Liberty Bank rewards workers for ‘personal and professional sacrifices’
Branch employees at Middletown-based Liberty Bank got an early holiday gift Thursday from management of the mutual savings institution.
In recognition of their work during the COVID-19 pandemic, Liberty Bank branch employees will get a one-time bonus, additional money in their regular pay checks and an extra day off this season, the financial institution’s top executive said.
David Glidden, Liberty’s president and chief executive officer, said the work of the bank’s branch employees has “been inspiring.”
“We’ve witnessed the personal and professional sacrifices of all Liberty teammates during this pandemic, particularly our retail branch teammates taking on the added risk of coming into the office every day to serve our customers,” Glidden said. “Their work over the past nine months has been extraordinary. So we need to continue to take care of our employees so they can continue to take care of
our customers.”
All branch workers will receive a one-time $ 1,000 bonus before the end of the year. Employees who started working after April 1 will see their bonus prorated, according to bank officials.
Hourly branch employees who are required to continue to work onsite and are working their normal weekly scheduled hours will receive a 15 percent shift differential. Salaried employees, non-officers and vice presidents who work in the branches will get a weekly stipend of $ 150.
All of the bank’s 60 branches statewide will be closed on Dec. 26 to give employees a long holiday weekend, as well. Branch employees who were scheduled to work that day will be paid for the hours they were scheduled to work, according to bank officials.
To keep its employees safer, Liberty Bank announced last month that it was transitioning to an in-branch appointment
only model. All other banking transactions are handled at branches’ drive-up windows.
The bank also is allowing its back-office employees to work from home until further notice.
John Carusone, president of the Bank Analysis Center, a Hartford-based industry consulting firm, said the action taken by the bank is something of an outlier as far as traditional practices in the industry.
“Banks typically reward employees with non-financial considerations, like extra time off,” Carusone said. “It’s worth noting that Liberty’s financial generosity may have something to do with the fact it is a mutual bank and therefore doesn’t have shareholders to answer to.”
Liberty Bank is Connecticut’s third-largest bank and has 60 offices, including 15 New Haven-area branches.