Bank CEO brings back employee 2-week 'recharge period' at the end of December
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- BNY CEO Robin Vince said the bank is currently in a "recharge period" until 2025.
- Employees at the finance giant are encouraged to focus on "core business activities."
- The move is part of a larger push by the bank to provide mental health support to its workers.
The CEO of Bank of New York Mellon Corp. says it's OK to be more laid back at work during the last weeks of the year.
Robin Vince, who also serves as president of BNY, announced Monday that the bank is bringing back its end-of-year "recharge" period for its employees.
Beginning December 23, a spokesperson told Business Insider that BNY employees are encouraged to narrow their focus to client and core business activities, postponing more routine items until the New Year.
Non-essential activities, like internal meetings, work that isn't time-sensitive, and in-office requirements, will be paused until January 3, they told BI.
In a LinkedIn post, Vance said he's "missing the free Starbucks at our global HQ, but it's worth it to be able to spend more time with my family, all home together, while taking a break from the more routine work to really focus on what matters for clients and driving our company forward these next two weeks."
Vince told Fortune in June that BNY asks employees to be in the office "more days than you're not." BNY first introduced its two-week recharge in December 2023 to allow employees more time to focus on family than non-urgent work tasks.
It's part of a larger push by the bank to improve compensation and benefits for its employees. BNY announced Thursday that it'd increase the minimum hourly wage for US employees from $22.50 to $25, starting March 2025.
This year the company also partnered with Spring Health to bring more mental health services to employees and their families.
"We want talent to feel appropriately compensated and enjoy an industry-leading employee experience — and benefits are a part of that strategy," said Shannon Hobbs, chief people officer at BNY.