Pollen, the U.K.-headquartered travel and events marketplace, describes its business culture as built on concepts of “flexibility” and openness, including a well-publicised pay transparency policy. That doesn’t appear to always be the case with concerns to the treatment of just recently leaving employees.
When the word-of-mouth marketing company laid off 69 personnel from its numerous U.S. and Canada entities last month, axed staff were asked to sign a severance agreement that included a provision restricting them from revealing the content of the contract, including to current and former workers.
In addition, numerous sources tell TechCrunch the severance agreements include a wider non-disparagement stipulation. Such clauses are typically used to forbid present or previous employees from talking about a company or its personnel and management in such a way that is harmful to business or individuals connected with business.
” It was essentially an NDA masked as a severance contract,” said one previous Pollen staff member, who asked not to be identified. “They dangled our last wage in front of us so that we felt pressure to distribute our rights, and they combined that with an abrupt cut off from the company. I was told I was laid off and after that quickly removed from all correspondence within a 24- hour period.”
Pollen co-founder and CEO Callum Negus-Fancey does not challenge the presence of either stipulation, however says both are a “standard inclusion” in severance contracts and were drafted by external employment lawyers.
However, according to HR specialists TechCrunch has actually talked to, consisting of one HR professional with years of experience working for big tech companies in the U.S., such privacy and non-disparagement provisions aren’t typically utilized in more general redundancy situations. Instead, they are more typically used where a severance contract is concurred after a disagreement between a departing staff member and the company, or when a company is concerned there could be unfavorable promotion.
” For a company that strives itself on transparency, there is in fact a deep undertone of political rhetoric about what need to or should not be talked about,” a previous Pollen worker informs TechCrunch.
On The Other Hand, Pollen, or rather JusCollege, one of its numerous brands and entities, did attract negative media headings earlier this year as it faced the emerging coronavirus situation. Moms and dads of trainees who canceled a spring break to Mexico in mid-March informed NBC News that they weren’t offered refunds in spite of concerns over the virus and had been reassured that the journey was safe. On the 12 th of March, 2 days before departure, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a pandemic. Subsequently, according to the University of Texas, lots of students that went on the trip checked favorable for COVID-19 when they returned to the U.S.
In action, a JusCollege representative told the Independent paper: “We take the safety of our customers really seriously and are dealing with public health authorities to assist where we can. JusCollege constantly follows U.S. government regulations and assistance from the state department when making travel suggestions, and Mexico was not under a federal travel advisory at the time the trip departed … Our ideas are with the trainees who are ill and the doctor and public health officials who are working to alleviate the impact of COVID-19”
In a call, and followed up over email, Negus-Fancey stated that Pollen wasn’t in a position to cancel the spring break journey and offer complete refunds at the time due to the fact that the U.S. government was yet to advise travel constraints to Mexico.
Includes the Pollen CEO: “All clients who didn’t want to take a trip were reimbursed at a minimum whatever was gotten back from customers (hotels, airline companies or other companies) or they were offered a 100%credit to a future journey. The team worked tirelessly over weeks to accomplish this outcome for customers as it was at the discretion of clients offered there were no travel warnings in location at the time about flying to Mexico. We were materially expense as a result of this effort because in spite of the circumstances, we took a long-term view to do right by consumers and as a result paid out in many situations where clients had actually not reimbursed us.”
Separately, following layoffs in The United States and Canada and 34 furloughs in the U.K., TechCrunch has actually learned that Pollen has put another 56 members of personnel on furlough, as the travel and events sector continues to be hit hard by the coronavirus crisis. They make up 45 in the U.S., 7 in the U.K. and four in Canada.
Confirming the current round of furloughs, Negus-Fancey states employees are being supported by each nation’s various federal government furlough plans and that Pollen U.S. furloughed employees were given “over a weeks see on full pay and we are covering their medical insurance whilst they are on furlough leave.”
Founded in 2014 and formerly called Verve, Pollen runs in the influencer or “word-of-mouth” marketing space. The market lets buddies or “members” find and book travel, occasions and other experiences– and in turn assists promoters utilize word-of-mouth suggestions to sell tickets. Pollen’s backers include Northzone, Sienna Capital, Draper Esprit, Backed and Kindred.
TechCrunch.
