Moving to ‘proficient’ can mean a salary increase of up to £2000 on top of starting salaries and this alignment will create an immediate uplift for some staff.
If you have any concerns or question re these changes within CSO, please contact our rep Michelle White in Sunderland: [email protected] or Linda Crouch (see contact details below).
Mental Health Awareness Week
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW) - 10 – 16 May 2021.
The annual event provides an opportunity for the whole of the UK to focus on achieving good mental health. And this year the focus is about connecting with nature.
The week is also a chance to talk about any aspect of mental health that people want to.
Paying attention to workplace mental health has never been more important. The coronavirus pandemic has created a lot of uncertainty for businesses and employees, which in turn has had a disastrous impact on mental wellbeing. The NHS has referred to the rise in mental health conditions as the ‘hidden pandemic’.
TSB has promised to provide its staff with the best support possible. Improvements to the employee assistance programme are expected to be announced soon and will be available to use from June.
Check out our MHAW blog post for information on how to get involved and the available support, useful info and resources for supporting positive mental health, read an interview with one of our reps on maternal mental health and register for our next wellbeing event.
BWC: Loneliness & social wellbeing webinar
On Friday 11th June, we're teaming up with the Bank Workers Charity for a webinar that explores social wellbeing and the impact of loneliness at work. The session will cover:
- Why social wellbeing is important
- How loneliness affects us and how this has increased during the pandemic
- Loneliness in the workplace
- Steps we can take to combat loneliness
This one-hour event will be hosted by Accord through the Microsoft Teams platform from 11am.
TUC Long Covid survey
The TUC has launched a survey for workers who have experienced or are experiencing Long Covid symptoms. The results will help ensure those who have been impacted can be better supported at work.
Office for National Statistics data has revealed that 1 in 5 people who’ve tested positively for Covid-19 have had symptoms that have lasted for 5 weeks or longer, and that 1 in 10 have had symptoms for 12 weeks or longer. With over 4 million people having tested positive for Covid-19, those experiencing Long Covid could be as high at 800,000.
Have you had, or do you have, Long Covid? If so, the TUC want to hear from you. Please share this survey amongst your colleagues too.
Any comments or queries should be sent to Linda Crouch: [email protected]
