JOINT ARTICLE
European Banking Social Partners Commit to a Common Understanding on Remote Work
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Today, 7 December 2021, the European Banking Social Partners signed a Joint Declaration on Remote Work and New Technologies. The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and the constantly increasing use of digitalised systems and processes led the Social Partners to reassess and appropriately update our approach to remote work in the European Banking sector.
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An adaptable pattern of remote work, which allows for both higher productivity and an improved work-life balance, is a key aspect of the current and future ways of working. Therefore, UNI Europa Finance together with the EBF’s Banking Committee for European Social Affairs (EBF-BCESA), the European Savings and Retail Banking Group (ESBG) and the European Association of Co-operative Banks (EACB), worked together to ensure that employees’ and employers’ interests are safeguarded in these continuously changing working environments.
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UNI Europa Finance President Michael Budolfsen said: “With remote work increasing at a rapid pace during Covid and beyond, it is opportune for the European Social Partners to come together to ensure this new way of working will stimulate a good work-life balance and not have a negative impact on the sector and its workers”.
UNI Europa Finance Director Maureen Hick added: “UNI Europa Finance welcomes the signing of this Joint Declaration and the commitment made today that remote work will not lead to any significant changes to bank employees’ rights and conditions and should be a topic of collective bargaining at all levels”.
Jens Thau, Chairman of EBF-BCESA, pointed out: “Banks and its employees have a strong track record of embracing new developments and putting them to work for their clients. The new Joint Declaration underscores the social partners’ commitment to responsibly shape this process of transformation.”
Michael Kammas, Vice-Chairman of EBF-BCESA highlighted: “The expertise of the Social Partners is pivotal when it comes to address new ways of working. This new Joint Declaration not only comes in the most appropriate time due to the pandemic and the continuous technological advancement, but it also shows the Social Partners’ ability to work together and agree on common approach encompassing all the significant aspects of Remote Work to ensure banks’ competitiveness and adaptability to the digitalized world of work.”
Peter Simon, Managing Director said for ESBG: “The Social Partners continuously strive for stable working conditions in accordance with the greater working situation. The Covid-19 crisis has escalated the need to establish good teleworking practices and adapt many roles to remote work. This Joint Declaration strengthens our commitment to employees to provide a secure environment”.
Nina Schindler, CEO of EACB explained: “The Social Partners’ agreement on the Joint Declaration on Remote Work is an effective and timely response to changes in working conditions. By signing this Joint Declaration, we demonstrate as the EACB our intent to safeguard the interests of European co-operative banks’ employees.”
The Social Partners have always proactively engaged with the effects of digitalisation. This new Joint Declaration builds on our previous commitments on Telework (2017) and on the Impact of Digitalisation on Employment (2018) by focusing on remote work as a specific type of adaptation to the way of working in the digitalised era. Understanding, shaping and keeping up with technological developments are very much at the heart of the European Social Partners’ approach in order to contribute to a strong and resilient banking industry.
To this end, the Social Partners have agreed to a common understanding regarding key aspects of remote work. These include collective trade union rights, health and safety, work-life balance, working hours and the right to disconnect, digital rights, resource and equipment costs, and access to training and career development.
This Joint Declaration on Remote Work and New Technologies is another significant achievement for the European Banking Social Partners, showing our continued commitment to engage together in current issues of common interest and adding our unique knowledge and contribution to the general debate on digitalisation.
About the European Banking Federation:
The European Banking Federation is the voice of the European banking sector, bringing together national banking associations from across Europe. The EBF is committed to a thriving European economy that is underpinned by a stable, secure and inclusive financial ecosystem, and to a flourishing society where financing is available to fund the dreams of citizens, businesses and innovators everywhere.
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BRUSSELS, 28 June 2018 – Financial crisis, the growth of digitisation, market changes, and a continuously increasing and complex EU regulatory regime have created new trends in banking sector employment. An overall shrinking financial services workforce, opportunities for older employees for a late career in the banking sector, a simultaneous significant decrease in hiring younger employees, and a majority of women employees in the EU banking industry, are the main conclusions of a new study from European banking industry social partners.
The results of a new European Commission-funded report presented today for the first time at the European Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee in Banking, analyses data that show an upward shift in the average age and education level among bank employees since the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Hiring for people aged 55-plus swelled by 35%. Meantime, workers hired under the age of 24 decreased by 38%, while hiring for those aged 25-39 dropped 19%. The trend slowed in the 40 to 50 age category, down just 5%.
Dr. Jens Thau, Chairman of the EBF-BCESA said: “The nature of the post-crisis job supply focus on high-skill labour is due to higher regulatory pressure. The trend is also caused by new technologies and regulation-driven business models and by stricter requirements on HR hiring procedures that make it more difficult to recruit early career workers. Competition from new players such as FinTechs compounds the pressure on hiring job seekers belonging to the younger age groups.
The committee, comprised of European social partners EBF-BCESA, ESBG and EACB as employers’ associations along with trade unions body UNI Europa Finance, also invited stakeholders to join the meeting to learn from the EU-funded study project on the impact of banking regulation on employment.
