Last week the four trade unions representing employees in AXA Belgium issued a newsletter expressing their dismay at AXA Group’s unilateral decision to make colleagues across the world work a minimum of three days in the office per week, regardless of local business requirements. Unite in AXA in the UK fully support our Belgian colleagues and we have translated the newsletter and reissued it to express our solidarity with the demand that Group in Paris reconsider the decision.

Unite in AXA have issued a newsletter on our Greener AXA campaign and published the survey results pack which can be accessed here. 

Please leave your feedback below or talk to your local union rep.

On 31^st July the company issued a communication to all People Leaders on Smart Working. The message within was to be cascaded to all employees.

Unfortunately it appears that this has not have been the case with a number of employees not hearing the message.

Further in a number of cases when Leaders have cascaded the message they have done so incorrectly, having misunderstood the contents.

To help clarify matters, the message from the UK&I Leadership Team was:

1. The current expectation of 40% (two day) office attendance remains in place.
2. The ‘majority of time’ rule, averaged over 12 months, which was to come into place from 1^st September, is now not happening.
3. At some point in the future, when all sites have the capacity to accommodate it, the expectation will move to an average of 60% (three day) office attendance (the period attendance will be averaged over a period to be confirmed).

Hopefully this helps alleviate any confusion, if you have any questions regarding the above, please speak to your local union rep.

Unite in AXA reps are running stalls in offices across the country updating members about the changes to legislation, the widening of protections for employees and the responsibility of the employer. Drop by and have a chat with your local reps…

AXA‘s Group Head of Culture, Inclusion and Diversity, Kirsty Leivers, has publicly stated in her update on the Global Pulse Results that “AXA is committed to achieving an average of 3 office days per week”, an increase from the ‘two days a week plus a majority of time over the year rule’, that is due to be introduced in the UK from this September.

Exactly when this latest change to the smart working rules will be introduced is unclear, Kirtsy Leivers stating “(AXA) are asking entities to take further steps to embed this Smart Working vision to increase time together in the office, through effective change management, leadership support, and clear communications.” but not providing a timescale for this to be completed.

Meaningful dialogue has yet to commence locally on this fourth change to the Smart Working rules in the last four years in the UK.

We appreciate that the moving of the Smart Working goalposts yet again will be upsetting and annoying for many members in AXA UK and whilst we will be unable to answer many questions at this point in time, please raise any concerns you have with your local rep so we can include these in the talks we will be having with AXA UK over the move to three days a week in the office.

Unite the Union has issued a statement on the Supreme Court ruling on the definition of ‘sex’ and the steps Unite will take next, which can be accessed here.

If you have any concerns arising out of the ruling, please raise them with your local union rep.

Unite in AXA have issued a newsletter on our Greener AXA campaign and survey (link here). 

Please leave your feedback below or talk to your local union rep.

AXA are today issuing comms to all staff detailing Smart Working rules exceptions and employee bases for location independent workers. Additionally some outcomes of the reviews of existing agreed exceptions are being communicated to individuals.

If you are impacted by the review or have concerns about the contents of the contents of the communications please speak to your union rep at the earliest opportunity to get their support during any process that may need to be undertaken.

The result of the 2025 pay ballot is as follows:

For: 75%

Against: 25%

Spoilt: 0%

We have communicated this to the company.

Thank you to everyone who voted and the local workplace reps for the hard work they put in running the ballot.

Unite in AXA reps will be issuing ballot papers to members to allow them to vote in the pay ballot that runs from today to 14th February. If you do not receive a ballot paper, please contact your local reps.

Details of the pay offer can be found in the Joint Statement (see below or on ONE) and sees a 3.5% pay pot for Associates to Professionals distributed via a pay matrix, all staff receive private medical insurance from 1st July and increased maternity leave benefit.

The pay offer is in line with inflation and what other insurers are offering, but with the provisional of PMI and improved maternity terms on top and we are recommending acceptance of the company offer by members.