[UK] Nationwide manager wins £350k payout after losing job in working from home layoffs

In the UK, a former building society senior manager who lost her job at Nationwide when a decision was made to get rid of staff working from home has won almost £350,000 in a discrimination case, Daily Mail reports.

Jayne Fellows was considered "a top performer" by bosses at Nationwide and in her seven years with the firm she rose to the position of Senior Lending Manager (SLM). She was initially permitted to come into the office just two to three times a week so she could care for her elderly disabled mother.

However, an employment tribunal reportedly heard that Nationwide had done away with "homeworking" contracts because it didn't believe junior staff were being supervised properly as their managers were not physically present. When Ms Fellows refused to give up this arrangement, she was made redundant from her £75,000 a year role.

Ms Fellows sued for discrimination and unfair dismissal, claiming that she had been targeted for working from home. A London tribunal concluded that Nationwide's belief that homeworking needed to be eliminated was based on "subjective impressions". Ms Fellows was awarded £345,708 following her five-year legal battle.

The tribunal heard that, in October 2017, Nationwide decided to reduce the number of SLMs from 12 to eight and as part of this process, the decision was made to eliminate home working contracts. Commercial Director Tony Alexander told the hearing that it was "essential" managers in the business be "accessible and visible" and that junior staff had raised concerns about a lack of physical supervision.

"We felt strongly we needed a greater presence in the office," he said. "It's so much better if they are sitting next to each other," adding that "informal day to day supervision" was "lacking". As a result of this Nationwide decided that SLMs must be office-based the majority of the time, the hearing was told.

In January 2018 Ms Follows was reportedly told that she was being made redundant with immediate effect. She sued Nationwide for unfair dismissal, disability and sex discrimination and alleged that the decision to eliminate homeworkers had been made "on a back of a fag packet".

Upholding the majority of Ms Follows’ claims, the tribunal - chaired by Employment Judge Mark Emery - said, "(Nationwide) was unable to show that its rationale for deleting homeworking posts had any basis in evidence. We concluded that it was based on a view amongst senior management that homeworking posts should be deleted, it would be 'better' to do so, rather than based on any analysis of the business need for on-site SLMs or any consideration of an alternative approach.

"There was no suggestion by (Nationwide) that it considered the balance between the clearly discriminatory effect of the requirement on (Ms Follows) and the commercial department's business needs. We accepted that (Nationwide) made the decision to delete homeworking SLM roles on the basis of some dissatisfaction expressed by some junior staff, and a management view that it would be 'better' to make this change.

"(Ms Follows') evidence and work record at the very least suggested that any issue with supervision did not lie with staff on homeworking contracts. In other words, (Nationwide's) view was not based on actual evidence or rational judgment and was instead based on subjective impressions."

Source: Daily Mail

(quotes via original reporting)

In the UK, a former building society senior manager who lost her job at Nationwide when a decision was made to get rid of staff working from home has won almost £350,000 in a discrimination case, Daily Mail reports.

Jayne Fellows was considered "a top performer" by bosses at Nationwide and in her seven years with the firm she rose to the position of Senior Lending Manager (SLM). She was initially permitted to come into the office just two to three times a week so she could care for her elderly disabled mother.

However, an employment tribunal reportedly heard that Nationwide had done away with "homeworking" contracts because it didn't believe junior staff were being supervised properly as their managers were not physically present. When Ms Fellows refused to give up this arrangement, she was made redundant from her £75,000 a year role.

Ms Fellows sued for discrimination and unfair dismissal, claiming that she had been targeted for working from home. A London tribunal concluded that Nationwide's belief that homeworking needed to be eliminated was based on "subjective impressions". Ms Fellows was awarded £345,708 following her five-year legal battle.

The tribunal heard that, in October 2017, Nationwide decided to reduce the number of SLMs from 12 to eight and as part of this process, the decision was made to eliminate home working contracts. Commercial Director Tony Alexander told the hearing that it was "essential" managers in the business be "accessible and visible" and that junior staff had raised concerns about a lack of physical supervision.

"We felt strongly we needed a greater presence in the office," he said. "It's so much better if they are sitting next to each other," adding that "informal day to day supervision" was "lacking". As a result of this Nationwide decided that SLMs must be office-based the majority of the time, the hearing was told.

In January 2018 Ms Follows was reportedly told that she was being made redundant with immediate effect. She sued Nationwide for unfair dismissal, disability and sex discrimination and alleged that the decision to eliminate homeworkers had been made "on a back of a fag packet".

Upholding the majority of Ms Follows’ claims, the tribunal - chaired by Employment Judge Mark Emery - said, "(Nationwide) was unable to show that its rationale for deleting homeworking posts had any basis in evidence. We concluded that it was based on a view amongst senior management that homeworking posts should be deleted, it would be 'better' to do so, rather than based on any analysis of the business need for on-site SLMs or any consideration of an alternative approach.

"There was no suggestion by (Nationwide) that it considered the balance between the clearly discriminatory effect of the requirement on (Ms Follows) and the commercial department's business needs. We accepted that (Nationwide) made the decision to delete homeworking SLM roles on the basis of some dissatisfaction expressed by some junior staff, and a management view that it would be 'better' to make this change.

"(Ms Follows') evidence and work record at the very least suggested that any issue with supervision did not lie with staff on homeworking contracts. In other words, (Nationwide's) view was not based on actual evidence or rational judgment and was instead based on subjective impressions."

Source: Daily Mail

(quotes via original reporting)