Bank of America

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Bank of America

Supporting Mental Health and Resiliency is Important to Bank of America’s Approach to Wellness

Overview

At Bank of America, our purpose is to help make financial lives better through the power of every connection. We deliver on that by driving responsible growth. What does that mean? First, we have to grow, and do it by serving our clients and managing risk well. It also means that our growth has to be sustainable. This means that we share our success, including through our Environment, Social, and Governance programs; that we continue to invest in our talent and capabilities by focusing on continuous improvement through operational excellence; and, third, that we focus on being a great place to work for our teammates.

Fundamental to being a great place to work is supporting employees’ wellness across three areas – financial, physical and emotional. To do that, we offer programs and resources that include approaches to stress management, work-life challenges, and mental health care. We also offer assistance for life’s major moments such as the birth of a child, the death of a loved one, retirement, and other milestones. This encompasses a number of programs, benefits, and resources, including:

  • Comprehensive wellness benefits and resources: Bank of America provides a range of resources related to mental health, work-life challenges, and stress management:
    • In-person and telephonic counseling – Employees and their families can access six face-to-face counseling sessions per issue, plus unlimited telephonic support with a specialist, all at no cost to the employee, through our Employee Assistance Program.
    • Work-life support – Work and life benefits include back-up child and elder care, free financial counseling, tuition reimbursement and referrals for everyday needs. By addressing these stressors — big or small — these programs help support mental well-being.
    • Return-to-work – A physician and an administrator partner supports employees in a graduated return-to-work process.
  • Courageous conversations: In an effort to address the stigma that can accompany discussions about mental health, senior leaders and employees across the company have engaged in conversations about the importance of well-being, and how to find support and resources. The discussions emphasize the importance of investing in employees’ and communities’ well-being. Leaders have shared personal stories of how they addressed challenges in their own lives.
  • Wellness communications: To support the efforts around emotional wellness, we offer a series of articles and events for employees. In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month in May, we shared messages with employees around the world about building resiliency, stress management, the importance of sleep, crisis prevention, and mental health care – all to create discussions accessible for employees at all levels. These conversations will continue into 2019 on topics including suicide prevention, mental health support for at risk populations like veterans and youth, support for victims of domestic violence, and substance use disorder and recovery awareness.
  • Focusing on managers: Managers are the front line when it comes to staying in touch with our employees’ wellness. Managers are equipped with programs and tools related to helping build resiliency. When employees have a major life event, we also have our Life Event Services team, which is a single point of contact and a trained, empathetic ear in times of crisis. This team brings resources to bear when teammates or their family experience tragedy, loss, or crisis.

Our focus is on how we support employees’ physical, emotional and financial wellness. Each aspect of wellness contributes to the others. It is important to being a great place to work for our teammates.

Signature Brian Moynihan

Brian Moynihan

Chairman and CEO

Bank of America

Co-Chairman,
AHA CEO Roundtable