BNY Mellon Shelves Tighter Work-at-Home Rules After Uproar

(Bloomberg) -- Bank of New York Mellon Corp. has done a U-turn on restricting staff working from home after a backlash from employees.

Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf wrote in a March 6 email to his 51,300 employees that he had decided to “hit pause on implementing any changes to remote working arrangements.” BNY Mellon will take the next few months to reconsider its approach, Scharf wrote in the note seen by Bloomberg.

The bank told staff in November that it would review their ability to work from home. Scharf said in the March 6 email that the firm had underestimated the impact the changes would have, and “did not intend to eliminate the ability to have remote-working arrangements.” He said staff could continue to work from home for now.

Some BNY Mellon employees in the U.K. had been told to end their work-from-home arrangements by June, according to people familiar with the matter. An exception was made for people with a medical need to work remotely, the people said. The bank had set the same cut-off date for its employees in Belgium, according to an internal email seen by Bloomberg.

A BNY Mellon spokeswoman in London confirmed that Scharf sent the email, and declined to comment further.

Read more: BNY Mellon Reviewing Policy Allowing Staff to Work Remotely

To contact the reporter on this story: Will Hadfield in London at whadfield@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shelley Robinson at ssmith118@bloomberg.net, Patrick Henry

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