The demand for 5 Banking Days per Week was discussed in the recent UFBU meeting held at Chennai on 15-12-2022 and the meeting has decided that to achieve our demand, we may agree for increase in working hours by 30 minutes per day i.e. preponement of 15 minutes in the morning and additional 15 minutes in the evening.
UFBU has addressed the letter to IBA in this regard and we reproduce the same herein for the information of our units and members.
Reg: Introduction of 5 Banking Days per week
This has reference to the discussion we had on 23rd September, 2022 on the various pending residual issues. As you are aware that introduction of 5 Banking Days per week was one of the important issues taken up in that meeting.
As explained by us, having regard to the provisions of our present Bipartite Settlement on working hours, we have indicated that for the purpose of declaring all the Saturdays as holidays as against the present position of 2nd and 4th Saturdays as holidays, the working hours per day may be enhanced by 30 minutes and the present working hours may be accordingly revised.
Presently, Banks in different States, having regard to local SLBC Guidelines, etc, have different timings of working hours and business hours.
For example, it ranges from 9-00 AM to 4-00 PM, 10 AM to 5-00 PM, 10- 30 AM to 5-30 PM, to 11-00 AM to 6-00 PM, etc.
Similarly, the working hour begins 15 minutes earlier and ends 15 minutes earlier in some centres like urban towns and metropolitan cities. For example, working hour begins at 9-45 AM and hence it ends at 4-45 PM.
Hence, in this background, we observe that prescribing uniform working hours would be difficult to be implemented.
In view of the different timings in different centres, as opined by us during the discussions, the following may be decided upon for implementing the 5 Banking Days per week in the Banks.
- Present working hours may be increased by 30 minutes per day from Monday to Friday.
- All Saturdays and Sundays to be declared as holidays
- Present respective timings of working hours may be preponed
by 15 minutes in the morning and increased by 15 minutes in
the evening. - Existing customer service hours/non-cash transaction banking hours
may be increased by 30 minutes. - Existing cash transaction hours to remain the same.
Since our demand for five banking days per week is an important issue and the same is pending resolution, we strongly feel that Indian Banks’ Association should move in the matter earnestly and resolve the same expeditiously and introduce five banking days per week at the earliest
Further developments will be informed to units in due course. With Greetings
Yours Comradely,
C.H. VENKATACHALAM GENERAL SECRETARY