Bank of Maharashtra relaxes transfer policy for staff during pandemic

Sign board of Bank of Maharashtra (Source: ShutterStock)

Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has temporarily tweaked its transfer policy to curb costs associated with staff relocation, according to two people aware of the development. The bank’s board has decided that for FY22, the time gap for transferring an employee from one zone to another will be relaxed to seven years from six years earlier.

“As per the bank’s existing transfer policy, the maximum period of stay is three years in a branch and six years in a zone. However, considering the pandemic situation, the bank has taken a board-level decision to relax the criteria of maximum stay in a zone for one more year and this will remain in force for the current year only,” one of the bankers told Moneycontrol on condition of anonymity.

Moneycontrol has sent an email to the bank seeking a comment. The copy will be updated once we receive a response.

Public sector banks like BoM typically bear the cost of relocation for their employees. BoM’s staff expenses for FY21 stood at Rs 2,255.21 crore, up 29 percent year-on-year. It had 13,128 employees as on March 31, 2021.

A large number of bank employees have been affected by COVID-19 and 1,200 bank employees have lost their lives to the virus, Moneycontrol reported last month. Banking has been classified as an essential service and bankers have been forced to go to work regularly.

In such a scenario, banks are being forced to consider not just costs but also the psychological toll relocation can take on employees. “In the backdrop of the pandemic, a lot of bank employees are facing problems with relocation. Not only is relocation itself difficult, but it also means that the employee is having to stay away from the family,” said Veinu Nehru Dutta, director - financial services at recruitment firm ABC Consultants.

Having to go to and fro between the family and the workplace affects employees’ ability to work. “So the move to relax the transfer policy should be seen as a measure to ensure employee well-being rather than a cost-control move,” Nehru Dutta said.

Apart from bank managements, staff unions are also working to take care of the mental and emotional well-being of bank employees. On June 17, Maharashtra State Bank Employees Federation said it has tied up with the Institute for Psychological Health to offer psychiatric consultations and psychological counselling to bank employees.