Union attacks longer hours plan at HSBC
HSBC HAS come under fire from its clerical union over claims it will downgrade the contracts of thousands of its branch managers.
Unite has written to the bank following an announcement yesterday that it wishes to change the working week of managers from five days to a six day week.
HSBC will also reduce management sickness absence pay to a maximum of 26 weeks and halve the contracted level of benefit.
The bank says the changes are necessary to allow it to change its opening hours to coincide with the times its customers wish to bank. This includes rolling out Saturday opening. A spokesman told City A.M. only managers will be affected by compulsory changes.
A Unite spokesman said: “We are appalled that HSBC has decided to unilaterally impose changes to the contracts of its staff. These bank managers work extremely hard for long hours and earn salaries as low as £19,000 per year.
“Any attempt to force through changes to managers’ contracted hours of work will be fiercely resisted by Unite.”
The union also expressed concerns over the general treatment of the bank’s management, which it says are currently denied the right to have the union negotiate on their behalf.