Bank Employees Need To Wait For Five-Day Working Week; Consensus With PSBs, Co-OPs Yet To Be Reached

The five-day workweek for bank employees may need some time. This is because a consensus is yet to be reached with private sector banks and cooperative banks, according to an FE report. However, an in-principle agreement has been reached between the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and state-owned banks on the five-day working week.

The RBI also needs to accept the proposal. The government will also have to notify all Saturdays as holidays under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.

Currently, banks are closed on the second and fourth Saturday of every month. Once the five-day workweek is implemented, employees will need to work 40 minutes more every day from 9.40 am to 5.20 pm, as against 9 am to 5 pm currently.

“Negotiations between the Indian Banks’ Association and the United Forum of Bank Unions have been completed but the proposal has to be forwarded to the Ministry of Finance. Discussions will also have to be conducted with the Reserve Bank of India and private sector banks, cooperative banks and regional rural banks will have to be brought on board for a five-day working week before it can be notified by the government,” according to the FE report quoting a source.

“This is necessary to ensure that not only cheque clearing and other functions are not impacted but also the business of public sector banks does not get hit if private banks remain open,” the report quoted the source as saying.

Bank Holidays in May 2023

The list indicates that Indian banks will have a total of 12 holidays in May 2023, taking into consideration the weekends and the second and fourth Saturdays of the month.

Furthermore, in addition to the Buddha Purnima celebrations, the month of May is marked by an additional 10 bank holidays, including a diverse range of occasions like Rabindranath Tagore Jayanti, Maharana Pratap Jayanti, and other regional events. The extensive list of bank holidays for the month of May includes May 7 (Sunday), May 9 (Rabindranath Tagore Jayanti in Kolkata), May 13 (second Saturday), May 14 (Sunday), May 16 (Sikkim Statehood Day), May 21 (Sunday), May 22 (Maharana Pratap Jayanti in Shimla), May 24 (Kazi Nazrul Islam Jayanti in Tripura), May 27 (fourth Saturday), and May 28 (Sunday).