NatWest ‘will pay for transgender staff to get hormone treatment to make lender more inclusive’

NatWest will reportedly fund private hormone treatment for its transgender members of staff in a bid to make the bank a more inclusive employer.

The 48 per cent taxpayer-owned institution will also pay for gender identity support, hormone treatment and counselling for its 6,500-strong branch workforce in the UK.

NatWest, formerly the Royal Bank of Scotland, is also reviewing its employment policies to ‘ensure language and scenarios are LGBT+ inclusive’, it stated.

NatWest is set to offer thousands of UK workers privately-funded hormone treatment (stock)

The reforms to ‘challenge the status quo’ will come into place from September, The Telegraph reported. 

NatWest Group has been contacted for comment.

Earlier this year the bank began issuing its staff with optional pronoun badges, prompting competitors to follow suit.

It claimed the move would make its staff more ‘comfortable and respected’. 

Halifax courted controversy by telling customers offended by the idea that they could simply close their accounts.

Halifax said its pronoun move was designed to avoid ‘accidental misgendering’.

Earlier this year NatWest issued its branch staff optional pronoun badges to be more inclusive

On its website, Halifax say any customers they deem to be ‘transphobic’ could have their accounts closed.

Underneath a page titled ‘what we stand for’, they say: ‘We stand against discrimination and inappropriate behaviour in all forms, whether racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic or ableist, regardless of whether this happens in our branches, offices, over the phone or online on our social media channels.

‘Such action may include account closure or contacting the police if necessary.’