NAB staff claim ‘dehumanising’ overwork causing physical and mental health problems
NAB staff say they are suffering from depression, self-harm, physical health problems and relationship breakdowns over unpaid, onerous overtime that in some cases can amount to an extra three days a week of work.
A survey of current and former bank staff, prepared by the Finance Sector Union (FSU) in support of federal court action it plans to take against the bank over the issue, found that 93% of mid-tier and above bankers surveyed were working more than the standard 38 hours a week, and paints a grim picture of life at the bank.
“I drove my car off the road deliberately to try and have a serious enough accident to stop the insanity, but not so much to die,” one bank worker surveyed by the union said.
“My relationship at that time ended, I think largely because I had lost the essence of me.”
Staff reported that if they did not work additional unpaid hours they faced retribution from bank management that included being sacked, bullied and being stripped of bonuses.
I was … terminated,” one banker said. “I was totally helpless.”
In its report, Working for Nothing, the FSU said working excessive unpaid overtime had become normalised within the bank and there was a “culture of fatalism”, where employees were resigned to the practice.
“Management turns a blind eye, so they don’t have to address workloads,” one of the workers surveyed said.
Another said: “I was constantly shocked at the toxic culture and the deceitful way that senior leaders deflected any culpability for pushing staff to mental breakdown.”
The FSU national secretary, Julia Angrisano, said that working extra hours could be described as “another version of wage theft”.
“A large proportion of staff have reported that they are pressured into working long hours every week by managers who themselves are also required to work excessive hours,” she said.
“These demands are unjust, coerced and dehumanising.”
The FSU surveyed more than 1,200 current and former NAB employees who worked at grade 3 or above – ranks that include senior frontline staff and managers.
Under the enterprise agreement between the bank and the union, these staff are required to work additional overtime as long as it is reasonable.
Of those surveyed, 93% said NAB required them to work more than 38 hours a week to perform their ordinary duties.
Two thirds of respondents said the demand for extra hours had been going on for more than three years.
Four out of five said the extra work caused physical or mental health problems, including stress, loss of sleep and back or neck pain.
“Like many NAB employees I broke down – hospitalised at my own expense in a mental health ward,” one respondent said.
Another was “so stressed that I was taken to hospital in ICU where I spent one week, and two months to recover at home from major stress and physical breakdown”.
More than three quarters of respondents said overtime ate into their weekends and more than half said they had worked while on annual leave.
More than half also reported work overload caused relationship trouble, with many also saying they had missed family and school events.
“They stole my time from my family,” one respondent said.
Several blamed NAB for the end of their marriages.
“Marriage broke down,” one said. “Husband said I work too much.”
More than 900 of NAB’s 32,000 employees also kept a diary of their work hours for four weeks.
While about three quarters of staff said they were rostered to work between 38 and 40 hours a week, just 11% to 12% worked that little over the fourweek period.
Over that time, the proportion working 60 hours or more varied between 9% and 10%.
“Seventy hours a week is almost double the time I am expected to work and paid to work,” one respondent said. “I have lost financially, including super.”
A NAB spokesperson said the bank “does not expect colleagues to be working unreasonable additional hours.”
“We take seriously any instance where workload impacts a colleague’s health and life outside work. If this is the case, we encourage colleagues to raise their concerns with their leader, or to report any concerns via our confidential whistleblower line.”
Crisis support services can be reached 24 hours a day: Lifeline 13 11 14; Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467; Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800; MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78; Beyond Blue1300 22 4636 24.