Barclays offers some UK staff until 2027 to meet new office attendance rules

Barclays is allowing some UK employees to delay meeting its new office attendance requirement until 2027, The Guardian reported on 29 September 2026. The bank says the wider changes will still take effect as planned on 5 October. For staff who cannot currently meet the increased requirement, a delay depends on requesting and receiving permission from a line manager by the end of this week.

The change affects the timetable for eligible individuals, rather than the bank’s stated start date for the policy. Barclays had told its 45,000 UK staff that most would be expected in the workplace at least three days a week, up from the current two-day requirement. More senior employees are expected to attend at least four days a week. The Guardian reported the new requirements after HR Grapevine had described the same planned increases earlier in September.

Who can request a Barclays office attendance delay?

Barclays described the delay as a transitional measure for colleagues whose personal circumstances currently prevent them from meeting the updated arrangements. According to The Guardian, employees seeking to postpone compliance until 2027 must ask their line manager and receive approval by the end of the week of 29 September. The available report does not set out a fuller list of qualifying circumstances or explain how managers will decide requests.

That distinction matters for employees planning their working week: the reported extension is conditional, not an automatic postponement for all UK staff. The Guardian did not say how many employees Barclays expects to apply, how many could be approved or precisely when in 2027 approved employees would have to meet the increased attendance requirement. Its report also did not provide a public copy of the bank’s detailed policy or the internal memo describing the transition.

What staff asked Barclays to change

The revision follows opposition to the planned attendance increase. HR Grapevine reported before the announcement that thousands of employees had signed an open letter and that Unite, the union behind the campaign, represented nearly 80% of Barclays’ 45,000 UK employees. The union wanted help with the extra cost of commuting and an exemption for employees whose journeys to work take more than 40 minutes. Those were requests from Unite, not concessions confirmed by Barclays.

The Guardian subsequently reported a broader set of requests from the union. Unite sought automatic exemptions during school holidays and Christmas, a cap of one office day a week for carers or disabled staff, and flexible start and finish times to accommodate travel costs and school commitments. It also asked for subsidised meals at work and a single payment to staff before March 2027 to offset the cost of attending more often.

Unite acknowledged that working face to face can help collaboration, team development and relationships, according to The Guardian. But the union said it did not accept that those benefits required a blanket increase in mandatory office attendance. A Unite spokesperson told the newspaper that the union was continuing to engage with Barclays about its proposals for employees’ working arrangements.

What Barclays has announced and what remains open

The Guardian quoted a memo from Barclays’ executive committee saying the bank was extending the implementation period for UK colleagues so they would have support during the transition. The memo also said Barclays was reviewing its flexible-working policy. Neither statement establishes that the union’s requests for commuting assistance or wider exemptions have been accepted.

Barclays and Unite said discussions would continue, The Guardian reported. For employees facing the 5 October change, the immediate step described in the report is to request a deferral from their line manager by the end of this week if their circumstances prevent them from meeting the new arrangements. Whether a request is granted, and how the bank applies its criteria, remain individual decisions that the published reporting does not resolve.