FCA staff threaten industrial action over three-days-a-week office policy
Union representatives for the UK’s financial watchdog the FCA have threatened industrial action if staff are made to come into the office more than two days a week.
In an open letter to the board of the FCA, Unite the Union said more than 90 per cent of its members would take action if the FCA increases office attendance requirements beyond the current threshold of 40 per cent of days per month, or an average of two per week.
The move comes despite an increase in office attendance in the financial services sector, with many companies mandating four or even five days a week in the office, reversing lax rules from the pandemic.
But Unite said making comparisons between the FCA and the firms it regulates was not “relevant”.
“The FCA cannot match private sector pay, and moving closer to private sector working conditions can only damage our ability to attract and retain the talent on which we rely to carry out our public functions,” Unite said.
The union added that an increase in office attendance “not only risks undermining that progress—it also threatens trust, morale, and retention and therefore our performance as a regulator.”
Unite said members were minded to take industrial action short of a strike, such as by defying the terms of the new hybrid work policy. They added that working from an office makes it harder to fulfil the FCA’s “DEI agenda”.
“Our members are not resistant to change, but they do expect fairness and transparency,” Unite said.
“The strength of the indicative ballot result sends a clear message.
“Changes of this magnitude cannot be imposed without genuine negotiation with the union and full consideration of the impact on employees.”
The FCA’s London office moved from Canary Wharf to Stratford in 2018, which some staff regarded as a move to a less attractive location, discouraging office attendance. The watchdog also has offices in Leeds and Edinburgh.