The Barclays analyst made to work 48 hour+ weeks & her boss who played football

Anca Lacatus didn't have a good time working for Barclays investment bank in London.

Lacatus worked as a middle office analyst in Barclays' 'Rates Options Structured Trading Middle Office department' between 2016 and 2020, when she was let go.

Despite achieving a first-class degree in economics from the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies and a Master's in Investments and Finance at Queen Mary University, followed by a distinction in the 'Finance Trading Program' Lacatus didn't get a place on Barclays' graduate scheme. Instead, she joined the bank as a contractor on £180 a day and converted this into a full-time job paying £46k ($58k) a year later. 

Lacatus's contracted hours in her full-time job were supposed to be 35 per week, but when she attempted to sign her contract, she says she found that it couldn't be submitted unless she ticked a box opting out of the European Union's rule saying employees don't have to work more than 48 hours. She ticked the box, and says she was promised she wouldn't be overworked due to her health issues. 

It quickly became apparent that 35 hours weeks were not the norm, and that 48 hour weeks were often exceeded. Lacatus then asked for overtime. HR initially agreed. But her boss was astonished: "I am a little surprised as we do work in the IB it is virtually impossible to complete our jobs between 9—5! Typically, we will work 9-10 hour days," he declared. 

Things got worse. One year in, Lacatus - who had severe endometriosis -  complained that she was doing the work of two to three people and was suffering from panic attacks and a sense of déjà vu. Barclays attempted to help her by passing tasks to New York, by providing her with a new team member, and by letting her start late. 

However, with another employee on sick leave and with two other team members leaving in late 2017, Lacatus said she had to work harder than ever. To make matters worse, her boss regularly left at 6pm on Monday evenings to play football while she was still working, and occasionally came in late after delivering his twin daughters to school. In a "puerile attempt to be ironic" he also referred to women as "birds" in Lacatus's presence. 

In December 2019, nearly a year after she joined as a full-time employee and two and a half years after she first arrived as a contractor, Lacatus took sick leave from Barclays. Five months later, the bank made her redundant. 

Lacatus then took Barclays to court for sex discrimination, unfair dismissal, breach of contract, and for failing to make adjustments to her hours in the manner required by the Equality Act. She initially sought £1.3m in damages, while Barclays suggested her case merited £16k.

Today, Barclays was ordered to pay her £49,728. Details of the judgement are visible here. Barclays was found guilty of sex discrimination and of failing to adjust Lacatus' hours to accommodate her medical condition, which has now become so acute that she had to lie down during the court case. Barclays declined to comment. The bank was presumably reasonably happy with the outcome.

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