Trailblazer PACESETTER Late Bloomer

Bank of America, a financial services company, has been ranked as a PACESETTER on the Women’s Power and Influence Index.

Bank of America has achieved gender pay parity and has reviewed pay practices for over 16 years, adjusting compensation where appropriate. To further support employee work-life balance, Bank of America provides 26 weeks of parental leave, for which 16 are fully paid. Bank of America offers free pregnancy, adoption, fertility, egg freezing, infancy, surrogacy, and postpartum support for up to five years post-childbirth to parents enrolled in their national U.S. bank medical plan. Bank of America supports women and entrepreneurs of color by providing funds to under-resourced business owners, with 59% of the funds going to women-owned or led businesses.

As of 2022, women constitute 49.51% of the total workforce and 36.7% of leadership.

Sufficient information related to women and diverse mentorship programs, as well as subsidized child care, could not be found.

Review the comprehensive WPI criteria and methodology.

✓ Does the company demonstrate a clear and transparent commitment to equal pay? 

“We also maintain robust policies and practices that help reinforce equal pay for equal work, including reviews with oversight from our Board and senior leaders. For over 16 years, we have conducted rigorous processes and analyses with outside experts to examine individual employee pay before year-end compensation decisions are finalized, and we adjust compensation where appropriate.” Ref: Pg 47, Bank of America Annual Report 2022

✓ Does the company perform an annual analysis of gender pay equity and pay disparities? 

“We also maintain robust policies and practices that help reinforce equal pay for equal work, including reviews with oversight from our Board and senior leaders. For over 16 years, we have conducted rigorous processes and analyses with outside experts to examine individual employee pay before year-end compensation decisions are finalized, and we adjust compensation where appropriate.” Ref: Pg 47, Bank of America Annual Report 2022

✓ Do female employees earn at least 95% of what their male counterparts earn?

“In 2022, results of this equal pay for equal work review showed that compensation received by women was on average more than 99% of that received by men, and that compensation received by people of color in the U.S. was on average more than 99% of that received by non-people of color employees.” Ref: Pg 47, Bank of America Annual Report 2022

✓ Does the company demonstrate a commitment to actively attracting, retaining, and/or promoting women within the organization? 

“We expanded our outreach and onboarded 1,800 full-time campus hires, with 44% women and 59% people of color.” Ref: Pg 48, Bank of America Annual Report 2022

✓ Does the company provide professional development programs designed specifically for female employees? 

“Our Diversity Leadership Councils and Employee Networks provide guidance and help enable employee engagement, working to drive diverse representation, discuss strategies to improve advocacy, sponsorship and retention, address unique obstacles to career advancement and grow client relationships.

LEAD (Leadership, Education, Advocacy and Development) for Women

• Investing in Women Council”

Ref: Pg 52, Bank of America Annual Report 2022

✓ Does the company provide professional development programs designed specifically for diverse employees?

“Our Diversity Leadership Councils and Employee Networks provide guidance and help enable employee engagement, working to drive diverse representation, discuss strategies to improve advocacy, sponsorship and retention, address unique obstacles to career advancement and grow client relationships.

Asian Leadership Network

• Black Professional Group

• Asian Advisory Council”

Ref: Pg 52, Bank of America Annual Report 2022

✘ Does the company offer a formal mentoring program to support the career advancement of all female employees? 

✘ Does the company offer a formal mentoring program to support the career advancement of diverse employees?  

✓ Does the company have policies and programs in place to actively recruit female candidates?

“We invest in talent acquisition programs and community partnerships to create a strong and diverse talent pipeline, which has helped increase representation of women and people of color, and advance racial equality and economic opportunity in communities” Ref: Pg 50, Bank of America Annual Report 2022

✓ Does the company have policies and programs in place to actively recruit diverse candidates? 

“We invest in talent acquisition programs and community partnerships to create a strong and diverse talent pipeline, which has helped increase representation of women and people of color, and advance racial equality and economic opportunity in communities” Ref: Pg 50, Bank of America Annual Report 2022

✓ Does the company demonstrate a commitment to providing support and/or time off for women with children?

“We increased our childcare benefits, which provide eligible employees making less than $100,000 per year a reimbursement of up to $275 a month per child for the cost of childcare.” Ref: Pg 45, Bank of America Annual Report 2022

✓ Does the company provide child care support for employees?  

“We increased our childcare benefits, which provide eligible employees making less than $100,000 per year a reimbursement of up to $275 a month per child for the cost of childcare.” Ref: Pg 45, Bank of America Annual Report 2022

✘ Does the company offer subsidized child care?

