Thread regarding Bank of New York Mellon Corp. layoffs

All this nonstop preaching about forcing RTO while handing out VIP exemptions to a chosen few and alienating everyone else because management can’t get its act together really just reminds me how lucky I am to be out of that absolute masterpiece of a firm.

@109 take it up with the bank then. Don't talk sh-t about employees who were forced full time home or hired as that. The bank is monitoring everyone like they are children so bi--h to them about it. Ans stop blaming mgmt who are stuck enforcing this sh-t. if people actually went in like they were supposed to none of the babysitting would have happened to begin with and remote working wouldnt be getting taken away because many were allowed to do it before covid. During covid people sc--wed around and showed them it cannot be used now RV and his dipsh-ts are enforcing no remote and people are being displaced because of it. Again take it out on them. At same time dont act like in office staff do what they are supposed to because i can tell you the ones on my team absolutely pull bullsh-t anyway they can and dont go in or even do their damn job

@y2, You know there are many , including senior management, that have approved exceptions and are relatively close to BNY offices. They are also not impacted by any of the nonsense mentioned on this board like promotions or upward / lateral mobility. A majority of us are now RTO. If it cannot be applied equally across the organization, then do force RTO while giving out exceptions.

@s9 looks like you’re just a whine a-s on this site mad at bah for a status many didny ask for or were approved for when hired. You’re literally commenting on a post where you know the story line but not the actual facts and automatically think bny is the issue. Yes we have all seen the bs they pull but we also see the sh-t employees try to pull as well. Maybe wait for the facts before talking about people. And the fact you think everyone should be rto but not the person trying to sue the bank when he doesn’t sound like he was rto either like he should have been is very hypocritical dont you think ????

@OP I don’t know this person or enough specifics about the case to know what will happen for sure but this is a good example of a situation where could win a significant amount. BNY is not some type of hardened powerhouse wronged employees can’t defeat. Quite the opposite. They have very few of their own attorneys given most of that department gutted like everything else. The current strategy is attempting to pay people as little as possible to get rid of them but they do pay the ones who challenge them. In the end, they are ahead because not enough people challenge them. The reason for that is many don’t want to risk the paltry month or two they will pay you to seek more. If seek more they will give it to you. They are playing a cruel unethical game.

@se, that’s called gaming the system, and yes a few know this trick. It’s ultimately up to the manager to turn a blind eye to this practice for now. I’m sure HR is aware of this and will soon, thanks to your post, rollout a cease and desist memo.

@se
You are a small bent sinep.
No one can do this at BNY.
And only a wee little sinep thinks like this.

RTO

Folks are complaining about coming to work 7 days in a month.. That is 2 days at work.

I was looking at the math behind RTO expectations, and it’s interesting how the numbers actually play out. In a 4‑days‑a‑week model, you start with 208 required in‑office days across 13 four‑week blocks. Subtract 10 national holidays and you’re at 198, not even counting the two‑week recharge waiver. Then factor in 104 hours of sick leave, which in 2‑hour increments effectively covers 52 days, plus 80 hours of caregiver leave that can translate into another 20 days. That brings the requirement down to 126 days. If someone uses 15 days of true vacation and splits the remaining 8 vacation days into half‑days for WFH (equivalent to 16 days), that’s another 31 days off the in‑office count. Add 8 Work‑From‑Anywhere days, and the required in‑office total drops to about 87 days a year—roughly seven days a month. And that’s before even considering volunteer hours or in‑office exceptions. Yet we still hear complaints about RTO. A sharp twenty‑something analyst actually used this exact strategy last year—though they ultimately left (well, were asked to leave) for unrelated employment‑rule violations, not RTO.

@nb, looks like you too might have a cushy bah setup. Can’t wait for you waaaaahhhhhh on this site when they get rid of bah and finally force RTO on everyone.

@r4 that is the question. Did he return to work after being 8 or 10 weeks out? BNY may have waited him out. Left his original request as pending, which asked for 6-8 weeks, and terminated his employment after he did not return after 10-weeks.

