Credit Suisse Tells Junior Bankers to Take Saturdays Off

Updated, 5:52 p.m. |

Credit Suisse is making an effort to improve working conditions for junior bankers, following similar moves from leading investment banks.

The Swiss bank, which has a major presence on Wall Street, said in an internal memo on Monday that it was issuing new guidelines to discourage analysts and associates â€" the two lowest employee levels â€" from working in the office on Saturdays. The bank said the new policies, covering junior bankers in the Americas, would take effect this week.

The initiative is the latest attempt by a major investment bank to alter the hard-charging culture of its entry-level jobs, which are often seen as a steppingstones to higher-ranking positions. For analysts across Wall Street, working into the wee hours or even pulling all-nighters is an unwritten expectation of the job, and weekend work is common.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch reviewed the working conditions of its junior bankers after a 21-year-old intern died last summer in the company’s London office. On Friday, the investment banking unit announced internally that junior bankers should take four days off a month, on the weekends.

Goldman Sachs last year recommended that analysts should be able to take weekends off whenever possible. JPMorgan Chase plans this year to increase its staff of junior bankers to help spread out the workload, in addition to ensuring that its young employees have one “protected weekend” set aside for rest each month.

On Monday, Credit Suisse said internally that its analysts and associates should not be in the office from 6 p.m. on Fridays though 10 a.m. on Sundays.

In addition, conference calls should be avoided on Saturdays but are permitted early on Sunday mornings, the memo said. The rules don’t apply to “live deals,” which require analysts’ immediate attention.

A Credit Suisse spokesman said that a live deal was “a deal that is actively being put together.”

“I thank you in advance for supporting this initiative and look forward to launching new programs in the future as we strive to improve the junior banker experience,” James L. Amine, global head of the investment banking department at Credit Suisse, said in the memo, which was reviewed by DealBook.

The work schedule at Credit Suisse is as grueling as any on Wall Street. One investment banking analyst there, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of company rules against speaking to the media, said that Sundays “can feel like a sixth day of the workweek.” Saturdays typically involve work as well.

Some weeks, the analyst said, he had worked as many as 110 hours. On a “light week,” he might work 70 hours, he said.

After reading the memo on Monday, the analyst wondered how closely the rules would be followed.

“How much of a bright line will there be between a live deal and just an important pitch? There can be a gray area sometimes between what is live and what isn’t,” he said. “The enforcement mechanism is what people will be really looking at.”

The initiative Credit Suisse announced on Monday is part of a series of efforts that the bank began to introduce last August, including a mentoring program and a “fast track” that allows standout analysts to be promoted more quickly.

Credit Suisse emphasized in the memo that, for live deals, “junior bankers in all relevant groups must be in the office to work together.”

And yet, even when these bankers get to stay home, work is never far away.

“Junior bankers are expected to reply to emails in a timely manner throughout the weekend,” the memo said.