In early 2023, Seema Jones took four weeks off from her job at Bank of America to spend some long overdue quality time with family. While her boss texted her a few times throughout her break, it was never to discuss work — it was to make sure Jones was having a nice time, and to ask her to share some pictures of the trip.  

"I didn't receive a single phone call for work," says Jones, a California-based market operations team manager for the bank. This winter, thanks to a newly-launched sabbatical program at Bank of America, she traveled with her mother and toddler son to Las Vegas to spend a month with her grandmother, whom her son had never met because of COVID. "I was able to have the most peaceful sabbatical."

Bank of America launched the new sabbatical program in 2023, and uses it to celebrate milestones: After 15 years with the company, an employee can take a four-week break; after reaching 20 or 25 years, five weeks are available; and after 30 years, six weeks is available. A total of two sabbaticals may be taken within an employee's tenure at Bank of America. Since January, 5,000 employees have taken advantage of the offering. 

Read more: Would you pay employees to take a month off? How sabbaticals boost productivity and retention

"The thing you'll hear our CEO talk about a lot is the beauty of the 'and,'" says Anne Oxrider, SVP and benefits executive at Bank of America. "I can ask you to deliver a lot, and I can give you some great time away to do things that will make you an even better person in your community, in your family and ultimately in our company. We have a great vacation package, but one week at Disney World with your 5-year-old may not actually be the kind of recharge that you need. So let's create the next type of time away."

For Jones, who started working at Bank of America as a part-time teller in 2008, the sabbatical was just the latest signal of support from a company that's helped her thrive for the past 15 years. For her family in particular, this time off was a chance for four generations to not just connect, but to get to know each other. 

"I make it a priority to speak to my grandmother every other day, but her seeing my son on a video screen is different from holding him and playing with his little fingers and wiping peanut butter and jelly off of his face," she says. "It meant the world to have quality time and to not feel rushed — to go to sleep every night and wake up with family and develop a little routine." 

Read more: 12 companies paying employees to go on vacation

Preparing to take this extended time off, Jones says, was simple thanks to the support of her team. For a few weeks prior to her manager-approved departure, she scheduled a number of 30-minute meetings with her respective team members, talking to them about what and how they would need to cover her work while she was out. A team email outlined the plan for transparency, and Jones felt confident in signing off. Upon her return a month later — aside from the thousands of emails waiting for her — Jones was able to pick up where she left off, and her peers caught her up to speed quickly. 

Prior to launching the sabbatical program, Bank of America had conducted a small pilot in the years before the pandemic, and had gathered best practices that would help operationalize a benefit without creating extra work or confusion for team members. Communication, of course, proved to be key. 

"We first made sure our leaders understand a program and buy into this as a way to invest in our teammates, and then you move down to managers and talk logistics," Oxrider says. "We ran multiple training sessions with managers to connect the nuts and bolts of how the program would work, and also make sure they understand the strategic investment in a teammate."

Read more: Why managers should maintain (and model) work-life balance

Bank of America prides itself on offering robust benefits, and aims to support the various stages of life for their team members. Jones, for example, had previously taken advantage of the company's tuition reimbursement program as she was climbing the corporate ladder. It all adds up to a fierce employee loyalty, and a commitment to the organization. 

"I don't see myself leaving Bank of America ever," Jones says. "I joke with my manager all the time that I'm not going to leave — but I know that if opportunities or promotions within Bank of America come up, that I can jump at them and take them. But I want to retire with this company. I have a colleague who's hitting 43 years with Bank of America right now. I want to be one of those." 

Editor-in-chief, Employee Benefit News