Employees of public sector banks are set to receive a 17% wage hike after the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and bank unions on Friday signed the 9th joint note and the final 12th bipartite settlement agreement.
The total amount to be spent for wage revision works out to be Rs 12,449 crore for all banks, including State Bank of India. The wage revision will come into effect from November 1, 2022 for a period of five years, and the annual increase in salary and allowances will be 17% of the annual pay slip expenses for FY22. The settlement covers 25 banks, including 12 public sector lenders, 10 private and three foreign banks.
The IBA and bank unions had in December signed an memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a 17% wage hike and set a 180-day timeline for the final settlement to be signed. FE on November 27 first reported that employees at public sector banks may see a 15-20% hike in salaries as 12th bipartite talks between the IBA and unions entered the final stage.
“It was further agreed that the new scale of pay would be constructed after merging dearness allowance corresponding to 8,088 points. All other issues the management and workmen unions discussed during the process of negotiations would be settled to the mutual satisfaction,” the agreement said.
However, a five-day work week for public sector bank employees has not been finalised as the Centre is yet to decide on the matter even after the IBA’s recommendation.
In July 2020, around 850,000 bank employees got a 15% increase in their salary packages, with the IBA and the United Forum of Bank Unions signing a memorandum of understanding to settle the three-year-long contentious issue of wage revision.
