Covid-19: RBS asks majority of workers to work remotely until 2021

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has told its staff that majority of workers can continue to work remotely until 2021.

The move comes despite the government withdrawing an official guidance that encouraged people to work from home.

RBS has decided to extend the option to work from home for around 50,000 employees to 2021, Reuters reported citing an internal memo.

Previously, the bank provided the remote working option till September.

Reuters quoted RBS as saying in the internal memo: “Like we’ve done throughout the pandemic the decision has been made carefully, including considering the latest guidance from the UK Government on Friday and our own health and safety standards and procedures. It’s a cautious approach but we feel the right one to take currently.”

It added that a very few employees will be allowed to return to offices in the near future depending on business requirements or for the mental wellbeing of the worker.

RBS maintained operations at around 95% of its branch network during the Covid-19 pandemic. Around 10,000 of its workers continued to operate at these locations with proper protections.

In May, the company asked around 400 employees to return to offices to support its operations.

Earlier this month, RBS signed a multi-year deal with Mphasis to accelerate product development in its lending domain.