Banks 5 Day Working: Media reports have claimed that RBI has approved 5 day working. PIB Fact Check said that no such order has been passed by the government or RBI.
Banks 5 Day Working: Bank employees and their unions have been demanding for a long time that only 5 day working should be approved in banks. Regarding this, bank unions are constantly reaching their demand to the government in different ways. Even a nationwide strike has been announced for this on 24-25 March. However, amidst all this, some media reports quoted RBI as saying that 5 day working has been approved in banks from April 1. After which banks will remain closed every Saturday and Sunday. Now the government itself has revealed how much truth is there in this claim.
What is the truth of 5 day working order?
Actually, media reports have claimed that RBI has approved 5 day working. Soon after these news came, the government’s fact checking agency investigated these claims. PIB Fact Check said that no such order has been passed by the government or RBI.
Bank unions announced strike
Let us tell you that before this, the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) had announced a nationwide two-day bank strike on 24 and 25 March 2025 regarding 5-day working in banks and its other demands. Due to which there was going to be no work in banks from 22 March to 25 March. Because Saturday and Sunday are already weekly holidays.
What is the demand of the union?
The UFBU strike was being held over major demands such as adequate recruitment in all cadres, regularization of temporary employees, and implementation of five-day work week in the banking sector. UFBU comprised nine major bank unions, representing more than eight lakh employees and officers of public sector, private sector, foreign banks, cooperative banks and regional rural banks.
The bank unions demanded that adequate staff be appointed in all branches, so that customers can get better service and the existing staff does not have excessive workload. Apart from this, there was a demand to regularize temporary employees, implement five-day work week, and withdraw the Performance Review and Productivity Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme recently released by the government. The union says that these policies threaten job security, create discrimination between employees and officers, and undermine the autonomy of public sector banks.
Apart from this, the demands included ensuring the safety of bank officers and employees, filling the posts of workers and officer directors, resolving pending issues with the Indian Banks Association (IBA), and amending the Gratuity Act to increase the maximum limit to Rs 25 lakh. The union also demanded that income tax should not be levied on the staff welfare benefits given to the employees and the bank management should bear it.
