Westpac staff defy push to sell debt

Westpac bank staff have rejected the company's latest employment offer because of performance targets requiring them to sell increasing amounts of debt to customers.

The offer was rejected by 68 per cent of the about 1900 workers at the bank who belong to financial sector workers' union Finsec. A majority also voted to voice their concerns about the wider effect of the performance targets which require them to sell "large amounts of lending and other products".

"If staff don't reach these arbitrary targets, they miss out on pay. And our jobs might even be threatened," they said in a statement. "For us, these targets cause stress, frustration and lost pay. For you, our customers, they can also cause stress and frustration."

Finsec's Westpac-employed members had declared tomorrow to be "National Customer Service Day", during which they would ignore sales targets and "only sell debt products to customers based on what they need and want".

Finsec campaigns director Karen Skinner said Westpac had intensified sales targets and pressure on staff to achieve them for years, but the situation had worsened in the past 12 months.

"The way that the targets have been managed internally has created a complete lack of trust between staff and management. There are some questions over whether what the bank is doing is ethical and that was the tone of people's rejection."

Westpac spokesman Mark Watt said the bank was disappointed with Finsec's statement "and their justification for the so-called day of service".

"Our staff do face performance targets but they range across a whole lot of criteria, including risk compliance, adherence to customer service principles and, for some staff, some element of sales targets.

"We think the targets are realistic. There's some stretch in this year's targets, but we think that's achievable. Having targets helps us all to focus on what's required to grow as a business."

Watt said most of the bank's staff had been meeting targets and an upward trend in staff satisfaction surveys suggested staff were happy with their working environment.

He said Finsec's stance showed "a misunderstanding of the industry in which we operate."

But Massey University Banking Studies head David Tripe said the union's focus on the issue of performance targets on selling debt was "appropriate".

"There is a reasonable element of truth in some of what's being complained about in this area," he said.

Banks invariably said it was not in their interests to extend credit to customers who may not be able to afford to repay it. "That's eminently reasonable because you don't want bad debts on your books," said Tripe.