Clarification On Wage Revision by MANIMARAN G V( on Tenth Bipartite Settlement)

Excellent Clarification by MANIMARAN G V on Xth Bipartite Settlement

Dear friends,

Few doubts in the minds of our cadres and it is always the style of CBOA that the cadres’ doubts are anticipated and be cleared too.

WHEN ARREARS WILL BE GIVEN?

As per the law of the land the settlement for the officers is documented as “ JOINT NOTE” with IBA will be brought in to effect after the amendment of the OFFICERS SERVICE REGULATIONS which would normally takes long time.

Thus in the Joint note while recording as follows,

“IBA agreed that it shall recommend to the Public Sector Banks, as in Annexure II, to initiate the process of amending the Officers‟ Service Regulations and Bank Employees‟ Pension Regulations, 1995 dated 29th September 1995/ 26th March 1996, in order to implement what is stated in Annexure I. The IBA shall also recommend to the Government of India to approve the amendments and to issue appropriate guidelines necessary for this purpose.”

It is also further recorded that

“The representatives of Officers‟ Associations have requested that pending formal amendments to the Officers‟ Service Regulations/ Rules as per procedure laid down under Section 19(1) of the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970/1980 and the applicable provision of State Bank of India Act, 1955. IBA may advise the banks to disburse immediately an ad-hoc amount, equivalent to the net arrears payable for the period from 1st November 2012 to 31st May 2015 and continue to pay revised salary and allowances on ad-hoc basis. IBA has agreed to make suitable recommendations to the Government in this regard for its consideration.”

It could be interpreted that the wage revision will come in to effect after it was duly passed by the respective boards on receipt of instruction from the Govt. for doing so.
We shall pursue with our bank to get it passed at the earliest so as to get the effect of the wage revision at the earliest.

WHEN THE SATURDAYS HOLIDAYS WILL BE DECLARED?

As per the item no.21, Annexure 1 of the joint note it was agreed that

“In terms of understanding dated 23rd February 2015, reached between IBA and Officers‟ Associations every second and fourth Saturday of the month will be a holiday and other Saturdays will be full working days. IBA has initiated steps to get clearances from the Reserve Bank of India and Government of India. The change will be effective after approval by the Reserve Bank of India and Notification of the change issued by the Government of India”

It could be understood from the above the holiday issue is one of the agreed item and a part of the joint note to be respected by both the parties.

As it is learnt that the IBA got approval from the respective sponsoring banks of the RRBs, private banks and cooperative banks and also the clearance from the RBI. Now, it is in the hands of Govt. to be followed up by the IBA and in all probability it shall be introduced very shortly.

WHAT ABOUT THE OFFICERS GETTING LESSER NET PENSION AFTER THE WAGE SETHLEMENT?

It is clarified that the gross pension has seen the sizeable increase during the post wage settlement. In view of the 60% merger of the DA with basic now in this wage settlement, there is a sizeable increase in the incremental commutation ranging anywhere between additional Rs 4.00 to Rs.5.00 lacs, and there may be a reduction in net pension after the additional commutation amount, but there is no decline in gross pension.
To facilitate the retirees to chose as per item no 8 of the joint note a “ note” is provided which goes as follows:

“Note: Officers in service of the Banks as on 1st November 2012 and who have retired thereafter but before 25th May 2015 and who had opted for commutation of pension will have an option not to claim incremental commutation on revised basic pension.”

Nevertheless, the sentiments were duly conveyed to our Apex body

WHAT ACTION ON SOME ANOMALY WITH REGARD TO ADDITIONAL STAGNATION INCREMENT?

In this regard General secretary, AIBOC has already addressed a letter to IBA which goes as follows:

“We refer to the Joint Note signed between IBA and Officers’ Association on 25.05.2015. The same provides for an additional stagnation increment for the officers in Scale II who have automatically moved to scale of pay of MMGS III and also for the officers in substantive Scale III, two years after receipt of 3rd and 4th stagnation increment respectively. The said provision has led to an anomaly, as explained below :

1. As per para 2 (b) of Annexure 1, an officer in MMG Scale II who has moved to scale of pay for MMG Scale III is eligible for three stagnation increments of Rs.1460/- each for every three completed years of service and fourth stagnation increment of Rs.1460/-- two years after receipt of third stagnation increment.
2. As per para 2(c) of Annexure I, an officer in substantive MMGS III, i.e. who is recruited in or promoted to MMGS III, is eligible for four stagnation increments of Rs.1460/- each for every three completed years of service and fifth stagnation increment of Rs.1460/-- two years after receipt of fourth stagnation increment.
3. Thus an officer in MMGS II who has automatically moved to scale of pay of MMGS III will get fourth stagnation increments at the end of 11 years after reaching maximum of scale of MMGS III, whereas an officer in substantive MMGS III will get fourth stagnation increment at the end of 12 years after reaching maximum scale of MMGS III. Thus an officer who continues in MMGS II and moves to the scale of MMGS III is in an advantageous position compared to an officer who is promoted to MMGS III and takes higher responsibility.(A practical case is attached for your perusal)

In view of what has been stated above, we request you to kindly amend para 2 (C ) of Annexure 1 of the Joint Note by providing to the officers in substantive MMGS III, the fourth and fifth stagnation increment of Rs.1460/- each for every two completed years of service after receipt of third stagnation increment and rectify the anomaly.”
We shall follow up with our Apex body for rectifying the anomaly.