Saturday holiday restored for bank employees

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has restored the Saturday holiday for bank employees across the country, however, the office hours will be increased during the five-day workweek, ARY News reported on Friday.

The central bank issued a notification regarding the restoration of Saturday holiday in a recent move, whereas, some bank branches will be opened for public facilitation on Saturdays.

The office hours will be 9:00 am to 5:30 from Monday to Thursday, whereas, 1:30 pm to 2:15 will be given for namaz and lunch break.

The office hours on Friday will be 9:00 am to 6:00 pm as 1:00 pm to 2:30 will be given for Friday prayers and lunch break.

#SBP will observe following working days and office timings which shall also be followed by all banks: Monday to Thursday: 09:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Friday: 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m pic.twitter.com/udpMHLhYb0

— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) May 6, 2022

It may be noted that the bank employees held protests outside the SBP building for the restoration of the five-day workweek during Ramazan.

Earlier in the day, the federal government decided not to restore the Saturday holiday, however, the office timing was reduced following a new notification.

The protest of government employees has not borne fruit as the federal government decided not to restore the Saturday holiday in public offices.

The Establishment Division issued a notification after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s approval regarding the reduction in office hours.

According to the new notification, the government office hours will now be open from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm, whereas, the Friday timing will be 8:00 am to 1:00 pm.

Earlier, the office hours were fixed from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. The Saturday holiday had been suspended by Shehbaz Sharif after becoming prime minister for the 6-day workweek.