Wells Fargo to Raise Minimum Hourly Pay Rate to $15, Target $400 Million in 2018 Philanthropic Contributions, Including Expan...
December 20 2017 - 4:33PM
Business Wire
Company announces initial actions to support
economic growth with tax reform
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) today announced an
expansion of its ongoing investments in team members, communities,
small businesses, and homeownership, pledging the following actions
once tax reform is signed into law:
- Raising the minimum hourly pay rate for
its team members to $15 per hour.
- Targeting $400 million in donations to
community and nonprofit organizations in 2018. The company also
announced that beginning in 2019, it will target 2 percent of its
after-tax profits for corporate philanthropy.
- As part of this expanded philanthropy,
targeting $100 million in capital and other resources over the next
three years to support the growth of diverse small businesses and
$75 million in 2018 to its NeighborhoodLIFT® program, an innovative
public-private collaboration focused on sustainable homeownership
and neighborhood revitalization.
“We believe tax reform is good for our U.S. economy and are
pleased to take these immediate steps to invest in our team
members, communities, small businesses, and homeowners,” said
President and CEO Tim Sloan. “We look forward to identifying
additional opportunities for Wells Fargo to invest, as we continue
to execute our business strategies and provide long-term value to
all our stakeholders. As the nation’s largest small business lender
and residential mortgage provider, we understand our significant
role in helping grow the economy.”
Investing in our team members
The company’s increased minimum hourly pay rate of $15 for
U.S.-based team members goes into effect in March 2018. The new
rate is an 11 percent increase to the current minimum hourly rate
of $13.50 that the company announced in January 2017.
“We’re ensuring that Wells Fargo is a great place to work by
offering market-competitive compensation, career development
opportunities, and a broad array of benefits,” Sloan said. “In
addition to today’s announcement, over the past year we have added
four additional paid holidays per year; enhanced our parental,
caregiving, and backup adult care paid leave programs; and
announced plans to grant restricted stock awards to approximately
250,000 team members that will vest in two years subject to grant
terms. These awards are generally equivalent to 50 shares of Wells
Fargo stock for eligible full-time team members and 30 shares for
eligible part-time team members.”
Expanding our philanthropic commitment
The company’s plan to target $400 million in donations to
nonprofits and community organizations in 2018 is an increase of
approximately 40 percent from 2017. Wells Fargo already is one of
the top corporate cash donors, ranking first among financial
institutions and third among all U.S. companies in a 2016 report
(most recent ranking) by The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
“We understand the important role we play in helping our
communities, so we will continue to identify additional
opportunities where Wells Fargo can make a difference,” Sloan said.
“Wells Fargo’s increased philanthropy will have a positive effect
on the causes and communities we support and further enhance our
Corporate Social Responsibility efforts, which will continue to
focus on advancing diversity and social inclusion, creating
economic opportunities in underserved communities, and accelerating
the transition to a lower-carbon economy and a healthier
planet.”
Supporting more small businesses
As part of this increased philanthropy, the company will target
investing $100 million over three years, beginning in 2018, to
provide access to capital to diverse small businesses through the
continuation and expansion of the Wells Fargo Works for Small
Business®: Diverse Community Capital (DCC) program. The program
provides access to capital, technical assistance, financial
services, mentoring and other resources for diverse small
businesses that may not qualify for conventional bank loans. Since
2016, the DCC program has invested more than $55 million for
diverse small businesses, including those owned by African
Americans, Asians, Hispanics, LGBT individuals, veterans, Native
Americans, and women.
Creating more homeowners
The company’s $75 million target for the NeighborhoodLIFT®
program in 2018 is double the amount of the program in 2017. This
innovative program delivers down payment assistance and financial
education to homebuyers in collaboration with NeighborWorks®
America and local nonprofit organizations. Since February 2012,
LIFT programs have helped create nearly 15,500 homeowners in 57
communities across the country, and more than 52,000 individuals
have received homebuyer education from NeighborWorks® America
members. The majority of LIFT homebuyers are in the low-to-moderate
income range.
Gifts to Habitat for Humanity and United Way
As announced earlier this week, Wells Fargo gifted $18 million
to Habitat for Humanity International to support its services and
to help with disaster rebuilding efforts in Texas, Florida, and
Puerto Rico, and an additional $18 million to the United Way
Worldwide to support the organization’s efforts to advance the
health, education and financial stability of the underserved by
helping one million people find jobs over the next five years. Both
2017 gifts will help to build stronger, more resilient communities
by increasing access to basic needs such as stable housing, steady
employment, and education.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a
diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.9
trillion in assets. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our
customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially.
Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo
provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer
and commercial finance through more than 8,400 locations, 13,000
ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has
offices in 42 countries and territories to support customers who
conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 268,000
team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the
United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 25 on
Fortune’s 2017 rankings of America’s largest corporations.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171220006100/en/
MediaMark Folk, 704-383-7088Mark.Folk@wellsfargo.comPeter
Gilchrist,
704-715-3213Peter.Gilchrist@wellsfargo.comorInvestorsJohn
Campbell, 415-396-0523John.M.Campbell@wellsfargo.com
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