Hybrid workers in Bank of Ireland have received a warning from management

In July last year, the bank announced that staff who are eligible for hybrid working would be required to work in-person a minimum of eight days per month or two days per week.

In a message to staff this morning, the bank said that meeting the minimum in-person attendance set out in its hybrid policy will now be part of how it assesses performance.

"Unfortunately, it is clear that not enough of us are meeting the minimum requirements set more than six months ago," according to the message.

From June 2026, swipe-in data for staff will be visible and reported on a monthly basis to line managers.

Staff that do not meet their minimum in-person requirements will receive a full year rating of "inconsistent" which could impact future bonuses and pay increases.

"If colleagues do not meet the requirement the bank can commence disciplinary proceedings as it would for any matter of non-compliance," according to the message.

The communication describes Bank of Ireland's hybrid approach as "market-leading in terms of flexibility" as it is paired with a network of remote working hubs.

The message thanks those that are meeting and exceeding the minimum requirements, and acknowledges that hybrid working is not available to every staff member, with many roles requiring in-person attendance five days a week.

"For those eligible to work in a hybrid way it is a considerable benefit and - to be fair to everyone in the company - we have to make sure that the policy is consistently adhered to," the message states.

"Whilst exception considerations are now closed, BOI remains committed to sensible day to day flexibility, which will continue to be agreed between colleague and manager," it added.

In a message to members in Bank of Ireland, the Financial Services Union (FSU) said it strongly opposes the bank's announcement that it intends to link monitoring of individual digital swipe data to performance ratings and disciplinary action.

"This is a serious departure from commitments previously given to the union by the bank, where they stated that they would not be monitoring any individual digital swipes," the FSU said in the message.

The FSU said it has data protection concerns about the collection, processing and use of individual swipe-in data and that it will be raising these matters with the Data Protection Commission and the bank as a matter of urgency.

The union added that it will attend, in good faith, an arbitration meeting scheduled for tomorrow on hybrid working arrangements.

The FSU said it will be convening a meeting later this week to discuss the change announced by Bank of Ireland and assess next steps.