Staff at one of Australia’s big-four banks have secured working from home rights and pay rises totalling 17.5 per cent over four years as part of an “industry-leading” enterprise agreement.

Following a marathon 16 months of negotiations, the Finance Sector Union has recommended employees accept the deal.

It includes a working-from-home clause with conditional support for and encouragement of the practice.

The clause sets out a process for employees to apply for and establish WFH arrangements and limits the reasons NAB can refuse a request to work from home.

It also allows access to a dispute process, with escalating the matter to the Fair Work Commission the final step if a WFH request is unreasonably refused.

The agreement details a two-week notice period for any changes to work from home arrangements other than for exceptional circumstances.

NAB workers have also secured pay increases totalling 17.5 per cent between 2023 and 2026 for the lowest paid staff under the agreement.

The bank will guarantee rises for all workers up to the “high-income threshold” and improve transparency of annual salary increase budgets.

Those earning more than the high-income threshold will have a right of dispute.

The deal was a win for NAB workers who last year rejected an unfair offer, Finance Sector Union national secretary Julia Angrisano said on Friday.

“Union members, acting collectively gave the NAB a clear message that they deserved better pay rises than the bank was prepared to pay them and by standing their ground, they have achieved a much fairer outcome,” Ms Angrisano said.

“More than 80 per cent of NAB staff have now secured guaranteed fixed salary increases instead of relying on NAB’s market-based model which eroded our members’ standard of living.”

NAB has also agreed to increase parental leave entitlements and introduce measures to address the gender pay gap, including by paying superannuation on paternity leave.

The agreement includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leave; recognition of menopause, menstruation and mental health; and, an ongoing committee to address job security.

Union members working for the Commonwealth and ANZ banks expected their employers to meet the benchmark set by NAB, Ms Angrisano said.

Earlier this week, the Finance Sector Union launched a FWC fight against CommBank’s return to office edict, after the bank told staff they would need to return 50 per cent of the time from Monday.

The union noted more needed to be done to resolve NAB’s “hours of work crisis”, which was putting a strain on workers. It said it would continue its Federal Court action to get recognition of the harmful work practices.

Members will vote on the proposed enterprise agreement between August 8 and 14.

– AAP