FILE PHOTO: The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. building at 1 Wall St. is seen in New York's financial district March 11, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

(Reuters) - Bank of New York Mellon Corp backed away on Thursday from changing rules relating to its staff working from home, after a call to reevaluate the option invited severe criticism from employees.

In November, the bank had told its staff it might alter their ability to work from home.

“We have not been clear enough about our principles and that has resulted in inconsistent implementation across the company,” CEO Charlie Scharf wrote in an email to employees on Wednesday.

“To be clear, we did not intend to eliminate the ability to have remote working arrangements.”

The company has decided to immediately pause implementing any changes to remote-working arrangements and instructed employees to revert to whatever practices were in effect in November.

The New York-based custodian bank will take the next several months to reconsider its approach to work-from-home option, bring clarity to what it intends to accomplish, and move forward in a way that is fair for all employees globally, it said.