Bank workers want doors closed at 3:30

The Korean banks’ labor union plans to soldier on with its demand that banks cut operating hours by an hour, despite criticism from employers and customers alike. The banks’ umbrella labor union yesterday unveiled survey results that emphasized that bank employees work long hours and believe closing earlier would ease the workload.
According to the Korea Financial Industry Union’s survey of 1,494 bank employees nationwide, they work an average of 11 hours and 53 minutes each day, including two hours of meals and other breaks. Also, 63.8 percent of the respondents feel “a threat of disease and death caused by overwork,” and 45.9 percent said closing bank counters at 3:30 p.m. instead of the current 4:30 p.m. would help them go home earlier. A majority of respondents cited setting up more ATMs and other money dispensers and lowering after-hour bank service fees as major alternatives if the change is realized.
The revelation came about two months after the labor union first proposed the much-criticized cut in operating hours in April.
But a senior official of the Korea Federation of Banks said the bank owners are “unlikely” to accept the demand, citing criticism from customers and increasing competition with stock brokers to grab customers.
“Of course, quality of life is important for bank employees, too,” said Huh You-kyung, a lawyer at Hwang Mok Park law firm. Squeezing time to rush to a bank is already tough, she said. “If the workload at banks is becoming unbearably heavy, which is actually common for most company workers here, then why don’t they demand their employers hire more workers instead?”

By Jung Ha-won Staff Writer [hawon@joongang.co.kr]