'Scrap compulsory retirement provision on the basis of 30-year service'

KATHMANDU, Nov 6:

Trade unions of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) and other state-owned banks have been pushing strongly for scrapping of compulsory retirement provision after completion of 30-year service.

While most of the trade unions are officially lobbying to scrap the compulsory retirement provision from the employees bylaws, there are also voices within those trade unions that continuity of such provision will help to ensure ´vibrancy´ in the institution.

According to the employee´s bylaws of NRB and other state-owned banks -- Rastriya Banijya Bank Ltd (RBBL), Agricultural Development Bank Ltd (ADBL) and Nepal Bank Ltd (NBL), employees get compulsory retirement if they complete 30 years of service or turn 59.

NRB has recently formed a three-member committee under its former board member Partheswar Timilsina to study its retirement policy and make suggestions to the central bank. If NRB amends the employees´ bylaws to scrap the provision of retirement on the basis of service period, this will pave the way for other government-owned banks to make similar changes in their respective bylaws.

A trade union leader of RBBL said employees were lobbying for and against the compulsory retirement provision on the basis of 30-year service. “Large number of employees in NRB and other state-owned banks are being laid off due this provision. So they are lobbying to scrap the provision so that their dominance in the bank remains until they turn 59,” the leader added. "This will seriously hamper career growth of the new entrants. Also youth will rarely get the opportunity to join NRB and other state-owned banks."

Many union leaders argue that provision should be scrapped so that the experienced employees can serve the institutions for long time. “If the provision is not scrapped, a large number of employees will have to leave the institutions within some years. This will lead to a vacuum in the institution. It is equally important to retain the experienced staff as it is to inject new blood,” Bed Bahadur Lawoti, general secretary of a CPN-UML-affiliated trade union in RBBL, told Republica.

Likewise, Yogendra Bahadur Singh, president of a CPN-UML-aligned trade union at ADBL, said that the 30-year ceiling should be removed in line with other government institutions. “The compulsory retirement on the basis of service tenure will only add financial burden on the institution. Institutions will have to provide retirement package to those who leave after completing 30 years of service and also hire new employees to replace him/her," he added.

A senior official of NRB termed the lobby for and against the provision of compulsory retirement on the basis of service period as a conflict between new entrants and old staffers. "New staffers want the old ones to go away so that their promotion and other opportunities do not get stymied due to the occupancy of post by the old employees.

Similarly, the old employees do not want to leave the lucrative job easily," the official added. "There are fresh and energetic people whose entry and performance will give vibrancy and efficiency to the institution. By scrapping the provision, old employees do not want to let the new one to prove their mettle."

NRB had introduced the provision of compulsory retirement on the basis of 30-year service following the implementation of the Financial Sector Reform Program which intended to overcome the overstaffing problem in the central regulatory bank as well as the government-owned banks.

Source: Republica