Salary hike, 5-day work week for PSB employees by mid-December: Report

Employees at public sector banks (PSBs) may see a 15-20 per cent hike in salaries and implementation of a five-day work week by mid-December as the 12th bipartite settlement talks between bank unions and associations and the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) have entered final stages, reported the Financial Express (FE) citing sources.

"This is the first time in the history of negotiations that the offer [for wage hike] is starting with 15 per cent. It [wage hike] will likely be between 15 per cent and 20 per cent," IBA sources told FE. 

The announcement of the five-day work week will be made either concurrently with or immediately following the pay raise declaration by the Centra or the IBA, they said.

The current wage agreement for PSB employees expired on November 1, 2022. Since then, the IBA and the unions representing bank employees have been negotiating a new wage agreement.

A source in the finance ministry told FE that the wage revision and change in work days would also apply to regional rural banks.

In July 2020, around 850,000 bank employees got a 15 per cent increase in their salary packages, with the IBA and the United Forum of Bank Unions signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to settle the three-year-long contentious issue of wage revision.

Another source said that the IBA and the bank unions will shortly hold a final meeting where the two parties will sign a MoU, which will then be handed to the finance ministry for final approval.

The implementation of the five-day workweek will lead to branches remaining closed on weekends. Employees may be asked to work for extra hours during the week to compensate for lost working hours, a source was quoted as saying by FE.

"Business hours will start early on weekdays and close 30-45 minutes late than the current working hours," sources said. Customers who want to withdraw or transfer cash can do so through automated teller machines, with the only challenge being deposit of cheques," he said, adding, "Collection of cheques will be affected for these two days.".

While employees at insurance firms, state governments and central government have a five-day work week, providing the same option to bankers is a move in the right direction, sources said.

They added that the closure of branches would also result in savings in terms of fuel used for travel and electricity. "The inconvenience to customers is more than outweighed by savings and other factors. Employees need more family time as well," they said.