Intern's Death Prompts Bank of America to Review Culture of Long Hours

Author: Michael Cardman, XpertHR Legal Editor

August 27, 2013

Financial giant Bank of America has convened a formal senior working group to review "all aspects of working practices" in the wake of the death of an intern who died after working long hours for three days in a row, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The death of intern Moritz Erhardt, 21, has brought widespread media attention to the issue of long working hours.

The average American employee works 34.4 hours per week, about half an hour more per week than the average for industrialized nations, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Employees in the financial sector clock 37.2 hours per week, more than any other white-collar sector, according to federal statistics.

A "culture of presenteeism," in which employees believe they must work long hours to prove their commitment to their employer, can result in employees performing poorly or attending work while sick.

Long work hours also are associated with health and safety risks, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). In a review of 52 studies, NIOSH found that workers performed worse on psychophysiological tests and were more prone to injury while working long hours, particularly in very long shifts and when 12-hour shifts were combined with more than 40 hours of work a week.

XpertHR's Best Practice Manual offers steps an employer can take to address a culture of long working hours, such as setting a limit on working hours, allowing flexible work arrangements and reviewing employees' duties to make sure they are appropriate.

Besides examining working hours, employers also should revisit their policies on interns in general, given some of the other issues cropping up with them recently such as lawsuits about unpaid internships.