
Revolut staff claim they’ve been told to quit their jobs or be fired - headalgorithm
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/revolut-employment-coronavirus
======
metalliqaz
Being from the US it wasn't immediately clear to me why they would do this.

Found the relevant part of the article:

> In Poland, workers say they were told by their line managers and HR that
> they were underperforming and would be terminated if they didn’t leave
> voluntarily. But in Portugal mutual agreements stated that dismissals were a
> result of a reduction of 40 per cent in the group’s activity and a 30 per
> cent excess in staff numbers. By getting employees to voluntarily leave,
> Revolut has avoided launching a group redundancy consultation, that, among
> other things would give employees the right to severance payments and the
> chance to be offered alternative roles within the company. “[Mutual
> agreement] is better for Revolut because they can’t go to labour court
> [employment tribunal],” says the source from the HR department. “The way
> they prepare the terminations are so bad that if someone would go to court
> Revolut would lose,” the source claims.

~~~
Klinky
I automatically assumed this was a ploy to dodge unemployment/redundancy
benefits for employees. This also happens in the US. Much harder to get
benefits if you voluntarily quit versus get fired or laid off.

~~~
loeg
Which is why US companies sometimes pay people to voluntarily retire instead
of laying them off.

~~~
xsmasher
I was curious what the benefit was to the company if the unemployment
insurance is already paid (sunk cost) so I looked it up -

> Employers with more unemployment claims against them will pay a higher rate,
> and employers with fewer claims will pay less.

------
ddon
Revolut is really scary organization... used them for a year or so, and then
one day locked my account... harassed me for 6 months, asking for all sorts of
documents, which I provided them. then one day, they closed my account, and
sent back 2K balance to random people who sent me money in the past. When
contacted them via twitter, the blocked my the same day :)

~~~
saos
Yeah I knew they were a little farfetched when I saw their head of engineering
job spec

[https://web.archive.org/web/20200406205828/https://jobs.leve...](https://web.archive.org/web/20200406205828/https://jobs.lever.co/revolut/7445f477-6ba8-43e8-ab50-fa61cb303630)

> School/university Olympic medal in competitions in physics, maths or
> programming

:/

~~~
lucisferre
• 10+ years as an engineer • Minimum GPA 3.5/4 (US), 60% (UK), 8/10 in any
other country

"So we know you've been out of school for 10 years, but can you send us a copy
of your report cards?"

~~~
pbhjpbhj
Well I had "we know you've been out of school over 20 years, but we really
need to know which exam boards you did your age-16 English literature exam
with before we'll interview you for this science degree requiring position ...
that we previously employed you for".

Thankfully I quite enjoy hunting down lost information but I was not impressed
with the HR personnel in that one.

~~~
rendx
So far what has worked for me in Germany when I got these forms from HR is to
put "(by request)" into such fields. Which is, erhm, kind of cheating because,
well, they _are_ requesting it right there in the form. But so far, funnily
enough, nobody actually bothered. All they cared about was that the form was
"completed".

~~~
Gibbon1
AKA I'll happily bother with that if you're paying me, otherwise no.

------
DrBazza
“Primarily, it starts with their CEO Nikolay [Storonsky] being very vocal
about their mentality, that if you do a 9-5 [workday] it won't work
out...everything he has said is a recipe for burnout” says Stevie Buckley, co-
founder of Honest Work and HR advisor to dozens of startups.

[https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/3/18248826/revolut-
workplace...](https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/3/18248826/revolut-workplace-
culture-burnout-finance-app-reports)

[https://www.wired.co.uk/article/revolut-trade-unions-
labour-...](https://www.wired.co.uk/article/revolut-trade-unions-labour-
fintech-politics-storonsky)

~~~
ashtonkem
Never trust a founder who claims that extraordinary work effort is the key;
they stand to reap the rewards while the costs accumulate downwards. You have
to have significant equity (not options) before the risk/reward works out in
your favor.

------
wastedhours
Everything that comes out of Revolut internally sounds horrific. I applied and
was offered an interview, upon further research into how they work I pulled
out of the process immediately.

They push their employees to breaking point (and with this, seemingly beyond).
I'm so glad I didn't pursue that avenue, and feel so sorry for those caught up
in this.

------
hermitcrab
Their have been various articles from credible sources over the last year or
two making it clear that they are a really shitty company. You would be crazy
to trust them with either your money or your career.

