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NAB is being investigated by the federal workplace watchdog after it emerged two staff members took their lives in as many months.
In addition, Australia’s second‑largest bank faces questions about whether it attempted to cover up a second employee suicide after denying to the Daily Mail earlier this week that any workers had killed themselves besides the widely reported March 5 incident.
The turmoil within NAB began six weeks ago when a young man from the fraud division took his own life from the roof of NAB’s skyscraper in Docklands, near Melbourne’s CBD.
The Mail approached NAB on Tuesday about unconfirmed reports of three employee suicides this year. The response from the Big Four bank at 3.48pm was: ‘None of the points you raise are factually correct.’
Someone from NAB phoned the Mail an hour later, just before close of business, to reiterate the ‘very serious’ suicide claims were ‘not true’ and to assure us that every employee was accounted for.
During that conversation, we asked if there were any additional suicides besides the March 5 death – not simply the rumoured three – and NAB said there were none.
However, the next morning, the Australian Financial Review published a story about a second confirmed suicide: a worker from the home loan division.
The AFR story also included details about boardroom crisis talks regarding both employee suicides this year, along with damning claims of systemic bullying previously revealed in a month-long Daily Mail investigation.
NAB CEO Andrew Irvine is pictured
Two NAB employees have taken their own lives this year. (Pictured: the scene at NAB’s Docklands office on March 5, when a worker plunged from the building)
The ‘Big Four’ bank recently axed around 1,000 jobs from its Australian workforce
Further to our investigation, it can be revealed that Comcare – the federal authority for work health and safety – has been investigating NAB since the March 5 death.
According to the AFR, NAB’s board was particularly concerned about the Mail’s revelations about systemic cultural issues.
For weeks, we have been speaking with a number of current and former employees who told us – often through tears – that the bank’s toxic culture was rife with bullying, abuse and intimidation.
Some were driven to alcoholism, suicide attempts and ideation, while others felt so broken by the company that they ended up in therapy, too afraid to rejoin the workforce, and wondering how they’d feed their families.
One man was treated so poorly that he got his will signed and witnessed, before heading to the rooftop of the bank’s Melbourne building and seriously considering taking his own life – three months before the suicide from the same spot on March 5.
NAB bosses have so far relied on staff engagement surveys to assess internal culture and employee satisfaction, which are touted by the bank as a way for workers to anonymously provide meaningful feedback.
However, managers are given copies of their team’s survey comments if more than eight of their staff complete the questionnaire.
Pictured: A break area in NAB’s Melbourne Docklands office
The man plunged from the 14th floor at 700 Bourke Street. Pictured: A lunch area on the 14th storey of NAB’s Docklands building
Names and job titles are stripped from surveys before comments are distributed to managers, but details in the comments could potentially be linked back to individual employees.
A number of staffers told the Mail there is enormous pressure from management to complete the surveys, partly because completion rates are tied to their manager’s end-of-year bonus.
NAB refused to provide an on-the-record comment about why it did not confirm the second suicide to the Mail when we made enquiries.
A spokesperson told the AFR that ‘health, safety and well-being professionals are available to all colleagues and their families’.
‘This support includes confidential in-person, phone, and online consultations to help our colleagues manage their mental health and well-being,’ they said.
Regarding the Comcare investigation, a spokesperson said: ‘As NAB communicated at the outset, NAB is working with police and authorities to investigate the tragic incident at 700 Bourke Street, which includes relevant regulators like Comcare.’
Wednesday was the first time anyone from NAB mentioned Comcare to the Daily Mail.
It comes after NAB fired about 400 local employees across its technology and operations in October, and a further 180 from retail banking in February.
In March, the bank said a further 447 people would be retrenched from its business division in Australia, while 237 new positions would be created in India and Vietnam.
The Mail previously revealed NAB was placing some staffers on unfair Performance Improvement Plans to make them quit because redundancies are too expensive.
When PIPs were not being used to force people out, one former worker said redundancies were given to anyone who spoke up about the toxic culture.
Regarding the suicide on March 5, Victoria Police confirmed officers attended the scene in Docklands just after 2pm that day.
A report will be prepared for the coroner.
If this has raised any issues for you, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 for confidential crisis support.
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