Women suffer as WFH rollback gains traction

As Lloyds joins the list of firms issuing return-to-office orders, flexi-work campaigner Anna Whitehouse argues it will compound gender inequality

IT WAS ALWAYS going to happen: companies riding the post-pandemic flexible working high, grabbing all the ‘family friendly’ accolades, then slipping back to the 9-5 as soon as the dust settles. I just didn’t expect it to be this overt.

Earlier this year, Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) was awarded ‘best employer for older workers’ and ‘best for flexible working’ at the Top Employer Awards. Fast forward two months and hybrid working staff at the bank will have to spend at least two days a week in the office, with ‘cardswipe data’ used to monitor it.

Lloyds’ chief executive, Charlie Nunn, explained in a note to the bank’s 63,000 staff that, ‘This is about performance, supporting each other and creating equity. We want flexible working to be fair, inclusive and productive for all.’ Exceptions will be made for workers with disabilities or long-term health conditions.

It’s not just Lloyds. Snapchat is also ordering employees back to the office for 80% of the week. They join Disney, Dyson, Twitter, JP Morgan Chase and KPMG, who are all calling for more in-office days or even a full-time return to the office.

It seems there are still many flexible-working naysayers, whose argument goes that they are still offering a hybrid model, it’s just that you need to be in the office two days per week. That’s fair, right?

No. As always, the devil is in the detail, especially crucial where Lloyds’ new policy is concerned. It is a forced move from remote to fixed office days. Lloyds has also said it will run pilot schemes looking at the bank’s approach to ‘compressed working’ – where employees work their contracted hours over fewer days – something many mothers rely on to earn enough to work while also managing childcare and seeing the kids.

I’ve been inundated with messages from mothers from LBG who are terrified about what this will mean for their careers. It’s not easy to add on extra days at nursery when nurseries are increasingly scarce – more than 20,000 have closed since 2015, and waiting lists are months long. And that’s before we think about the cost of an additional day of childcare when mothers are falling out of the workplace due to the UK having the third most expensive childcare in the developed world.

Micha*, who works at Lloyds, says, ‘My child’s nursery shuts at 6pm. I won’t make it back in time to pick them up on the days I have to go into the office, and I have no other help. I’ve asked to leave slightly earlier on those days, but no flexibility has been offered.’

Helen*, also from Lloyds, says, ‘Since being told that we could work from home permanently, I’ve bought a dog and sold my car. I will have to walk half an hour and then catch a train twice a week, which will impact me financially. I also have a very anxious dog and cannot afford care.’

In a statement, Lloyds said, ‘Our hybrid approach to working has been in place since 2021 and has worked well in supporting our customers, while many of our colleagues have also benefited… [The] announcement brings clarity on our hybrid approach.’

Where do the rollbacks end? Just last week Twitter reduced paternity leave from 20 weeks to just two. These decisions will impact the gender pay gap and will have a lasting effect on gender equality in the workplace at a time when 96% of FTSE 350 companies are run by men.

Companies have a choice: will they treat their employees like people or like a number? If we’re serious about equality, the WFH rollback needs to stop now.