Shrinking workforce, branch network consolidation
The study calculated a drop of 444,200 employees in the EU28 banking sector in 2016 than in 2007. During that time period, the number of employees per branch increased due to branch bank consolidation caused, in part, by EU financial policy decisions and market trends such as digitisation. To cope with the digital ‘New Normal’, financial institutions are adjusting their business models to reach closer proximity to customers while reworking their branch network.
William Portelli, President of the Malta Union of Bank Employees (MUBE) and coordinator for the UNI Europa Finance banking social dialogue committee, said: “The implementation of overwhelming regulatory measures to mitigate the unwarranted circumstances created by the crisis demanded instant changes to job profiles due to risk and compliance requirements. Pillar 2 of the project could look at continuous personal and professional development as key to employment and growth in the finance sector, since it enhances the possibility of redeployment in wider areas of the industry, especially to those who cannot keep up with the new required skills.”
Overall job figures show employment level contraction in the fields of administration, head-office and retail and business banking. This is offset by expansion in banks’ compliance, IT and asset management ranks. The social partners said: “The amount of job losses does not reflect social partner efforts to mitigate the effect of cuts and the anticipation of change.”
Regulation affects bank employment practices
The study delves into the direct impact regulatory/supervisory policy has on banks’ hiring decisions. Qualitative information contained in the study, obtained from banking throughout the European Union, point to government austerity measures and constrained fiscal policy impacting employment policies. New and updated EU banking rules enacted since the financial crisis are also hitting both employers and employees alike. The social partners attribute the quick pace of rules being issued contributing to making compliance more difficult.
Women remain in EU banking staff majority
Women continue to make up the majority of the EU banking industry, made up of 54% women, and as much as 70% in some Central and Eastern EU countries. Part-time contracts attract women, leading to a higher percentage of them taking banking jobs. Qualitative data show that can be attributed in part to the flexibility offered by the sector in part-time contracts. Though there is always room for improvement, the glass ceiling shows cracks, with a gradual rise in higher-level posts for women.
The social partners concluded: “The telling hard numbers and qualitative insight shows a need to continue to better understand the relationship between financial sector regulation and employment. We should try to collect additional data in the second phase of the project in order to arrive to a more accurate basis for more specific conclusions.”
Survey methodology
International consultancy company Kantar was enlisted to carry out the data collection exercise, which aimed to gather statistical material on the banking industry such as data on the employment situation in the banking sector by country for the EU28. Data from 2016 was compared with 2013 and 2007, where available.
Contact: Raymond Frenken, EBF Head of Communications on +32 2 508 37 32 or at r.frenken@ebf.eu
About EBF
The EBF serves as the voice of the European banking sector, bringing together 32 national banking associations in Europe that together represent some 3,500 banks – large and small, wholesale and retail, local and international. Launched in 1960, the EBF is committed to creating a single market for financial services in the European Union and to supporting policies that foster economic growth and help achieve a thriving European economy and flourishing society.
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From left to the right Michael Kammas (EBF-BCESA Vice Chairman), EBF Sébastien de Brouwer (EBF Chief Policy Officer), Angelo di Cristo (UNI Finance Head of Departments), Pia Desmet (UNI Europa Finance Vice-President), Sebastian Stodulka (Head of Regulatory Affairs at ESBG), Michael Budolfsen (UNI Europa Finance President), William Portelli (UNI Europa Finance Coordinator of the Banking Social Dialogue), Jens Thau (EBF-BCESA Chairman), Maureen Hick (UNI Europa Finance Director)
The impact of digitalisation on employment in Banking sector:
A new Joint Declaration among European social partners
BRUSSELS, 4 December 2018 – The EBF’s Banking Committee on European Social Affairs (BCESA), as one of the social partners in the European social dialogue for the banking sector, signed on Friday 30 November the new “Joint Declaration on the impact of digitalisation on employment” together with other representatives of the banking sector in Europe and Uni Finance. The new declaration addresses the effects on employment of digitalisation and automation processes in the banking sector.
The social partners jointly work to address the opportunities and challenges of digitalisation in a positive manner, aiming to shape the digital transformation in a socially responsible way and create value for all stakeholders including shareholders, sector, employees, consumers and society in general.
Data protection and privacy, healthy working conditions and work-life balance together with the social dialogue are keys in order to shape the digital transformation of the banking sector.
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EBF-BCESA: Joint Declaration on Employment Aspects of Providing Financial Services including Guidance
BRUSSELS, 12 May – The Joint Declaration on Employment Aspects of Providing Financial Services Including Guidance has been signed by the social partners in the European Banking Sector.
EBF’s Banking Committee for European Social Affairs (EBF-BCESA) along with European Savings and Retail Banking Group (ESBG) and European Association of Co-operative Banks (EACB) signed the Joint Declaration with UNI Europa Finance.
In the current COVID-19 crisis banks and its employees play a critical role in providing financial services to all areas of the economy.
“With this new Joint Declaration, the Social Partners of the banking sector introduce a framework and acknowledge good practices for providing sustainable financial services to the citizens of Europe, in and after the COVID crisis”, says Jens Thau, Chairman of EBF-BCESA.
