A nationwide strike took place from 11th September, which is impacting banking services across India. Banks may remain closed for four consecutive days. The bank management and government have appealed to postpone the strike. Union leaders have rejected the appeal as they are demanding a five-day work week.
Major nationalized banks like Bank of Baroda, Punjab Bank and SBI are affected in their operations. Branch services like new account openings, cash withdrawals, institutional trade clearance, and the Check Truncation system are affected. Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank should not be affected by the bank strike.
Indian Banks' Association and bank unions have agreed that all Saturdays will be holidays. But the major problem is that employees are demanding a five-day week.The working hours are extended by 40 minutes to compensate for Saturdays. The Department of Financial Services has not issued a final notification. Currently, bank employees are working under the old regime of the alternate Saturday rule.
According to the Indian Labour Laws and Banking Service Rules, for employees going on strike, the law of no work, no pay is applicable. One day's basic salary will be deducted from the bank employee's salary during this strike.
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