"Can No Longer Delay Normalizing Business Hours"
Expected to Restore to '9 AM to 4 PM'
[Asia Economy Reporter Sim Nayoung] If the indoor mask mandate is lifted on the 30th, the operating hours of commercial banks are also expected to be extended by one hour. This is because the banking sector is preparing to normalize operating hours after legal review, regardless of whether the financial labor union agrees.
According to the financial sector on the 24th, a meeting was held on the 18th between Kim Kwangsoo, Chairman of the Financial Industry Employers' Council, and Park Hongbae, Chairman of the Financial Labor Union, to discuss the normalization of operating hours. At this meeting, Chairman Kim conveyed to the union leader that "Since the indoor mask mandate is expected to be lifted on the 30th, we can no longer delay the normalization of operating hours."
The financial employers' stance that "operating hours can be normalized regardless of union agreement" is based on the results of legal review. The bank operating hours, which were from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, were shortened to 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM starting July 12, 2021, when COVID-19 was rampant. At that time, the government strengthened social distancing to level 4 in the metropolitan area, and from the 12th to the 23rd, the financial labor and management agreed to shorten bank operating hours by one hour in Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon, and other metropolitan areas.
The reduction of operating hours was expanded nationwide starting October of the same year. This followed a resolution by the Central Labor-Management Committee, which includes the Financial Labor Union and the Financial Industry Employers' Council, stating that "the one-hour reduction in operating hours will be maintained until the government's COVID-19 related quarantine guidelines, including restrictions on private gatherings, multi-use facilities, and the indoor mask mandate, are lifted."
In last year's sectoral negotiations, labor and management agreed to form a separate task force (TF) to discuss this issue again. The negotiation agreement includes the phrase, "A joint labor-management TF will be formed to sincerely discuss flexible working hours, a 4.5-day workweek, and operating hour management plans."
However, the financial employers recently obtained an interpretation through external legal advice that "even after the indoor mask mandate is lifted, it is not necessarily required to have labor-management agreement to normalize operating hours."
The 2021 Central Labor-Management Committee agreement was to "maintain the one-hour reduction in operating hours until the indoor mask mandate is lifted," and the 2022 negotiations stated that "related issues will be discussed through the TF." Therefore, the logic is that "after the indoor mask regulation is lifted, labor-management agreement is not an essential condition for restoring operating hours."
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