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Wall Street Banks Implement New Work Hour Policies for Junior Bankers

Recently, the demanding culture of long work hours in the finance sector has come under scrutiny, prompting major banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America to introduce policies aimed at limiting weekly work hours for junior bankers. An 80-hour workweek, which equates to working from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. six days a week, is still significantly more than the average 34 hours most Americans work. However, for many junior bankers, this new cap will be viewed as a much-needed reprieve.

This change comes after investigations revealed that junior investment bankers had been working upwards of 100 hours per week. As a response, JPMorgan Chase is now enforcing a maximum work limit of 80 hours. Bank of America is following suit by introducing a new time reporting tool designed to monitor and manage the hours worked by their junior staff. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, this tool will begin rolling out next week, requiring bankers to log their hours daily, while also providing details on their specific tasks and managerial oversight.

The impetus for these changes was tragically underscored by the recent death of 35-year-old Bank of America junior banker Leo Lukenas III. While a coroner’s report did not directly link Lukenas’s death to overwork, it has been reported that he was engaged in a grueling 110-hour workweek on a significant transaction. Friends indicated that he had expressed a desire to seek employment elsewhere due to the relentless hours. His passing has reignited discussions about the long-standing culture of excessive work hours in investment banking.

In August, a WSJ investigation revealed troubling practices within Bank of America, where junior bankers were reportedly pressured to misrepresent their hours worked. This came on the heels of earlier reforms initiated in response to the death of Moritz Erhardt, a 21-year-old intern who tragically died from an epileptic seizure after working consecutive nights until dawn. Following that incident, banking firms had pledged to ease the workload on junior staff, including mandating time off and vacation days to foster better work-life balance.

In light of the findings from recent investigations, Bank of America is now urging junior bankers to report any managerial pressures related to understating their hours, thereby striving to promote more accountability within the organization. This new time tracking system aims to ensure that junior bankers are not only taking their mandated breaks but are also accurately reporting the extent of their work commitments.

Meanwhile, firms like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have not yet implemented formal hour limits for their junior staff. However, Goldman Sachs has instituted a “protected Saturday” policy, which reserves time from Friday evening through Sunday morning as a break from work commitments. This indicates a shift in the industry’s approach to fostering healthier work environments for their employees.

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