~~~
hermitcrab
Here is one reference: "But former Revolut employees say this high-speed
growth has come at a high human cost – with unpaid work, unachievable targets,
and high-staff turnover." [https://www.wired.co.uk/article/revolut-trade-
unions-labour-...](https://www.wired.co.uk/article/revolut-trade-unions-
labour-fintech-politics-storonsky)

Their CEO sounds like scumbag of the first order.

------
klmadfejno
It sounds like these people were pressured into making a decision under tense
circumstances (QUIT IN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES OR YOU GET NOTHING).

In the US this could probably qualify for nullification as it was made under
duress. Don't know anything about Poland.

~~~
newacct583
In the US it probably constitutes criminal fraud, as it's a transparent
attempt to evade unemployment benefits. Again, though, Poland and the EU may
be different.

~~~
boudewijnrempt
It's definitely illegal if the employee was a EU citizen, but I'm not sure
whether that's also the case if the employee isn't.

~~~
pas
Are there EU-wide labor protection laws?

------
AlexandrB
> “I thought maybe I should speak to another institution for legal advice
> because I am a foreigner,” Elena says. “[But] they said I had no additional
> time and that I have 30 minutes to make this decision.”

Really nasty tactics. Impossible to understand the consequences of what you're
signing in that short of a time.

~~~
mnw21cam
Correction: Really illegal tactics.

------
richardARPANET
It's a well-known fact the Revolut CEO is a spoiled baby and a douche. I
blacklisted their company long ago due to this.

------
nkingsy
They also successfully pressured over 60% of their staff into exchanging
salary for twice the value in options.

I've worked for dysfunctional companies, but I guess I'm lucky I haven't run
into management trying to steal from me.

~~~
objclxt
Any time a company asks you to forgo cash compensation for stock you should
start preparing an exit strategy: this is doubly true if the stock isn't
liquid.

I once worked at a unicorn that a week before bonuses were due to be paid
changed them from cash to immediately vesting RSUs. Six months later they were
filing for Chapter 11.

------
hypnotist
it is just sad to see the same tactics(people being bullied into "mutual
agreement") used now as in 90s in Eastern Europe.

that is good enough reason to not use their product at all.

I am sure there is plenty of capable competitors.

~~~
ChuckNorris89
I've seen the same tactics used in Germany as well.

Basically the HR rep and their line manager call them in a meeting room and
play _good cop - bad cop_ so they end up just signing whatever the _good cop_
says is "best" for them.

That's why lots of companies here love hiring young expats sine they're easy
to abuse like this as they're new in the country, don't have anyone to ask for
help, don't know the language, don't know the law, don't qualify yet for
unemployment and can't afford a lawyer and are emotionally vulnerable so
they'll blindly sign whatever HR gives them and focus on finding a new job
ASAP instead of fighting them in court.

It's one of the reasons I avoid working in companies that focus on hiring
mostly expats.

------
rb808
I dont understand how these new startup banks can stay in business. Previously
banks could make money on the deposits in check accounts, now with negative
rates they can only lose. Even big European banks are slowly dying.

~~~
hocuspocus
There are still many ways for banks to make money, and challenger banks are
betting on the fact they can do it with less overhead.

Big European banks have started closing down branches and laying off staff,
while they were pumping VC money to scale across several countries/continents
and acquire a customer base among socio-demographics with high potential
(mostly young, tech-savvy, traveling, reasonably good with money). These
people eventually grow a bit older and need loans, mortgages, investments...

~~~
adambyrtek
The sad truth is that it's much easier to make money on people who are less
savvy and _not_ good with money. They are less likely to switch, more likely
to take a loan or overdraft, and have to pay higher interest rates.

