First Tennessee wage rising to $15 an hour

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of people employed by First Tennessee Bank. The bank employs 6,000 people nationwide.

First Tennessee Bank has raised the base wage for current employees to $15 per hour.

The Memphis bank announced the raise on Thursday.

About 1,200 employees nationwide earning less than $15 per hour will be brought up to $15 with the new pay scale showing up in March paychecks.

The bank figures the raises will increase the overall annual payroll by about $6 million. That works out to $5,000 per employee on average, although a bank official said some workers could get bigger raises if they are far below the $15-level and others could get less if they already are close to $15.

The raises follow efforts by groups across the nation pushing for $15-per-hour minimum wages, particularly for fast-food workers.

First Tennessee has been preparing to raise the minimum levels for weeks, a bank official said, noting the increase was triggered by the December tax cuts enacted by Congress.

As a result of the tax cuts, First Tennessee provided $1,000 bonus payments for 70 percent of its workers and contributed $16.5 million to the First Tennessee Foundation.

First Tennessee employs 6,000 workers nationwide, including about 2,000 in the Memphis area.

In Memphis and Shelby County, hourly wages for 189 employees will be raised to $15, a bank official said. New hires could still start at wages under $15 an hour.

First Tennessee, which includes FTN Financial, is the brand name of Memphis banking company First Horizon National, which ranks No. 4 in size among banks based in the Southeast with assets totaling $41.4 billion.