NatWest 'to fund hormone treatment for trans staff' in bid to become more inclusive

20 August 2022, 21:56

NatWest is set to pay for transgender staff to get privately-funded hormone treatment in a bid to become more inclusive.

The bank said it was "challenging the status quo" and overhauling its policies to better suit trans customers and staff, the Telegraph reports.

Changes include the addition of trans healthcare services to its private healthcare plan from September, meaning gender identity support and hormone treatment will be made available for workers.

It has also reviewed the wording of its employment policies to "ensure language and scenarios are LGBT+ inclusive".

It comes after the bank introduced optional pronoun badges for branch staff earlier in the year, with there also being an option to add phonetic name spellings.

The company claimed the move would make staff more "comfortable and respected".

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A spokesperson for NatWest told MailOnline: "We value all our LGBT+ colleagues and customers and we want to have a truly open and diverse culture, with acceptance for all."

They added that the bank's shared parental leave now includes same-sex couples and its absence and sick leave policy includes time off for those transitioning.

As well as NatWest, Halifax has also gone on to introduce pronoun badges.

The bank caused controversy over the matter after it told customers that they could close their accounts if they disagreed with its stance, adding that the badges prevented "accidental misgendering".