Banking key workers

[Frogusha]

A slightly weird question for parents who work in the investment / corporate banking. Two people on my larger team identified themselves as key workers - as banking is on key workers list - and sent kids to school (school accepted this claim). Anyone else is doing it? None of them is front line / retail. I’d love to send mine but it just seems unethical. Maybe everyone is doing that and I’m being silly? Their view is that if you run a big function in a bank and can’t do your job because of having to home school that’s what key worker programme is for. HR seems to be OK with that too but wouldn’t release comms to all on that. The managers who did this also urged other team Heads to cascade this message to others (again, not something I’m comfortable with cascading to my team)

Banking is on the list - there would be outcry if they furloughed!

DH works on a software product that all the major banks use. If ti crashed there would be problems so he is a keyworker - but we're not taking up the place.

My DC's school have had to limit the numbers of children of investment bankers going in - there would have been 2/3 of the children in otherwise.
Now it is NHS staff as priority and then two key worker parents.
Personally, as the wife of an investment banker I would be ashamed to use the space (I am also a key worker but not NHS).

If we only view bank branch workers as key workers then we misunderstand how banking works.

Liquidity, lending, electronic payments, compliance with anti-money laundering legislation, and fraud prevention are as important as ever.

Mergers & Acquisitons might be viewed a bit differently but it's all about treasury receipts I guess.

I work in fintech, my kids are at Uni, but if they were at school I'd definitely be sending them in as I'd have to work. If you meet the criteria for key worker then send them in would be my view. After all, people aren't going to want financial services/banking to stop are they.

DH works bank end in a bank- if customers can't access their money, there'd be huge problems! He's a key worker, obviously. I am too, but we're both WFH since march, so not using provision because thankfully our DC are old enough to learn from home with minimal supervision. We do appreciate how fortunate we are.

back end, sorry!

I work in financial we are processing payment holidays taking calls from people in crisis having lost income due to pandemic, facing unemployment, furlough etc etc

I completely agree that certain banking functions have to be able to work but not all. It is being abused in my opinion - anecdata - one family at my school him a derivatives trader and her an equity research analyst both WFH. Sure, it is a ball ache trying to work with children around but key workers? I am not so sure.

We have a lot of NHS staff at our school, my concern is the more children that go in, the more likely there will be a case and the bubble pops... meaning those staff cannot then go to work in their NHS role. Presumably Mr and Mrs Banker would just have to suck it up for 10 days but I have no doubt they would manage to work.

Btw I do not doubt that it is the employers putting pressure on staff to claim a key worker place. It should be more specific about which banking functions are included, like they are in legal (which is my field).

Agreed @werk

I think its unethical to take the place unless you are saying working in a bank in the office full-time, partner also working full-time out of home and essential areas of banking.

Our school is saying it may have to put a ban on keyworkers outside education and healthcare as so many are trying to claim places and they are capping places at 50/1000. I do think it should be 2 key workers both who can't work at home and schools should ask for proof of that.

I've had to stop work as SN child not eligible for place, we could claim DH was a keyworker as definition is so wide but rates won't reduce if everyone does that.

Technically I am a key worker (I work for the pharmaceutical research company and carry a keyworker letter if ever I had to work on site and was stopped by the police). However, i do not consider myself as such as I work in the back office and am not in the labs etc. I have worked at home since March and would never claim a keyworker space for the kids that should go to real front line workers.

I'd quite like to be paid every month, so I consider banking as essential!

It all depends on their actual jobs. Dp regularly needs to process foreign currency transactions and speaks to his broker 2-3 times a week (essential industry so no shut down even in March and he wfh with covid) many banking functions are crucial

Thing is, banking professions are all crucial, we wouldn’t be there if we weren’t - everything not crucial gets made redundant, especially in current times. Yet, we all wfh - can you imagine if DC of everyone in Canary Wharf and City in London went to school?

There is FCA guidance on which areas of banking are key workers for these purposes. A combination of Compliance and HR should know the answer and, at least in some banks, internal guidance has been given on who can claim places and who should (much narrower group). Doing the right thing is important.

My husband and I are both “key workers.” In our case, ridiculous. We are both senior Ana gets who work from home.

Our children are older anyway, but I don’t think we are the people that “key worker” provision is intended for. I’d be embarrassed to claim the place in our position. Surely it is front line workers with younger children who need this special support.

Many jobs are crucial but if wfh (and many can be done from home) you shouldn’t take a kw place.
The more children who continue going to school, the quicker they will close through further Covid cases and all children will be at home regardless of what your job is.

Further to above, during the first lockdown banks/financial services were required (by FCA) to select employees that were critical staff - these employees were issued with a letter stating that they had been identified as a “key worker” and essential to the provision of financial services for their firm.
DH works from home most of the time, but rotates with a team member so one of them always in the office - that team member prefers to be in the office anyway as it suits them. From his team of 5, only two of them got the “essential” status and it does not apply to the junior team members.
If this status is generally given to senior ranked staff, then it is more likely to be those that have school aged children.

My exh works in banking and I’d consider him a key worker - he’s pretty senior and is currently trying to help sort out what should happen with the rents of high street shops. It would cause pretty big problems if things like that couldn’t be sorted out and he’s only a small cog in the grand scheme of things. Luckily I can have the dc at home with me but as he’s still required to visit quite a lot of the sites there’s no way he could do it if he had to look after dc too.

Oh well, now this makes things clear: www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jan/09/school-guidance-for-children-of-key-workers-changes-again?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR32ItaMoIszmO7IxsOupNJ-kBYCTZ4Pp8cFSDGVfkl4WXvQKBhrF4Dn6Ro#Echobox=1610265776

Well if in Investment banking then NOT key workers. Plus they can afford hiring a nanny / tutor full time if they want. Nobody is going to die if a corporate merger is delayed is delayed by a few days or if one of their i1 banking clients does not get an answer within 5 minutes of asking.

It will be a headline if the investment bankers are pushing for the key worker places at their (prep) schools so journalists out there please watch for that one!

🧐

@Frogusha

Thing is, banking professions are all crucial, we wouldn’t be there if we weren’t - everything not crucial gets made redundant, especially in current times. Yet, we all wfh - can you imagine if DC of everyone in Canary Wharf and City in London went to school?

Of course we're not all crucial Not full time, anyway.

coronateachingagain not everyone in investment banking earns a fortune and not all their kids are in private schools. You may not think of it as being ‘key’ but considering the amount of GDP that is earned in the city and the fact it is one of the only highly profitable industries that is still functioning in this country and the amount our government is currently spaffing up the wall they would be insane to insist the banking sector stops working. Unless you’re happy to work on a barter system until the end of lockdown it is pretty bloody important.

@RuleConfusion even if you are broadly correct, does that make I-bankers "key" as per definition? NO. I know it, knowing the job. You probably know it too. You are confusing me for someone I am not, and think I am not an insider, but I am 😮 . Being a key worker has nothing to do with GDP contribution. Moreover I never said stop working, I just said work harder and accept the same deal the great majority of the population is having to accept. If you are not a key worker as per the government definition (and investment bankers are not in their great majority, save for some on the live markets side) then that's it. There is no GDP contribution or amazing super top job that should change that. At best, you are missing the point, at worst, you are trying to justify gaming the system.