We should all avoid panic – especially when one considers that some 400,000 people die every year from flu – but Lloyds Banking Group needs to put in place one policy for dealing with the potential uptake in the number of COVID-19 cases and not have a piecemeal approach. Up to a fifth of workers may be off sick during the period of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Government says in its latest plans.
We understand that in one area of the bank, Chief Information Office, 2,000 staff have been told to work from home until 23rd March, and when they return to work the other 2,000 staff will then work from home. Furthermore, we understand that meetings of over 100 staff in Group Transformation have been banned. What about similar meetings in Retail or Commercial Banking? Are those to be banned too? The bank needs to be consistent in the way it deals with all staff, wherever they work.
We are not saying the bank’s policy needs to be implemented now but it should have one in place and should stop individual areas from doing their own thing. Furthermore, the bank’s policy should be published.
We will be monitoring the situation closely.
In the meantime, members with any questions on this Newsletter can contact the Union’s Advice Team on 01234 262868.