ABSA confirmed last night that it had temporarily withdrawn retrenchment notices to some of its IT employees.

"Absa regrets that the timing of the letters was asynchronous with the timetable agreed with [finance union] Sasbo," spokesman John Dludlu said.

"Absa has undertaken to continue its open dialogue with Sasbo to finalise the next steps in this process."

Earlier, Sasbo said a meeting was held with Absa on Saturday when it expressed outrage at the bank having "unilaterally" issued retrenchment notices.

Sasbo demanded Absa withdraw all retrenchment letters by noon yesterday.