News Flash: Bank Of America’s Adopt-An-ATM Program Stirs Up Controversy

Bank of America recently announced that it had implemented a new Adopt-An-ATM program. Employees who volunteer for the program are asked to clean their adopted machines, remove trash and trim surrounding shrubs—all on their own time without pay. California Labor Commissioner Marcy Saunders responded to the bank’s announcement by demanding that the program be abolished or radically changed. Saunders said that the bank can’t evade the labor laws by calling the workers “volunteers” and that it should pay the program’s participants for their work. Some Bank of America employees have complained the program is coercive because the bank is in the midst of conducting layoffs. Bank of America, however, has refused to halt or alter the program, saying that it is strictly voluntary and in compliance with the law. The bank claims that more than 1,500 workers have now volunteered and adopted their own ATMs.