Halifax bank has told customers they can close their accounts if they do not like its values following a Twitter row over the staff including gender pronoun on their names tags.
The company posted a photo of a staff member wearing a name tag “Gemma” followed by “she/her/hers”. The tweet said “Pronouns matter. #ItsAPeopleThing”.
The tweet has amassed over 9,000 comments and has been retweeted just under 3,000 times.
Some Twitter users have responded negatively to the tweet, with one asking “How do I close my account?”
Halifax responded to the tweet with clear instructions on how to close it.
Another user asked: “Did all your staff agree on this or did a vocal few, force the change onto you with ‘concerns’?”
The bank replied: “Adding pronouns is completely optional. We’re offering our colleagues the choice because we understand how important it is to create a safe and accepting environment that normalises the conversation around gender identity. ^Lara”
A user called Jamie QTLS said: “If a person is wearing a NAME badge, wouldn’t it more polite to use that NAME, isn’t that the point of a NAME badge, otherwise, why put the NAME on the NAME badge in the first place?”
Halifax responded: “We want to create a safe and accepting environment that opens the conversation around gender identity. We care about our customers and colleagues individual preferences. For us, it’s a very simple solution to accidental misgendering.^Lee”
The move to wearing gender pronoun name tags was praised by some, with one user commenting “Thank you for being inclusive!”
A spokesperson for Halifax said the bank wants to “create a safe and accepting environment that opens the conversation around gender identity. We care about our customers and colleagues individual preferences. For us, it’s a very simple solution to accidental misgendering. Adding pronouns to badges is optional for all workers, which the bank hopes will support colleagues to be themselves and feel included.”