The European Banking sector continues to be a key actor in ensuring stable markets, supporting job creation and stimulating growth and development. Consequently, Social Partners agreed that one of the main functions of financial institutions is to provide reliable and sustainable financial services to support long-term social and economic development for the benefit of Europe.
With full respect to the areas of competence of the social partners at the various and appropriate levels, the Joint Declaration highlights the employment and social aspects of providing financial services, within both the EU and national legislative frameworks and the multiple financial services strategies applicable in Europe’s various banking institutions.
„The Joint Declaration promotes an accurate implementation of the various banking strategies at the employee/client interface”, says Michael Kammas, Vice-Chairman of EBF-BCESA.
In addition to information, training and awareness-raising activities, respecting of professional values, sustainability, data protection and regulatory compliance are addressed in the Joint Declaration as key items to achieve these goals while acknowledging the fundamental role of leadership and management as essential.
This Joint Declaration is another important evidence of the European Social Partners‘ initiative to promote the common goal of securing and enhancing the important role of the banking sector, to strengthen the overall reputation and trust towards the banking industry and to enhance visibility of the crucial role of employees to achieve these goals.
About the EBF:
The European Banking Federation is the voice of the European banking sector, bringing together national banking associations from across Europe. The EBF is committed to a thriving European economy that is underpinned by a stable, secure and inclusive financial ecosystem, and to a flourishing society where financing is available to fund the dreams of citizens, businesses and innovators everywhere. Website: www.ebf.eu Twitter: @EBFeu.
Media contact:
Raymond Frenken, Head of Communications
+32 496 52 59 47, r.frenken@ebf.eu
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EBF-BCESA leadership re-elected for a second 3-year term
• Jens Thau and Michael Kammas continue to serve as Chair and Vice-Chair
BRUSSELS, 29 November 2019 – The Banking Committee for European Social Affairs (BCESA) within the European Banking Federation has re-elected Jens Thau and Michael Kammas for a second three-year term, allowing them to continue to serve respectively as chairman and vice-chairman.
EBF-BCESA represents the interests of private banking employers at the European level. Both Dr Thau, Director at the German Federation of private Banking, known as AGV Banken, and Dr Kammas, Director General of Association of Cyprus Banks, have held their offices at BCESA already since 2013.
“Their re-election brings continuity and consistency to the sectoral dialogue on our side as employers,” said Wim Mijs, Chief Executive Officer of the EBF. “At a time of fundamental change in our sector such continuity is particularly important as it supports the constructive dialogue with our social partners.”
The reappointed BCESA-Leadership underlined the increased involvement and significance of European social partner projects in the banking sector.
„In recent years we have reached a new level of quality in our collaboration with social partners,” said Dr Thau. “We developed a common understanding regarding important topics like telework and digitalisation. With this we create true added value for the social partners at national level. We would like to consistently continue on this path.”
„We intensively assess the effects of regulation for the daily actions and behaviour of our employees,” said Dr Kammas. “With this we lay the foundation for a joint advocacy vis-a-vis regulators and banking supervisors.”
BCESA represents the interests of employers in the private banking sector at the European level towards the social partners. These include UNI-Finance, the European Commission and other international organisations, including the International Labour Organisation, regulators, banking supervisors and standardization organisations.
About the EBF:
The European Banking Federation is the voice of the European banking sector, bringing together national banking associations from across Europe. The EBF is committed to a thriving European economy that is underpinned by a stable, secure and inclusive financial ecosystem, and to a flourishing society where financing is available to fund the dreams of citizens, businesses and innovators everywhere. Website: www.ebf.eu Twitter: @EBFeu.
Media contact:
Raymond Frenken, Head of Communications
+32 496 52 59 47, r.frenken@ebf.eu
Subscribe to the EBF Weekly + FinReg Agenda
Every Friday at noon you can receive the EBF Weekly + Financial Regulation Agenda. This agenda presents an overview of upcoming European and international meetings and conferences in financial regulation, as well as important general financial and economic events and key EBF meetings for the week ahead. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
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Brussels, 12 September 2019
EBF Banking Committee on European Social Affairs (BCESA) along with BusinessEurope and other participating associations published a Joint Statement on labour shortages and skills mismatches. In the Statement, European employers urge policy-makers and social partners to reduce present and future labour shortages by improving skills matching. European employers also propose concrete actions to reverse the worrying trend of skills mismatches which leads to labour shortages in EU countries.
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The post Reducing labour shortages by improving skills matching – Joint declaration between social partners appeared first on EBF.
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Brussels, 17 November 2017
The EBF’s Banking Committee on European Social Affairs, as one of the social partners in the European social dialogue for the banking sector, signed on Friday 17 November the new “Joint Declaration on Telework in the European Banking Sector”.
The new declaration addresses issues relating to telework as a widespread form of work resulting from the advancing of technology and its impact on employment.
Subscribe to the EBF Weekly + FinReg Agenda
Every Friday at noon you can receive the EBF Weekly + Financial Regulation Agenda. This agenda presents an overview of upcoming European and international meetings and conferences in financial regulation, as well as important general financial and economic events and key EBF meetings for the week ahead. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
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