FSU continues battle over Westpac sales targets

The Financial Sector Union (FSU) has called its members to say exactly how much unpaid work they have to do to, if any, to achieve their sales targets. 

This comes after Westpac said its sales targets for the 2014 financial year - which are up to 20-50 per cent higher than the previous year - are reasonable, because a large number of staff were meeting them. 

“Meanwhile, we’re hearing that many staff are doing extraordinary things to avoid the problems associated with not making target,” the FSU said to its members in a statement on its website. 

Earlier this year, it was reported that over 500 Westpac staff working in personal banking, home finance management and business banking had complained to the union about the increase, claiming it did not reflect the customer base. 

The FSU also received reports that, in some areas, Westpac managers were asking staff to sign individual coaching session/performance agreements. 

After receiving the response from the banking group, the union has posed a number of questions to its members, asking them to share their stories about how easy - or difficult - it is to meet those sales targets. 

“We say that just because you are reaching your targets, it doesn’t make them reasonable,” FSU said. 

“Are you working unpaid overtime to get your work done? If so, how much overtime (paid or unpaid) do you work in a typical week,” the union asked. 

“Have you missed any family events or other occasions because you needed to remain at work so you could meet your performance objectives? 

“Is other work not being done, or are staff being forced to take shortcuts to meet targets?” 

The FSU said it intends to use these examples in its discussions with the bank, in search of a solution to the problems caused by the new targets.