Bank of America on Tuesday, April 9 announced plans to raise the base pay for employees to $20 per hour over a two-year period. The first increase will go into effect May 1, 2019 and bump the minimum wage to $17 per hour.
In recent years, Bank of America has reduced its presence in Delaware, but it still employs 6,400 employees within the state. The bank did not disclose the number of employees who would be impacted by the raise.
The median pay for bank tellers is $13.52 per hour, according to 2017 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. There are about half a million bank tellers employed in the retail banking sector.
A 2015 report by the National Employment Law Project found that 30.4 percent of the 1.7 million people working in retail banking make less than $15 per hour — though the recent nationwide push for higher wages has likely tilted the numbers.
Indeed, Bank of America’s announcement follows a series of high-profile companies raising their base pay, including Christiana Care and competitor J.P. Morgan.
“We are raising our minimum wage because we believe that to best serve our customers and clients, we need the best teams,” said Sheri Bronstein, chief human resources officer at Bank of America. “Saying thank you, celebrating great work, and sharing our success further demonstrate our commitment to being a great place to work.”
Since 2010, Bank of America’s minimum wage has increased by more than $4 per hour. Two years ago, the company raised it to $15 per hour.
