Protected Weekends
What firms, including EB, BB, and MM, consistently have protected weekends or protected Saturdays? Which firms expect you to come in (or log-on) everyday?
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I know GS analysts have protected Saturday’s in Aus
confirmed
Baird has a very strict protected Saturday policy. Senior bankers get dinged if you work on Saturday without approval.
I was told that its only 1 weekend per month. Is that joint with protected saturday?
No, Baird is just the protected Saturday, but it is every Saturday. They also have protected four day weekends for labor day and memorial day
I don’t think UBS has protected Saturdays
Which office?
All of them....
Soon to be CS
Hahaha I still have my doubts
Before WFH they used to be minimally respected. As in you had to notify the staffer or some shit if u had to come to the office on a saturday, which didnt really change much. Nowadays Saturdays are as respected as Wednesdays
Most mm firms i know do not have this
the phrase protected saturday is a foreign language to me
WF gets one protected weekend a month
Which office?
All of them
A lot of times protected saturdays means they kill you on sunday - friday
what about DB?
Mm bank - one protected weekend a quarter
What is gs policy for protected weekends?
I heard from someone that left that they have protected Saturdays but virtually no one adheres to them
Sf group had protected Saturdays. Most people seemed to follow it, didn’t see my team on during the whole day. Im sure this might be different for other analysts within the group.
Yes. When everyone's gone for their summer holidays.
Citi has protected Saturdays
yea that's what they tell interns but i just started and already working saturdays lol
No we don't. Did we give you a FT offer?
Heard my from an analyst on the West coast
BofA's are pretty well protected but it might vary by group. Some groups have Sunday quasi-protected as well where you should only be doing deal work or work for a Monday/Tuesday meeting, doesn't work as well but its something.
Do you know the worst and best groups at BofA for a work life balance?
BAML DCM, ECM, Sponsors and LevFin have relatively decent hours. Key word is relatively. S&t and cap mkts tread better too than banking
I just know BAML Healthcare coverage IB is a sweatshop
Current BofA analyst here. That all depends on your senior banker. Most I know don't work weekend, but some bankers come from other shop don't share this culture. Therefore, depending on your senior bankers.
We can see Prospect in your name
Fair point. One of the co-heads of a group loves 7am calls on Saturday morning to go through any deck he is working on even if its not deal-related or urgent. Its ridiculous.
what about lazard?
Lmao
you have to be joking
No.
is it not even the official policy or does no one adhere to it?
The sad truth
Lazard was pretty strict about protected weekends monthly. Occasionally you had to reschedule it or whatever, but wasn't completely abused.
What about Moelis?
kidding
At Moelis they have protected bathroom breaks
Only one a Month though
Apparently they have 8 per year - not sure how true and whether it's followed though. JPM also has 1 protected weekend per month.
We get 8 per year. 4 designated Holiday weekdays, 4 floating ones.
Anyone know about Barclays? Heard that they do but do people actually adhere to it?
PWP?
RBC has protected Saturdays unless the request is specific for a live deal.
Serious question, to what extent is it protected these days? I understand bank HR have opportunities to keep track of junior banker utilization per senior banker but to what extent is this enforced? I have always thought that in a client-driven business and especially with PE clients such as my firm (who unfortunately regularly demand work product fri night - sat; look it affects me too), it was more a PR move / strong suggestion rather than an enforceable move.
honestly protected days just means work piling up before or after that day
it doesnt rly mean shit cause net net we end up doing the same amount of work by the end of the week
my bank promotes "protected weekends for IB employees" on the career page but rly just a PR move
I really disagree with this statement. I went from a bank that had no policy to a bank with a very strict protected Saturday policy and my life changed dramatically. Having a free day where you know nothing is going to come up workwise made banking tolerable and did wonders for my work life balance. Yes the rest of the week sucks, but being able to make plans on Saturdays and enjoying one stress-free day is a lifesaver in this industry.
At banks where it works, MDs are expected to push back on clients demanding Saturday work. The vast majority of clients are understanding, but you are always going to get pushback from some. The Saturdays that I have had to work is more related to time-sensitive pitch work and is almost never due to client demands on a live engagement.
When I was in banking, senior bankers would find ways around getting an exception from the staffer/HR such as keeping you working in the office from Friday night until 5am - 7am Saturday morning. Highly ineffective policy
In my experience banks have a cutoff time the night before and morning after (i.e., 9PM Friday to 9AM Sunday)
Lol must be nice - that was 100% not the case in my BB M&A group.
My bank has a soft policy and it’s pretty crap. People typically try to protect Saturday and less so Sunday. However, even if you don’t have work you can’t really enjoy the time because you’re still on call. You also can’t plan anything more than a few days in advance because there’s no hard rule. Additionally, I have found on holiday weekends when they are protected, usually it puts the impetus on the MDs to give you work earlier in the day / week rather than wait till the last minute to get around to it.
JPM has protected weekends for analysts and associates. Some groups are very strict about it and others are not (luckily mine is).
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