look news india
New Delhi: This year, there may be some good news regarding salary increase and holidays of bank employees. If the Finance Ministry gives its consent, then bank employees will have to work only five days a week and will get two days off.
The United Forum of Bank Unions, an organization representing bank employee unions, has written a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recommending a five-day working week for the banking sector.
At present, banks are closed on the second and fourth Saturday of every month except Sundays and scheduled holidays. This means that employees get six fixed holidays in a month and the rest depends on the list of holidays. The United Forum of Bank Unions, in its proposal, has assured the government that even with a five-day working week, banks will continue to function as before. There will be no reduction in the working hours of the employees. Also, there will be no reduction in banking hours allotted for customer service.
This proposal has been presented under the agreement with the Indian Banks Association.
The Finance Ministry has been recommended to positively review the matter and direct the Indian Banks Association to proceed accordingly. The United Forum of Bank Unions has also argued that a five-day working week is already in force in the Reserve Bank of India and LIC.
Salaries of bank employees will also increase!
Last year, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Indian Banks' Association and bank employees' unions. In this, it was agreed upon to increase the salary by 17 percent in all the government banks of the country. Its total cost was Rs 12,449 crore.
If the scheme is approved, around 9 lakh employees, including 3.8 lakh officers of public sector banks like SBI as well as several private sector banks, will benefit from the salary hike.