Bank employees may soon get 2 days leave in a week. This demand, which has been rising for a long time, can be accepted by the government by June.
The government may accept the long standing demand of bank employees for a 5-day working week this year. According to media reports, after the approval of the Finance Ministry, bank employees are likely to get 5 working days a week and a salary increase in June 2024.
According to an ET report, the United Forum of Bank Unions, an alliance of bank employee unions, has written to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to allow a 5-day work week for the banking sector.
The Bank Employees Union also assured that there will be no cut in banking hours for customers or in the total working hours of employees and officers. The union has urged the Finance Minister to review the matter favorably and direct the Indian Banks Association (IBA) accordingly, the ET report said.
Currently, there is a holiday of 2 weeks and 5 days.
Currently, bank branches remain closed on the second and fourth Saturdays. Bank unions have been demanding holiday on all Saturdays and Sundays since 2015. Under the 10th bilateral agreement signed in 2015, the RBI and the government agreed with the IBA and declared the second and fourth Saturdays as holidays.
What about salary increase?
In terms of salaries, the IBA and bank employee unions last year reached an agreement for a 17 per cent salary hike across all public sector banks (PSBs) in India, amounting to Rs 12,449 crore. If the pay hike is approved by the Centre, around 9 lakh employees, including 3.8 lakh officers, across all PSBs and select old generation private banks will benefit. According to a TOI report, the MoU signed by the IBA and bank employee unions following talks on December 7, 2023, included a commitment to finalize the wage revision within 180 days.
