Bank of America pulls plug on pandemic pay, citing "business as usual"
Bank of America has stopped offering extra pay to some employees who continued working during the coronavirus pandemic, even with the financial giant minting billions of dollars in profits this year.
Bank of America increased bi-weekly pay in March by $200 for branch employees and call-center representatives. The company notified those workers last month that the enhanced pay would stop in October, and a source close to the matter confirmed that the program has ended.
A copy of the email, obtained by Popular Information, tells employees that Bank of America will "transition our compensation plans to be more business-as-usual once again" and that the "$200 special supplemental pay and special enhanced overtime pay programs" will disappear.
Many Bank of America call-center employees are now working from home, but branch employees have continued working at neighborhood locations. Full-time employees saw their last extra payment on October 23 while part-time workers saw their last payment October 16, according to Popular Information.
Bank of America, which pledged earlier this year not to lay off any employees because of the pandemic, did not publicly announce the end of hazard pay. A bank spokesperson on Tuesday declined to comment on the move to halt the program.
Through three quarters this year, Bank of America reported profits of $12.5 billion on revenue of more than $65 billion. Chief Executive magazine this summer named Bank of America head Brian Moynihan its "CEO of the Year," with the executive in a statement thanking employees "who come to work every day to drive responsible growth by serving our clients."
The $200 extra pay was part of a broader supplemental compensation program the nation's second-largest bank introduced in the spring. The initiative included reimbursing employees $100 per day for child or elder care. Employees have used that benefit 1.7 million times, according to company data.
Bank of America competitors Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo also gave their employees one-time bonuses earlier this year for working during the pandemic.
