Employee Backlash Prompts BNY Mellon Into Work-at-Home U-Turn

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.

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