Company's 80-hour cap on weekly hours said to be ignored by managers
The Bank of America is introducing a new timekeeping tool this month in a bid to track employees' working hours following the death of an associate last May, according to reports.
The software, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, will require junior investment bankers in the United States to log hours daily instead of weekly.
They will also be mandated to specify the deals they're working on, when they're working them, as well as the names of the managers overseeing the assignments.
According to the Journal, bankers will also be able to rate how much capacity they have for more work.
The new time-keeping tool comes following the death of 35-year-old Leo Lukenas III, but the bank told the Journal that the software was already in development before his death.
Lukenas, who reportedly worked 100 hours per week, died last May from acute coronary artery thrombus. This happened days after he worked on a team that completed a $2-billion merger.
There are no direct links between his extended hours and his cause of death, but there have been reports linking acute stress to thrombosis, the New York Post reported.
His death came despite the Bank of America's 80-hour cap in weekly working hours that was introduced in 2013 after the death of 21-year-old intern, Moritz Erhardt, in its London office.
But a recent exposé from the Journal revealed that Bank of America managers had been telling their direct reports to lie about their extensive hours despite going over the 80-hour working limit.
A spokesperson from the Bank responded, saying they expect all employees and managers to follow the cap on working hours.
"When we've learned of violations, disciplinary actions have been taken," the spokesperson said as quoted by the Journal.
Meanwhile, JPMorgan has also begun introducing a cap of 80 hours of work per week to junior bankers. According to the Journal's report, the new policy is being communicated by senior bankers to staffers in recent weeks.
JPMorgan has not commented on the recent cap. Its previous policy saw junior bankers self-reporting their hours through time sheets for years.
They cannot be called into work from 6 p.m. Friday to noon Saturday, and they are also guaranteed a weekend off every three months.
These time regulations in financial institutions come in the wake of employee deaths that are blamed on workplace stress.
