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)

The definition of a key worker is one that is vital, which banking is.

I’m sure there are many who fall under the umbrella term of ‘banking’ that aren’t ‘key workers’. There are also many that are so it makes sense to just use a blanket term rather than do it on a case by case basis. It obviously largely depends on the goodwill of people working in that sector to only send their kids to school if absolutely necessary but this is also the case in many other areas of work too.

Not all banking is vital. Actually most of investment banking is not. And even if vital, a lot of it can be worked from home. And that is why most investment bankers are working from home, and keeping their children at home. Or maybe their banks are paying for other arrangements, but not using taxpayers money. I wonder why are you trying to push this. Read again, and please follow the rules. I seriously wonder who are you trying to please, other than your or someone's unsettled conscience.

coronateachingagain I have no idea why you think I’m trying to push an agenda . I’m just saying there are many people within the banking sector who are essential workers who need to be physically in the office/ bank. There are also many who are not, just in the same way there are many NHS workers who can now work remotely and don’t need to be at a hospital/ care centre etc.

My children are off school, I have posted many times on here about the difficulties of remote learning, you can trawl through my previous posts if you care that much. I’m really not some secret investment bank spy trying to convince everyone they’re all underpaid key workers .

DH works for one of the big banks, he was given a keyworker letter in the first lockdown, but it was made very clear by all management that they did not expect them to use it unless essential and were happy to work remotely and flexibly around childcare needs. The bank have been very responsible and also concerned with staff welfare/mental health.

I was both surprised and impressed! And of course DC has stayed home.

@RuleConfusion I can see now you conveniently have now replaced "investment banking" in your first response with "banking" in your later responses. Despite me referring to i-bankers in line with your original comment.
On that basis I would agree with you....

@Makegoodchoices sounds sensible. Also all companies (including banks) are more clear now from first learning experience and rules, who is a key worker and who is not and as you say, this may apply not at all times during the lockdown.

I’d include investment bankers in that, as I said. My exh works for an investment bank, although not defined as an investment banker himself, in layman’s terms he is. His work and that of his whole department genuinely is essential. Trust me, he’s a total nobhead but there’s no denying he’s a key worker.

@RuleConfusion

The definition of a key worker is one that is vital, which banking is.

I’m sure there are many who fall under the umbrella term of ‘banking’ that aren’t ‘key workers’. There are also many that are so it makes sense to just use a blanket term rather than do it on a case by case basis. It obviously largely depends on the goodwill of people working in that sector to only send their kids to school if absolutely necessary but this is also the case in many other areas of work too.

The definition is that it is vital to the COVID response, not just vital.

@yellomellow2 that's not the definition! Key worker does not have to be anything to do with Covid repsonse. Civil servants working on Brexit were deemed key workers.

But in this context it is. Children of key workers can attend school if their parents are key workers whose job is critical to the COVID 19 response. As you say, those involved in the EU transition has also been added to the list.

Only use a KW place if you have to, if you are able to work from home, please. In some schools it is really getting out of control with KW places and schools are having to staff KW bubbles with staff going out because they are getting poorly. If it keeps going on like this, then primary schools will not be back open properly until March. If I could work at home, then I would, unfortunately I have to go into school, wearing face masks, keeping my distance from the children, washing hands constantly and keeping the windows open to try and remain safe. It really doesn't feel safe in schools at the moment due to the high numbers of KW children.

Yes please keep them home if you can. My kids primary has 50% of pupils in. Transmission won't go down quickly with this.

I teach and am attempting to teach online and manage my two at home as husband isn't a keyworker, and we will keep them home as it's the safest place for us all right now.

The quicker transmission goes down, the quickest we all get back to some sort of normal life