Information regarding this criterion was unavailable or incomplete.

✓ Does the company offer paid maternity leave for birthing parents?

“We provide 26 weeks of parental leave for the birth or adoption of a child, 16 weeks of which are fully paid for eligible teammates. Annually, we have more than 6,000 employees take advantage of this time with a new family member.” Ref: Pg 45, Bank of America Annual Report 2022

✓Does the company provide paid parental leave that extends beyond birthing parents to include surrogacy, adoption, and paternity leave?

“We provide 26 weeks of parental leave for the birth or adoption of a child, 16 weeks of which are fully paid for eligible teammates. Annually, we have more than 6,000 employees take advantage of this time with a new family member.” Ref: Pg 45, Bank of America Annual Report 2022

✓ Does the company demonstrate a commitment to supporting the health benefits of its female employees?

“To help our employees be physically well, we offer health insurance plans that provide access to virtual care, condition management and specialty programs and tools that help employees prevent illness and maintain wellness.” Ref: Pg 44, Bank of America Annual Report 2022

✓ Does the company offer women-specific health benefits for female employees?

“FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAM This benefit offers expert pregnancy, adoption, fertility, infancy, egg freezing, surrogacy and postpartum support at no cost for new or future parents enrolled in a national U.S. bank medical plan for up to fve years afer welcoming a child.” Ref: Ref: Pg 44, Bank of America Annual Report 2022

✓ Does the company have a policy listing prohibited behaviors, such as harassment and retaliation?

“At Bank of America, we are committed to promoting an inclusive and respectful work environment. Discrimination and harassment are unacceptable and contrary to the company’s values. The bank does not tolerate unlawful discrimination or harassment of any kind, including but not limited to verbal, physical, visual, sexual and abusive conduct (bullying) as outlined in our Harassment and Discrimination Prevention Policy.” Ref: Pg 33, Bank of America Code of Conduct

✓ Does the company mandate all employees to undergo harassment and discrimination training?

“As a Bank of America employee or contractor, you are required to adhere to the Code of Conduct and take Code of Conduct training, which includes an acknowledgment, on an annual basis.” Ref: Pg 33, Bank of America Code of Conduct

✓ Does the company have a defined harassment policy that includes promptly addressing reported incidents?

“Reported incidents of prohibited behavior and/or retaliation will be investigated. Investigations are conducted thoroughly and in as discreet a manner as is possible based on the situation. If the company finds violations of this policy or other inappropriate conduct of a sexual, discriminatory or retaliatory nature has occurred, disciplinary action up to and including immediate termination from employment may result.” Ref: Pg 33, Bank of America Code of Conduct

✓ Does the company demonstrate a commitment to helping external stakeholders address gender equality issues?

“Some estimate that less than 2% of venture capital funds are allocated to startups with diverse leaders. Our sustained commitment to providing funds for under resourced business owners and entrepreneurs is helping women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color establish and grow their businesses locally, generating economic opportunities that create jobs and build wealth.

We’ve committed $421 million to more than 130 funds which are approximately 67% Black/African American owned/led, 22% Hispanic-Latino owned/led and 59% women owned/led, and are ultimately expected to invest in an estimated 2,000-plus minority- and women-led companies over five years.” Ref: Pg 33, Bank of America Code of Conduct

✓ Does the company offer and support initiatives that promote gender equality in the community?

✓ Does the company demonstrate a commitment to helping internal stakeholders/employees address gender equality issues?

“Our focus on advancing diversity and inclusion is core to being a great place to work, and it’s something we help drive across the communities we serve, as well. The partnerships we forge with organizations around the world are helping address some of society’s biggest challenges, and we’re able to share what we’re doing as a company with our teammates to create dialogue, build knowledge and overcome challenges.” Ref: Pg 51, Bank of America Annual Report 2022

✓ Does the company offer equity-focused trainings, speaker programs, or events for employees?

“The opportunities include:

• Let’s Get Real…®, courageous conversations on issues impacting our communities and open dialogue to provide greater understanding and appreciation for one another

• myD&I Development Program, diversity and inclusion learning sessions for individual contributors and employee network members

• Inclusion Manager Series, helping equip managers to better address bias and drive inclusion deep within their teams

• Diversity & Inclusion Pathways, driving inclusion in the workplace and improving individual cultural competency

• Executive development programs, including our Diverse Leader Sponsorship Program, targeting diverse high-potential/top-performing leaders” Ref: Pg 51, Bank of America Annual Report 2022

*Our Index utilizes binary measurements, where ✓ represents a score of 1, and ✘ represents a score of 0.

*All links are valid as of April 2024