IBA considering a proposal requiring bank employees to work five days a week with longer duty hours
The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and the Union Forum of Bank Workers have made headway in their negotiations with the IBA agreeing in principle to a five-day week in exchange for longer hours.
According to S Nagarajan, general secretary of the All India Bank Officers’ Association, the government will be required to declare all Saturdays as holidays under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. He emphasized that the agreement was outside of salary negotiations because it had been in the works for a long time. Nonetheless, the government has a say in this matter because it owns the public sector banks. The RBI must also accept the plan because it determines the timing of most interbank activities.
WHAT WILL CHANGE FOR BANK EMPLOYEES IF THE PROPOSAL IS APPROVED?
- The employees will work 40-50 minutes longer per day to make up for the missed hours.
- Employee schedules may fluctuate (9:45 AM to 5:30 PM).
- Saturdays and Sundays will be bank holidays. Bank workers currently work on alternate Saturdays.
According to the Moneycontrol report, there was a discussion at the meeting held on February 28, 2023, about having uniform office hours from 9.50 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. on all five working days, and fixing cash hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and customer service hours till 4.30 p.m.
Bank employees are currently working on alternating Saturdays, and this has caused considerable confusion among consumers who need to know if it is a working Saturday or not. Bank unions have long advocated for a five-day work week. This demand has increased as LIC has accepted a five-day week proposal in advance of its May 2021 listing.
Banks will be closed for up to 12 days in March, including the second and fourth Saturdays, as well as Sundays. Some bank holidays will be honored nationwide, while others will be observed locally. It should be mentioned that banks in India adhere to the gazette holidays. While public holidays are observed by all banks, certain banks observe regional festivals and holidays.
The Reserve Bank of India labels its holidays into three categories: holidays under the Negotiable Instruments Act, holidays under the Negotiable Instruments Act and Real Time Gross Settlement, and bank closings. However, it should be noted that bank holidays vary by state and are not honoured by all banking institutions. Banking holidays are also affected by festivals observed in individual states or by the specific events in such states.
