Syndicate Bank withdraws ‘no work, no pay’ missive

Syndicate Bank has ordered the withdrawal of its “no work, no pay” notice. “This (notice issuance) was done at the regional level. It is not within the powers of the official concerned to issue such a communication. It has been withdrawn,” M Rego, managing director and chief executive officer of the bank, told Business Standard.

This comes after the UCO Bank’s zonal office in Kolkata decided not to give salaries to its employees in that zone for non-performance. The decision was reversed after the top management stepped in, following pressure from unions last week.

One regional manager of Syndicate Bank said in a communication to employees on August 30 they were expected to do a full day’s work for a full day’s salary. If an employee does not report to work or does not work during any part of the working hours, that person will be in breach of his/her contract of service. Employees will not earn salary for that day and consequently need not report to work for the rest of the working hours of that day. In all such instances, the principle of “no work, no pay” takes effect automatically and employee will not earn salary for that day, notice said.

C H Venkatachalam, general secretary of the All India Bank Employees Association, said this was a wrong practice. "Unions will protest against such a move and take the issue up with the management on Monday." Public sector bank executives said there was pressure to perform, especially for credit expansion, low-cost deposit mobilisation and recoveries from bad loans. But there was no corporate policy of “no work, no pay”.

On August 30, while withdrawing the circular issued by the zonal manager, UCO Bank had said stoppage of salary across the board might not do any good. Non-performance can’t be accepted and necessary action should be taken against the employee within framework of guidelines, UCO Bank added.