THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as they had to work on two holidays, officials of many banks are finally happy with the demonetisation drive as it had earned them some fiscal benefits. Most of the nationalised and scheduled banks have announced additional perks of even over Rs 10,000 to its officers who worked on a second-Saturday and a Sunday. Clerical staff will get extra perks as overtime allowance, which would even come up to around Rs 15,000. However, many new generation banks have not yet announced any additional benefits to the employees.
After the surprise announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8, the centre had directed banks across the country to work on November 12 and 13 (second-Saturday and Sunday) for the convenience of the public to exchange their invalid Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes. As per banking rules, only clerical staffs are entitled to overtime allowance for working beyond normal working hours as well as holidays. Officers are supposed to be on duty round the clock and hence not entitled to overtime compensation. According to banking sector sources, the State Bank of India (SBI) announced an allowance of Rs 6,000 per day to officers. Hence the officers will get Rs 12,000 for working on the two days.
State Bank of Travancore and other State Bank group banks are also following almost a same compensation pattern. While SBI is not offering any compensatory off, Federal Bank announced an allowance of Rs 3,250 per day and a compensatory off. Hence Federal Bank officers will get Rs 6,500 and two compensatory offs. The overtime allowance for clerical staff depends on their seniority. While juniors will get up to Rs 3,500 per day, for senior clerks it would be Rs 8,000, said sources. Apart from these monetary benefits, the bank employees earlier received a pat from the Prime Minister for the extra effort they have been taking as part of the cleansing drive.
