Wells Fargo ups Hartford min. wage to $18/hr.

Photo | Contributed A Wells Fargo branch.

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By Matt Pilon

Wells Fargo, the fourth-largest U.S. bank by total assets, is raising its minimum wage across most of its domestic markets, joining a list of major competitors that have already done so over the past year.

The bank, which counts 67 full-service branches and $7.9 billion in deposits in Connecticut, including five branches in Hartford County, said Hartford-area employees will now be paid at least $18 per hour. The increases will take effect by the end of the year.

The announcement means Wells Fargo will remain ahead of Connecticut’s rising minimum wage, which is set to increase in September to $12 per hour, before climbing to $15 by 2023.
Wells Fargo said minimum wage levels across the country will vary, between $15 and $20 per hour, based on location and cost of living.

“Companies have an obligation to help communities and employees reach their potential,” CEO Charlie Scharf said in a statement. “An important part of this is ensuring we are doing our part to pay employees at a rate which recognizes the difference in cost of living across the country.”

The pending increases are expected to impact 20,000 Wells Fargo employees in total.

Wells Fargo’s largest U.S. competitors -- including JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and Bank of America -- all announced wage hikes in 2019. Wells Fargo’s most recent minimum wage was in March 2018, when its hourly wage floor increased by over 30%, to $15.

The wage increases also come on the heels of a major scandal at Wells Fargo.

Scharf became CEO last October, after former CEO John Stumpf stepped down amid investigations into a sales-tactics scandal in which bank employees were alleged to have opened accounts without customers’ knowledge or permission. Stumpf received a $17 million fine and lifetime ban from the banking industry in January, and last month, Wells Fargo agreed to pay a $3 billion fine to settle the allegations.