Britain's biggest mortgage lender offers ultimatum

Lloyds Banking Group, one of the UK's largest financial institutions, has intensified its efforts to ensure employees return to the office, linking senior staff bonuses to their compliance with attendance rules.
The decision forms part of the bank’s strategy to uphold its hybrid working policy, which mandates a minimum of two days a week in the office for those on full-time contracts.
The policy applies to approximately 20% of Lloyds’ 60,000 employees who fall into the senior staff category. Performance-related bonuses for these employees will now consider office attendance as a key metric. This move aligns with a growing trend among major employers to reassess remote working arrangements, which became the norm during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lloyds introduced its hybrid policy in 2023, requiring staff to spend at least 40% of their working time in the office. A spokesperson for Lloyds stated: “We are proud to offer an industry-leading approach to flexible working which delivers many benefits for our colleagues while ensuring that we are well-placed to deliver on our ambitious strategy to transform our business and continue to deliver for our customers.”
The inclusion of office attendance in performance evaluations has drawn mixed reactions. Ged Nichols, general secretary of the Accord union representing Lloyds staff, stressed the importance of fairness: “The inclusion of a metric on complying with the requirement for some staff to attend offices for 40% of their working time should not create problems if it is applied fairly, and is sensitive to individuals’ circumstances with mature and reasonable judgments applied.”
This policy adjustment mirrors a broader shift among employers revisiting remote work practices. Companies such as JP Morgan Chase and Amazon have implemented stricter in-office attendance requirements, with some insisting on a full-time return. Similarly, Asda and Santander have introduced new policies requiring more frequent office attendance.
Despite this push, resistance persists among workers who value the flexibility of remote working. For example, staff at Starling Bank and WPP have protested new attendance mandates, with some resigning or petitioning against them.
In addition to changes in attendance requirements, Lloyds is also introducing enhancements to its bonus structure. For the first time, 33,000 of the bank’s lowest-paid employees will have the opportunity to earn larger bonuses based on their performance. These payouts will reward staff who exceed expectations or demonstrate transformative impacts on the business, adding to their standard share of the bonus pool.
Nichols welcomed the new initiative but emphasised that higher awards for exceptional performance must not come at the expense of reducing standard bonuses for other employees. “We welcome the introduction of higher awards for some staff to reflect their performance, but on condition that the higher awards are funded separately and are not made possible by reducing the value of the standard awards for everybody else,” he said.
As Lloyds prepares to announce its annual results on February 20, the bank’s approach to balancing flexible working with productivity and employee incentives reflects the evolving dynamics of post-pandemic work culture.