This may be off-topic, but I worked at BNY during 2022 and 2023 in a department that employed several BNY Lockbox employees as temporary support during busy periods. I recall a few leaders from the Lockbox division spending time in our office, expressing annoyance about Lockbox employees becoming aware of "family time" and "personal time." They seemed concerned that these employees might file false claims for paid time off. I found myself thinking, "How dysfunctional is your department if you fear a mass exodus of employees based on false claims?"

Now with that said, my own department had employees go out for illness and / or family issues for 6-plus months at-a-time. These employees would return for a few days or return for one full week... then go out again for months.

From my view: BNY Global Payments & Treasury Services was a trashcan operation. If Mr. Kanyongo worked within GP & TS... then nothing here surprises me. This could be the lone BNY umbrella that hires high school graduates as VPs and Directors.

This is a great argument for just taking short-term disability and leaving the company to figure out coverage in the meantime. If its so hard to accommodate temporary WFH for medical reasons, just have someone else cover the work while they take sick/PTO/FMLA/Short-term disability. Of course, they probably already RIFfed all the othe r staff capable of providing coverage, so off to India the work goes.

Facts
8/4/25 injury
8/6/25 diagnosed with severe sprain. Work form home for 6 to 8 weeks advised.
8/7/25 call HR to find out what form to submit.
8/26/25 submits form.
9/5/25 form is rejected form incorrect or on complete doctor section.
9/18/25 six weeks since injured.
9/24/25 emailed updated form. States no confirmation was sent.
10/2/25 eight weeks since injury. Not sure if he return to work.
10/14/25 has a record of a call to HR asking for a status. No name of whi ge spoke to or what they said is above.
10/17/25 terminated.

Interesting case. The above dose not list his previous failure to comply with RTO. Also, did he return to work between 9/18 and 10/2? Did I miss it?

Not sure if he has a case or not. Just my opinion.

@mj do not think you know what you're talking about pal cause i don't have a “team” because I am no manager and do not have a “cushy rto gig” either. I just dont assume like many of you clearly seem too. Just because you read something on the internet doesn't make it true. I guess by reading the comments here many of you sit around with your tin foil hats on scrolling believing everything you read. Embarrassing

@mj waaaaahhhhhh. Someone sounds like they need a nap.

@fn, sounds like you’ve got yourself a pretty cushy BAH setup while the rest of your team is dragged into RTO and badge-tracked like clockwork. Must be nice.
Do you have to file for in-office exceptions too, or is that only for everyone else? I’m sure being able to throw in a load of laundry between meetings, skip gas, parking, train delays, overpriced lunches, and the “business casual” wardrobe tax is a real hardship.
Meanwhile, the rest of us get the privilege of waking up earlier, commuting in, and pretending this double standard somehow builds “culture.” But sure, I’ll just quietly accept being forced into the office so you can continue enjoying the remote-work VIP package.

This company does not care about you! Senior management does not care about you!

Scratch that I was hired in Jan of 2022.

I agree that there are two sides to every story.

I was hired by BNY in January 2023. At that time, BNY was trying to enforce a COVID vaccination requirement for employees. During the onboarding process, I was asked if I needed a vaccination exemption, to which I replied yes. Approximately 48 to 72 hours later, my onboarding representative called to inform me that "currently, BNY is not processing COVID vaccination exemptions for new hires."

We then had a discussion, during which it was explained that BNY's policy was to neither approve nor deny COVID vaccination exemptions for new hires. As a result, my onboarding process stalled. This meant I could not start the position, but the offer was neither rescinded nor formally rejected—merely delayed. About nine months later, I was offered a staff position in a different department within the same line of business.

I share this because nothing with BNY surprises me. I am not shocked to read that an ADA request might have been pending for two months.

In my case, I believe BNY has the right to establish and enforce requirements for employment. However, I was surprised that such a large corporation would choose to let unvaccinated new hires remain in onboarding limbo, seemingly fearful of potential legal issues during the COVID vaccination mandate era.

@h5 obviously they didnt have what they needed to approve his a accommodation request and this is exactly why people need to stop talking sh-t about situations they dont have all the details too

Post ID: @h5+1krkc2zwk

I have a medical accommodation and this last one took them six weeks to approve and they now require a redo of all medical documents every six months even for permanent disabilities.

