A former employee has accused Bank of America of quietly taking millions in unpaid labor from its remote workforce. The alleged culprit? The time it takes to start a computer.

In a federal class action filed in North Carolina, former Business Analyst Tava Martin claims that hundreds of hourly workers were required to spend up to 30 minutes each day booting up complex systems before their paid shifts began. Those minutes, she says, were never counted or compensated.

Martin describes mornings that began long before the clock started. Employees had to power on company computers, wait for Windows to load, request a security token from their phones, log into a virtual private network, and open a maze of internal apps before they were “call ready.” According to the suit, Bank of America enforced a strict policy that required staff to be available for customer calls the instant their shift began.

Work before work
The filing paints a picture of hundreds of remote analysts spending up to half an hour preparing for their day unpaid. During lunch breaks, the systems would time out, forcing workers to log in again. After hours, they were required to securely shut down each program. It all added up to significant lost time, the suit says.

At Martin’s pay rate of $46 per hour, that missing time could push her into overtime territory. For others in similar roles, the pattern may have lasted for years.

The Department of Labor has already issued guidance stating that tasks like loading computer systems count as part of the workday for hourly employees. Martin argues the bank either ignored that rule or knowingly avoided compliance.

A system bigger than one worker
Bank of America has not commented publicly, but the lawsuit suggests the issue could span hundreds, possibly thousands of employees who worked under the same strict scheduling rules. Many were hired through staffing agencies but followed the bank’s internal policies and timekeeping systems.

The class action seeks back pay for all affected employees, along with penalties and legal fees. If the case is certified, it could become one of the largest remote work wage disputes of the decade.

The lawsuit also hints at a broader shift in how companies handle the hidden labor of remote tech work. When employees spend a chunk of their day waiting for digital tools to load, is that still their time?

For now, the question heads to court. The outcome could change how corporations measure and pay for every click, login, and reboot in the digital workplace.

Big tech salaries are climbing into the millions. For startups, the gap has never looked wider. Yet founders at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 say early stage companies can still attract world class talent by focusing on fairness, ownership, and purpose over paychecks.

Yin Wu, the founder and CEO of Pulley, said startups should stop trying to compete with big tech altogether. Instead, they should design compensation packages that make people feel like owners from day one.

“My strong opinion is that you should be more generous than you think you should be,” Wu said. “If the company becomes successful, you will never regret sharing that success with the people who helped you build it.”

Equity with purpose
Startups cannot match Meta or OpenAI in cash, but they can build value through equity. Randi Jakubowitz, head of talent at 645 Ventures, said every startup offer should connect performance with ownership.

That means setting clear goals, creating fair vesting schedules, and acting quickly when things do not work out. “If someone is underperforming and you wait too long, that is equity you will never get back,” she said. Accountability matters as much as generosity.

Build fairness early
Rebecca Lee Whiting, founder of Epigram Legal, said the best founders design compensation systems that are consistent from the start. They pay within set ranges for each role and document how equity is calculated. That transparency prevents bias, supports compliance, and protects the company as it scales.

Wu said Pulley follows a simple rule. Every role has a fixed pay band regardless of where someone lives, and all employees receive equity packages ranked in the ninetieth percentile. “It helps us grow without creating chaos. The structure stays fair even as the value changes,” she said.

Focus on intent, not perfection
Early stage founders often feel pressure to get everything right immediately. Whiting said the goal is to build with good intent, not flawless execution. “You will likely have to clean things up after your Series B, and that is okay,” she said.

Fairness, clarity, and flexibility are the real advantages startups have over massive companies. They can offer purpose and ownership in place of oversized paychecks.

The real takeaway
A strong startup compensation strategy is not about chasing numbers. It is about aligning people with a shared outcome. When done right, it builds loyalty, keeps teams focused, and gives founders the credibility to hire great people at any stage of growth.