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Fifth Third Bancorp unveils bonuses, minimum wage hike after tax bill passage

  • Fifth Third and AT&T are paying employees special bonuses after getting tax cuts under the Republican tax plan.
  • Nearly 3,000 workers at the bank will see hourly wages bumped to $15.
Fifth Third Bank headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Ty Wright | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Fifth Third Bank headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Fifth Third Bancorp will pay more than 13,500 employees a bonus and raise the minimum wage for its workforce to $15 after the passage of the Republican tax plan that will cut the bank's corporate tax rate.

It is the second company to announce a bonus for employees because of the tax plan. AT&T said earlier Wednesday that it would pay 200,000 U.S. employees $1,000 each and increase its capital spending budget by $1 billion.

Cincinnati-based Fifth Third, the fifteenth largest U.S. bank by asset size, said the tax cut allowed it to re-evaluate its employee pay and pass along some of the windfall. Nearly 3,000 workers will see hourly wages rise to $15. The $1,000 one-time bonus is expected to be paid by the end of this year, the bank said, assuming President Donald Trump signs the bill into law by Christmas.

Senior managers and top executives are excluded from the special payments. "It is good for our communities, employees and Fifth Third Bank," said CEO Greg Carmichael in a statement.