Bank of America interns get overtime pay as well as restricted hours

If you’re an intern in an investment bank this summer, one bank seems to be offering more clement working conditions than the rest: Bank of America.

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As we reported earlier this week, Bank of America has placed a hard limit of 60 hours a week on interns’ working hours. In the US, it’s also paying overtime to any interns working more than 40 hours.

Bank of America declined to comment on its generosity or on its hourly rates for overtime and for sub-40 hour weeks. On average, it's thought that interns there receive around $30 an hour, but this is unconfirmed.

BofA's hourly limit applies globally, but overtime pay is only on offer in America. In other markets, insiders there say the bank pays a similar amount, but without differentiated hourly pay. The US overtime rate is thought to have existed in previous years, while the 60-hour week limit for interns is thought to be new. 

While Bank of America is limiting interns’ working hours, other banks have a less prescriptive approach. Goldman Sachs, for example, is understood to monitor how much interns are working and to give them Saturdays off, but doesn’t have any hard restrictions on hours.

Some elite boutiques are working people as hard as ever. One intern at a boutique told us he was working until 3.30am last week. This was fine, he said: “I signed up for it, and I’m not bothered. I can function pretty well on low sleep.” 

Bank of America’s generosity comes after an investment banking associate and junior trader there recently died of heart problems. Ten years ago, Bank of America intern Moritz Erhardt died after allegedly working 72 hours without sleep. An inquest found that Erhardt died of an epileptic seizure. The coroner said fatigue could have been a possible trigger.

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