Bank of America Gives Paid Time Off for U.S. Staff to Get Covid-19 Vaccines
Bank of America Gives Paid Time Off for U.S. Staff to Get Covid-19 Vaccines
(Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. will offer staff paid time off when they become eligible to get the Covid-19 vaccine.
Employees at JPMorgan who are eligible for the shots will get eight hours to accommodate the appointments, the bank said in an emailed statement Friday. JPMorgan has about 255,000 workers.
Staff at Bank of America will have the option to use two half days, for up to four hours each, for vaccination appointments this year, the bank said Friday in a staff memo seen by Bloomberg. The policy is designed to accommodate the two-dose regimen current vaccines require.
Bank of America’s time-off benefit is part of an effort “to help address the impacts of the coronavirus and to support the physical, emotional and financial well-being of our teammates,” the lender, which has roughly 212,500 employees, said in the memo. A bank spokeswoman confirmed the contents of the memo.
Citigroup said in an emailed statement that it’s “focused on removing any obstacle for our colleagues to get vaccines, and will provide whatever paid time away from work is reasonably necessary to travel to and get the vaccine.”
Other companies have offered similar perks. Allstate Corp., one of the largest publicly traded U.S. auto insurers, said it will provide paid time off for employees to get the vaccine during working hours. Bank of Montreal said earlier this month it was offering staff three hours, and will also cover some of the costs associated with getting the shots.
PayPal, Uber
PayPal Holdings Inc. said Friday it committed $5 million to pay for free or discounted rides by Uber Technologies Inc. to get people to vaccine appointments. PayPal said it was responding to a call by President Joe Biden’s administration for corporations to help support vaccination efforts.
“Nobody should miss their shot at getting vaccinated because they lack transportation,” Uber Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement.
PayPal CEO Dan Schulman said the partnership would “ensure that transportation is not a barrier to vaccine access, especially for those in under-resourced communities.”
Bank of America, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, said in December it would extend pandemic benefits for employees who need child- or adult-care services, offering reimbursements for caregiver costs and boosting the number of days workers can use backup facilities or in-home care this year.
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