The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price is relishing the holiday period, gaining 5% since the start of December. That's despite the company releasing no news to the ASX.
At the time of writing, the NAB share price is $28.68, a 0.17% gain today.
For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up 2.1% so far this month.
The S&P/ASX 200 Bank Index (ASX: XBK) has gained 4.8% over the same period.
Let's take a look at what's been going on with NAB lately.
NAB share price gains in December despite FSU findings
The NAB share price has surged higher this month despite the release of a damning report from the Finance Sector Union. It also warned of potential Federal Court action.
Earlier this month, the union released the findings of a survey sent to NAB employees questioning their working hours.
The survey found 93% of Group 3 NAB employees work more than 38 hours a week. Another 79% of employees reported working on their weekends, while 87% stated the excessive hours had caused an increase in stress and anxiety.
NAB executive of people and culture Susan Ferrier addressed the report in a note to employees, stating:
Our first priority is the health and wellbeing of our people and we also believe that NAB colleagues should be fairly paid for the work that they do. There is no expectation that NAB colleagues work unreasonable additional hours…
We take seriously any instance where workload impacts a colleague's health and life outside work.
Additionally, a more positive report on work at NAB was released by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) last week.
The report marked the conclusion of Project Atom. The project saw NAB, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Perpetual, ConsenSys, and the RBA engaging in collaborative research.
Project Atom investigated the potential of a wholesale form of central bank digital currency using distributed ledger technology.
Including its December gains, the NAB share price is 27% higher than it was at the start of 2021. However, it is still more than 3% lower than it was a month ago.
