When some employees of Deutsche Bank used WhatsApp for business communication, they would never have imagined it would lead to pay cuts. A probe across the industry has revealed that staff are misusing the messaging service, as a result of which the Bank ended up paying over two million dollars in fine.
To penalise the said staff, Deutsche Bank is cutting the bonuses of the employees found guilty.
The concerned employees, the Bank says, have used devices and messaging apps that are not authorised by the bank and violated company policies. Therefore, their variable pay will be cut substantially. While they may face disciplinary action, depending on the level of violation, their performance evaluation is also likely to be impacted, along with promotions.
The cut will also affect the variable pay for the previous year.
The Bank is just one of many global financial institutions that have had to cough up fines of millions of dollars to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in settlement of investigations into the use of unauthorised modes of communication by the staff.
Last year, some senior executives had to endure a pay cut over the same issue. New software has been introduced to address the matter now.
Barclays has also reportedly made bonus cuts to penalise staff members who use WhatsApp messaging.
