The regional lender is now embracing the flexible work model it first adopted during the pandemic, when travel restrictions made regular office commutes unrealistic and remote work tools became part of everyday operations. Since then, the bank has experimented with different hybrid settings, gradually tightening expectations as public health rules eased and it tried to bring people back together in physical workplaces.
Previously, senior leaders at the bank were expected to spend most of their week in the office while other staff could work from home for up to 3 days out of 5. From July this year, the majority of employees had been required to be on-site most of the time, supported by arguments that office attendance helped drive mentoring, spontaneous collaboration, detailed policy conversations and deeper workplace relationships. Even a credit assessor’s request for a more permanent remote setup was rejected and later backed by the national workplace tribunal, which accepted that occasional remote work and carers’ leave were sufficient.
By scrapping the blanket mandate and handing decisions back to individual managers and teams, the bank appears to be betting that flexible arrangements can support both productivity and employee wellbeing even as other major lenders keep tighter rules. Some rivals still require staff to be in the office at least 2 or 3 days a week and one large bank links attendance to performance pay, which shows that the broader sector is far from agreement on what the future of work should look like. The outcome for Bendigo and Adelaide Bank now seems to depend on whether this looser model can maintain connection and accountability while giving staff the autonomy they have clearly come to value.
