American Savings Bank has increased its starting wage for the second time this year.

The state’s third-largest bank said Thursday it has boosted its minimum wage to $16 an hour from $15.25 an hour and is also increasing other hourly employee wages as a result of increasing the starting wage. The increase was effective Nov. 3 and will be reflected in today’s paychecks.

In addition, all of the bank’s employees, including those currently at the starting wage, will be eligible for merit increases in March as part of the bank’s annual performance review process, according to Beth Whitehead, executive vice president and chief administrative officer for American Savings.

“We are constantly looking for ways to strengthen our employee experience,” Whitehead said. “An important part of this is offering competitive pay and benefits to our teammates.”

American Savings awarded $1,000 bonuses to nearly all of its employees, excluding members of its executive team, and increased its starting wage to $15.25 an hour from $12.21 an hour on Jan. 1 as a result of a new tax law that went into effect at the start of the year that reduced the federal corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent.

ON THE MOVE

Starn O’Toole Marcus & Fisher has hired Lauren K.O. Kagawa as a transactional associate who will specialize in real estate and commercial transaction.

Linkage, a global leadership development organization, has awarded Christina Hause with its Women in Leadership Executive Impact Award, which recognizes commitment to advancing female leaders and the growth of women in organizations and the community. Hause is vice president of marketing, sales and business development at Kaiser Permanente Hawaii.