Rejecting claims of bank employee unions regarding a commitment to implement a five-day work week, government sources said there was no commitment on the issue from the Finance Ministry.

Bank employee unions under the United Forum of Bank Unions have announced a three-day strike from September 28 to press for their demands, including a five-day work week.

Unions have claimed that the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) had agreed to the proposal as part of the 12th Bipartite Settlement/9th Joint Note signed on March 8, 2024, under which working hours were to be increased by 40 minutes from Monday to Friday. The proposal was subsequently recommended to the government, and it is under consideration, sources said.

Besides, sources said, many pending union issues were resolved, including a revision in family pension for bank retirees and the grant of a pension option to resignees.

At the same time, sources said, one of the main demands of unions regarding withdrawal of Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme was kept in abeyance.

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), which claims to represent 90% of the banking workforce, has decided to go on a three-day strike beginning September 28, seeking five-day banking among other demands.

The strike, if it materialises, would coincide with the banking sector’s half-yearly close.

To meet the banking needs of customers before the three-day nationwide strike, the government has already instructed public sector banks to stay open on Sunday, September 27.

The Finance Ministry has also advised all departments and ministries to disburse September’s salary in advance during the day in view of the strike.

In view of a three-day nationwide bank strike proposed from September 28-30, 2026, “the government has decided that the salary/wages/pensions of all Central Government Employees for the month of September 2026 may be drawn and disbursed by the Central Government offices (including Defence, Posts & Telecommunications) on September 25 2026 (Friday)”, according to an office memorandum issued by the Controller General of Accounts under the Finance Ministry.

The wages for September 2026 of the industrial employees of the central government may also be disbursed in advance on September 25, 2026, it had said.

The pension for September 2026 of all central government pensioners may also be disbursed by bank/PAOs on September 25, 2026, it had said.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry earlier during the week appealed bank employees to refrain from resorting to strikes and resolve their remaining demands through dialogue, saying most concerns of the unions have been substantially addressed.

Other UFBU demands include updating and improving pensions, a uniform dearness allowance formula for all pensioners, and an option for employees covered under the National Pension System (NPS) to switch to the old pension scheme (OPS).

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), which consists of nine unions of bank employees and officers, has called for an all India bank strike on January 27 demanding government approval for implementation of a five-day work week in banks.

If the strike by the influential forum of the bank unions happens as planned, for customers there will be no branch-level services for four days consecutively. Banks will be closed on January 24 (fourth Saturday), January 25 (Sunday) and January 26 (Republic Day). Most of the strike calls in recent years, however, have not generated the impact seen during strikes in the past primarily on account of availability of alternative delivery channels such as online banking and ATMs.

“From the United Forum of Bank Unions, we have been demanding the introduction of 5 working days per week in the banking sector. In the 10th Bipartite Settlement… it was agreed by Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and the government and accordingly the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of every month are declared as holidays while the other Saturdays are full working days instead of half a day working,” UFBU said.

At that time, it was assured that the demand for declaring all the remaining Saturdays as holiday would be considered in due course. But the issue was kept pending, the Forum said in a release, calling for government approval for implementation of five-day work week in Banking Industry. The IBA has already recommended this based on the MoUs it signed with UFBU in December 2023 and as agreed in the settlement/joint Note in March 2024.

All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA); All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC); the National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE); All India Bank Officers association (AIBOA); the Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI); Indian National Bank Employees Federation (INBEF); Indian National Bank Officers Congress (INBOC); the National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW); and the National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO) are part of the UFBU and represent lakhs of bank staff, most of them in public sector banks besides others in private sector banks, regional rural banks and co-op banks.

The decision on the five day week has been pending with the Government for the past two years. The UFBU had given a call for a two-day strike on March 24 and 25 but deferred it after the government said the issue was under active consideration. Making a strong case, the UFBU said five-day week has already been implemented in RBI, LIC and GIC. A five-day work week is also followed for government offices, stock exchanges, money market and foreign exchange transactions, it said. “Hence, declaring the remaining Saturdays as holidays with increased working hours from Monday to Friday will not pose any major problem for the bank customers in the present circumstances when various alternative delivery channels to access banking services are available. Bank employees and officers are highly aggrieved that they alone are being discriminated against. We request the banking public to bear with us for any inconvenience caused,” UFBU said.