EE employees in the company’s consumer division who work the five non-festive bank holidays will be entitled to five additional days off at a time of their choosing, a union has said.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has reached an agreement with the mobile operator after the company said it would introduce a “flexible bank holidays” policy.
Contact centre and retail employees who work these bank holidays can exchange them for a day off at a time of their choosing, as long as they are booked 10 weeks in advance.
However, according to the union, there are exceptions: they will not be able to take these days in lieu consecutively; during the period between 24 December and 4 January; or on Black Friday, Cyber Monday or the busy period around the launch of new iPhone models.
Bank holiday working
EE, part of BT Group, last year became BT’s flagship consumer brand. Those with EE Consumer and BT contact centre contracts who are contractually required to work on bank holidays are covered by the new arrangement, but ex-BT Consumer staff – who have never been contractually obliged to work bank holidays – will be able to opt into the policy.
CWU national officer for EE Consumer, Stephen Albon, said: “Some members have advised that these five public holidays are not as valued as the festive period – nor indeed some other dates that are personally important for them, which may include other religious festivals, birthdays and anniversaries.
“We therefore believe that the agreement we have reached – which opens up the opportunity to exchange a worked non-festive bank holiday day for an absolutely guaranteed day off at a time of the individuals’ choosing (with just a small number of exceptions) – will be positively received by many members.”
An EE spokesperson said: “We want to give our colleagues more opportunities to celebrate the events that are important to them. So we have simplified the way they take bank holidays, to give more flexibility to use them in the most personal way.”
Albon said the company had wanted to roll the arrangement out to all grades, including the ex-BT Consumer staff, on the basis that they would not be able to opt-out once they volunteered to take advantage of the policy. However, it has been agreed that these employees can opt out of the policy in 2024/25 if they later decide it is not for them.
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