------
technorally
My boyfriend manages a team at Revolut, and half of them just got laid off
despite him fighting to keep them on since shutdown started, when he was
prompted to fill out performance reviews. Some of them were hired within the
past half year, were on a trial period, and let go the day before the end so
they wouldn't receive severance packages. All of them were told it was due to
their performance, even though he placed them all at high-performing in his
reviews, so that the company can fudge their numbers on covid-related layoffs.

------
dede4metal
I want to close my account but is transferwise any better?

~~~
hocuspocus
I believe so:

* Transferwise has been profitable for a little while now.

* Their pricing if fairly transparent and they're always upfront when they need to increase some fees. I could be wrong, but it looks like they're trying to stay competitive but not take part in a race to the bottom.

* They haven't been trying to recruit new customers as aggressively as Revolut.

* Their MasterCard is a little bit more lenient with offline transactions, which can sometimes be a problem with Revolut.

* On the other hand, the mobile app is a bit bland. It does the job, but the UX isn't as good.

~~~
derencius
I just had my TransferWise account closed during a transfer to pay rent while
overseas. They are holding some of my money, with no perspective of returning
it. They say they can't disclose the reasons, leaving you helpless.

I'd advise to be cautions with transferwise as well.

[https://transferwise.com/help/24/technical-
issues/2961844/wh...](https://transferwise.com/help/24/technical-
issues/2961844/why-was-my-account-deactivated)

~~~
maccard
If there's a suspicion of money laundering, you won't get any information from
any financial institution, FWIW.

------
hogFeast
Presumably this is legal in Poland...but the company is from the UK, this is
obviously illegal in the UK, and it looks terrible.

Shame. Shame. Shame.

Even worse, they are a bank. Who would trust their money to people who behave
this way?

------
hootbootscoot
Why on earth would anyone voluntarily quit, particularly as in Portugal you
will be eligable for unemployment benefits from having been laid-off, vs
quitting and not being eligable for the same. Call their bluff. (I live in
Portugal, and some foolish bosses tried the same and were rebuffed. FWIW the
gov't agreed to pay 60% of the workers benefits during the lockdown in an
effort to stem layoffs and furloughs etc.)

~~~
triplea9
Because they were threatened with their career potentially being ruined with a
bad reference?

~~~
adwww
Do people follow references much?

I don't think anyone has ever contacted my previous employers, despite me
having supplied their contact details as a reference numerous times over the
years.

Companies are discouraged from saying anything more than the facts of
employment ("We can confirm that Bob was employed as a software developer
between these dates...") these days, so there's not much value in the new
employer bothering as far as I understand.

~~~
gpm
I've had previous employers contacted more than once, but it was always by a
third party background check agency. I doubt "we fired him for cause" would
have mattered.

------
sdgjhfdlkgjhdf
By the way, anyone knows a competitor to Revolut that respect privacy (online
banking, able to send/receive other currencies easily). I would love to switch
but it is hard to find anyone actually better from a privacy point of view.

~~~
philjohn
Transferwise - they also have a borderless Mastercard.

I use them to bring proceeds of RSU's back to the UK (0.6% commission on mid-
market rate).

~~~
StavrosK
To mention my experience, for some reason whenever I try to open an account
with them, they lock it without telling me why. They've put me on some sort of
blacklist without any explanation, and all I ever tried to do with them is
send $100 from one of my accounts to another.

~~~
ddalex
I must have transferred multiple 10K s for various reasons and didn't have any
problem with them.

Monzo is amazing in UK, but they don't support larger EU :(

------
obayesshelton
The legs are falling off the unicorn... which one will be the next WeWork.

------
joelbluminator
Winter is coming...

------
mdavis6890
The companies behavior was indeed poor, but I wonder how many people realize
that laws that make it hard to reduce your workforce lead to this bad
behavior.

Business needs change all the time, and being able to adjust your workforce in
response is critical. Not being able to do that can be very costly for both
the business owners and employees in the long run, or even the short run if
the business has revenue or cash-flow problems.

~~~
frei
If the bad behavior is skirting the labor reduction laws, we should get rid of
the labor reduction laws to reduce bad behavior?

This argument doesn't make sense to me.

~~~
Sharlin
You see, you cannot skirt a law if there _is no_ such law.

