Things we may not know about bank wage settlement

While wait for a 5-day week gets longer, most interesting developments that make the agreement progressive and humane relate to leave

The Indian Banks' Association (IBA), the premier bankers' body, and the officers associations of banks and workmen employees' unions have signed an agreement for a 17 per cent increase in salary revision. This translates into an outgo of Rs 12,589 crore for 12 public sector banks (PSBS), including the State Bank of India. The wage break-up for officers and workmen is Rs 8,424 crore and Rs 4,165 crore, respectively.

Besides 12 PSBS, 10 private sector banks and three foreign banks are covered by the 12th bipartite wage agreement, which is meant for five years, beginning November 2022. Of course, the agreement does not apply to all the officers of 10 private banks.

They are covered by this agreement up to a certain scale, which varies from bank to bank.

Allowances are part and parcel of any bank wage pact. The latest one too is liberally sprinkled with allowances ranging from city compensatory allowance (CCA) to location allowance (for posting at places not entitled to CCA), learning allowance, special area allowance, and hill and fuel allowance, among others.

Postings to places at an altitude above 1,000 metres but less than 1,500 metres, between 1,500 and 3,000 metres, and above 3,000 metres entail different rates of allowances the higher the location, the bigger the allowance. I am told the employees also get a port allowance (for working at port cities such as Kochi in the south and Haldia in the east), but the agreement does not talk about that.

The latest pact is liberal in offering "stagnation" increment to senior executives who have hit the highest end of the pay scale and are not entitled to more even though they have years to retire.