Currently, the bank branches are functional on the first, third, and fifth Saturdays of the month, and the second and fourth Saturdays are holidays.
New Delhi: State-run and private-sector banks are in talks for a 15 per cent hike in the salary of their employees, a report by TOI said. Apart from this, the banks are also planning to implement a five-day workweek. Earlier, a five-day work week for banks was approved by the Indian Banking Association (IBA), however, the approval is awaiting the Ministry of Finance and RBI’s go-ahead.
Currently, the bank branches are functional on the first, third, and fifth Saturdays of the month, and the second and fourth Saturdays are holidays. As part of the 10th Bipartite Settlement signed in 2015, RBI and the Centre agreed with the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and declared second and fourth Saturdays as holidays.
Various bank unions for long time have been demanding that they be given time off on all Saturdays and Sundays. If their demand is approved by the government and RBI, it has been proposed that the daily work hours at branches would be extended by 45 minutes.
As per the TOI report, the IBA on Thursday proposed a 15 per cent hike in salaries for the bank employees but the unions are said to be demanding a higher increase, along with other changes. Some banks, including PNB, have also started making higher provisions for the wage increase.
Notably, these negotiations are closely being monitored by the finance ministry. These bank employee unions are seeking higher salary hike due to good financial performance by banks in recent years.
Bank employees and unions say that banks have seen a good increase in profits in recent past and given the efforts that employees have put in getting the lenders back on track, hence they are entitled to better compensation.
As the general elections are due next year, the expectation is that the wage settlement will be finalised before that as bank employees are a sizeable constituency.
