The Centre is not in favour of a five-day working week for banks in the country. The Centre has expressed its reservations about going in for a five-day working week for banks to a sub-committee set up by the Indian Banks’ Association which is looking into the proposal, sources told BusinessLine . Five-day week is the norm for banks in a large number of countries.
The Centre feels that at a time when it is trying to expand the scope of financial inclusion by extending banking services to all un-banked rural areas, a five-day week will not be helpful, the source pointed out.
Five-day week was one of the demands of the trade unions in the banking industry. The United Forum of Bank Unions, a collective of nine major banking unions, has been pressing for this change.
Along with its demand for revising the long-term wage agreement, on which negotiations are ongoing, UFBU wants the IBA to switch to the new weekly time schedule.
Stressed workforce The unions argue that with the fast expansion of ATM networks and the huge popularity of Internet banking, there was no need for six days of physical banking.
They contend that the five-day week format would give a lot of relief to bank employees who are said to be among the most stressed of the country’s labour force.
An extra day would de-stress and help them spend quality time with their families.
The IBA had told the unions that it was not against the five-day week in principle, but it needed to get the the Centre’s approval.