Thousands of Barclays staff want to be paid to come back to the office, and the union representing them says the bank should reverse a plan to require more days on site.
Unite, which represents around 36,000 Barclays employees, is pressing for a one-off payment to offset higher travel and childcare costs after the bank told staff that the expectation of two days a week in the office will rise to at least three from next month. Senior leaders are expected to be in four days or more. The bank sent a memo outlining the change in July, first reported by the Financial Times.
The backlash has been building for weeks. Rick Coyle, Unite’s national officer, said thousands of employees have signed an open letter calling for the policy to be dropped, and that the number of signatories “continues to rise.” His broader complaint is that the rule change targets a problem that is not there. Barclays staff are, in the letter’s words, delivering “strong financial results and improved customer services” under the current hybrid arrangement.
The union’s demands read like a practical negotiation list rather than a refusal to commute. Exemptions for anyone whose journey exceeds 40 minutes or 35 miles. Flexibility around wraparound childcare. A closer look at childcare vouchers and on-site creches. And money on the table to cover what the extra days actually cost households.
Barclays defended the move in terms that will sound familiar to anyone following return-to-office rows across the sector. A spokesperson said many employees already attend three or more days, that being on site fosters collaboration and helps colleagues learn from each other, and that the bank recognises “the benefits of balancing flexibility for colleagues with the importance of working together in our physical locations.” Minimum attendance requirements vary by business area, the spokesperson added; investment bankers, the BBC understands, are already expected in five days a week. The bank declined to say how many staff the change affects.
Barclays is not alone in pushing on this. Amazon, Boots and JP Morgan all tightened remote working policies after the pandemic, and the two-day norm that became standard practice at many City firms is now drifting upward again. What makes the Barclays case notable is the response it is provoking: staff who can point to strong results are increasingly treating the commute as a cost the employer should help pay for, not a favour.
Whether a payment actually lands is the interesting question. Unite is not threatening industrial action, and bank staff are hardly the workforce with the least to lose from a public row. But a precedent where a major bank pays its office workers to return would move the needle in arguments at other firms, in a market where banks are still competing hard for the tech and client-facing talent hybrid working was designed to keep.
This article draws on the BBC News report of 17 September 2026 and Unite’s published statement.