Every Bank of America employee will earn at least $20 per hour by the end of the first quarter of 2020, more than a year sooner than the bank originally planned to raise its minimum wage to that amount.
Earlier this year, the megabank announced that it plans to increase the minimum hourly wage for its more than 200,000 employees to $20 by May 2021.
Bank of America raised its minimum wage to $15 per hour in 2017. The bank was also among those that pledged to raise wages in late 2017 after President Donald Trump signed tax reform into law that decreased the corporate tax rate, allowing companies like Bank of America to keep more of their money.
The initial plan was to increase wages incrementally from its previous minimum wage of $15 per hour to $20 by 2021.
The first of those increases happened back in May, when the bank increased its minimum wage from $15 to $17.
But now, the bank is accelerating the timeline of moving to $20 per hour.
Instead of it taking effect by May 2021, the bank now expects to pay all of its employees at least $20 per hour by the end of the first quarter of 2020.
According to the bank, the decision is “part of the company’s commitment to delivering sustainable, responsible growth by being a great place to work – through leading physical, financial and emotional benefits as well as innovative learning and development resources that support the needs of its 208,000+ employees.”
Sheri Bronstein, Bank of America’s chief human resources officer, said the bank sees the pay increases as a way to share its success with its employees.
“As part of our commitment to being a great place to work, we are saying thank you, and sharing our success with our teammates who serve our clients and communities every day,” Bronstein said.
