Bank Branches to Open at 9:30 a.m. Starting Next April... Labor and Management Reach Tentative Agreement

Agreed to a 3% Overall Wage Increase

The National Financial Industry Labor Union and the Financial Industry Employers' Association have reportedly reached a dramatic agreement in their industry-wide negotiations.

The 'Mortgage Refinancing' service through online and one-stop refinancing loan infrastructure surpassed 10,000 applicants just 15 days after its launch, with the application amount approaching 1.8 trillion won. The photo shows ATMs of commercial banks installed in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the 25th. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

According to the financial sector and labor circles on September 28, the two sides reached a tentative agreement in their central industry-wide negotiations. This comes five months after negotiations began in April.

Both sides agreed to shorten bank branch business hours by 30 minutes starting from April next year, with daily opening time delayed from the current 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

This decision took into account that employees must arrive before 9:00 a.m. to prepare for a 9:00 opening. The closing time for branches will remain at 4:00 p.m.

The overall wage increase rate was set at 3.0%, with management agreeing to cover the costs to facilitate additional youth recruitment and other initiatives.

Additionally, the parties agreed to introduce a flexible arrival time system for better work-life balance, along with a Friday customer closing system and the expansion of compensatory leave policies.

Eligibility for parental leave will be expanded so that employees can take leave until their children reach the sixth grade of elementary school, and the working hours adjustment system will continue to apply for employees whose children are in the lower grades of elementary school.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.