Notre Dame Federal Credit Union boosts minimum wage to $15

For the third consecutive year, Notre Dame Federal Credit Union has announced plans to increase its minimum wage.

The Notre Dame, Ind.-based institution announced Wednesday it would push its starting wage to $15 per hour beginning in February, a move that will impact about 25 percent of its employees.

In 2016 the $624 million-asset credit union raised its starting pay to $13.50 amid a nationwide push to establish a living wage for all workers. It also started offering a new paid time off structure that allowed hourly staff to accrue PTO benefits equal to those of salaried employees. Last year management announced plans to raise pay to $14 per hour, which took effect in February of this year.

“For the third year in a row, we have taken a leadership role by increasing wages for staff such as tellers in the South Bend area,” President and CEO Tom Gryp said in a press release. “During this current period of record bank profits, I believe it is long overdue for all financial institutions to follow this lead and begin paying a living base wage for their tellers and lower paid employees.”

Notre Dame FCU is the latest in a string of credit unions to increase starting wages. Hiway and Allegacy CUs did so earlier this month, while North Carolina’s Coastal Credit Union and Truliant Federal Credit Union made similar moves earlier this year.

As credit unions have raised wages, however, so too have a number of high-profile companies served by credit unions. That could pressure on more institutions to follow suit and increase their own wages.