I’ve had a bunch of accommodations approved for medical reasons to work from home over the last 4 years with no issues. Yes it’s a pain to have the doctor have to fill out their 6 page form (they don’t make it easy). Once the form is submitted it only takes a few days to approve. If it’s a broken ankle and the guy can’t walk and it’s only 6-8 week accommodation, it’s very straightforward.

@aj you should worry about yourself and not people you know nothing about. BAH isnt problem either lol. You read something a disgruntled employee stated and automatically believe it to be true with zero actual facts. Just shows how smart you all are here at the amazing bny

@f5 a 6-8 week accommodation wouldn't be up to management to five approval of. It would be up to HR since RTO is a forced BNY requirement and hes claiming a medical issue to get around that

Instead of accommodation request to HR, which they mostly decline

Can manager not approve for in-office exception at his/her decision and submit in leave system? HR usually tells it upto the manager to decide on granting IOE and duration

Accommodations here are not very accommodating.

@eh, If your request met the stated requirements and you were told no process existed, that raises serious concerns about potential ADA compliance issues. From what I’ve seen with this company and the People team, it honestly wouldn’t surprise me if this came down to pure incompetence which, in many ways, is just as concerning.

@aa well now! imagine making comments without an inkling about what you’re even speaking on. We’re all adults and Im sure have all heard the phrase “there are two sides to every story”. Use your noggins first next time

Employees in crisis should be supported, not stressed out more by an employer. BNY really needs to do better!

Good Luck getting any accommodation at this place. I got the runaround for two months only to be told that the company does not have a process or policy regarding my situation. It was a complete joke! This company does not care about its employees! There are companies that do value their employees, but BNY is not one of them.

I really hope he takes them to court and wins and then it will become a precedent and allow others who were discriminated and treated like garbage to sue BNY and win. Please take it all the way, don’t accept pennies from BNY.

When we’re in the office, we all actually rush home to sign in prior to afternoon meetings. Pointless. No other company any of my friends work for track in office days like ours. They expect their managers to take care of any issues. It’s rediculous here.

Please explain why it takes a fraggin MONTH to approve an accommodation? If they’re not calling doctors to verify anything citing hipaa, then all they need to do is read his paperwork and hit approve.

@ap Why, when most of us can do our jobs from not in the office, should someone have to come in with a broken foot. I broke my foot 20 years ago and worked from home while it healed. You know back when reasonable accommodations were actually reasonable and the obsession with badge swipes didn’t exist. Being non-weight bearing on a foot is not easy and traveling far on crutches isn’t a picnic. Working in a downtown office means lots of walking. Either you’re taking public transit or parking not exactly just outside the office. Add lugging your laptop and other cr-p with you and that’s exhausting. And for what? To get on Teams calls? We all worked from home for years, the company can accommodate a few weeks for a health reason. It’s really sh---y to treat employees so awfully. And stop acting like we’re not working when working from home. I get more done in a couple of hours at home than I do all day in the noisy open office environment they’ve subjected us all to. Listening to personal conversations and being interrupted constantly. It’s such a joke.

Hope he wins and gets 32 million in damages!

@ap, are you Sally Baker? He had a doctors note and I believe reasonable accommodation should have been provided by law. You should have been following up with the non-people team and approved his exceptions while it was in-process. Pretty basic stuff here. I hope he gets a good settlement from this stupidity.

I'm sure Kanyongo wasn't sitting home for a month and it would be quite easy for BK to obtain credit card and phone records to show he was mobile enough to come to the office. Or is he missing an arm so he can't use crutches?

This is why all managers should be held to the same return-to-office (RTO) policies and attendance tracking standards as their direct reports. Managers in critical BAH roles should not continue to have direct reports and should instead be transitioned into appropriately aligned roles and levels. The current double standard undermines accountability and requires immediate correction.

Let this be a lesson for managers. This VP manager was very likely doing what she was told to do by the director above her, of course that won’t be in writing.

These Directors and above drive this but will escape unscathed. It’s the team managers, usually VPs, that will get named and shamed in the public lawsuits.

@OP imagine being let go for not coming in by a manager that works from home