Barclays has given staff more time to comply with its return-to-office demands after a backlash against its plans to enforce attendance at least three days a week. The lender’s tightened hybrid working policy was set to come into force next Monday but the bank told employees in an email on Tuesday that there would now be a transition period until the start of 2027.

The memo comes after staff rebelled against plans to toughen Barclays’ hybrid working policies, with thousands of employees backing a call by union Unite for people with longer commutes to be exempt from the new rules and for all workers to receive a one-off payment to offset extra costs. While staff are still being encouraged to comply with the new rules from next week, anyone who needs more time will now not be required to do so until the new year.

“We are extending the implementation period for UK colleagues to ensure colleagues have the right support as we move through the transition . . . We are also reviewing our flexible working policy,” the bank’s group executive committee wrote in the email, which has been seen by the FT. “If you need further time before you can meet the new arrangements, speak to your people leader,” they added. “You will not be required to meet the new arrangements until the start of 2027.”

The partial climbdown by the bank comes as many employers retreat from flexible working arrangements offered in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Barclays’ current policy is for thousands of its full-time workers to be in the office at least two days a week. The bank told affected workers in July that under its new policy they would need to be in the office at least three days a week, with senior leaders expected to attend on at least four days. Unite, the union that represents almost 80 per cent of Barclays’ 45,000 staff in the UK, had called on the bank to halt its plan to increase the attendance requirement.