Bank unions, under the umbrella of United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), have announced a 2-day nationwide strike starting March 24, 2025, to put pressure for their demands, including 5-day work week for banks and adequate recruitment across all cadres.
There has been a long-standing demand from bank employees to adopt a 5-day workweek for the banks. Currently, banks work six days a week, and they are close on the second and fourth Saturdays.
Notably, the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and bank unions in December 2023 agreed that banks adopt a 5-day workweek. However, this is the subject to government approval. In March 2024, the IBA and bank unions signed the 9th Joint Note, which highlighted the plans to switch to a 5-day workweek, including the offs on Saturdays and Sundays.
5-Day Working For Banks: What To Expect?
The government has not yet announced any official deadline on this matter. However, banking employees believe that a 5-day work week will release the pressure from them and give them much needed additional time with family. Furthermore, this can also boost the productivity of work.
Currently, in India, most of the financial institutions and government establishments follow 5-day work week. Moreover, employees of the central government, state governments, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), courts, stock exchanges, most MNCs and private companies observe 5-day work week. Therefore, banking employees’ demand seems quite adequate at this juncture.
According to the proposal, to maintain smooth customer service, bank employees will work 40 minutes extra each day to make up for the shorter workweek.
Challenges Ahead
- RBI’s approval is one of the most important aspect of this development.
- Implementing a 5-day workweek for banks across India’s vast and diverse landscape poses significant challenges. This can potentially disrupt seamless banking services.
- A mutual agreement between employees and management on working hours, salaries, and operational changes is essential for a smooth implementation of the 5-day workweek system.
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