Friday Early Departure Becomes New Banking Standard

NH NongHyup Bank will implement a '4.9-day workweek' starting from the 27th, moving Friday departure time from 6 PM to 5 PM. Woori Bank has also tentatively confirmed implementation on April 3rd, marking the full-scale rollout of reduced working hours across the five major commercial banks.

Following IBK Industrial Bank of Korea in January and KB Kookmin Bank in early March, these are the third and fourth cases of adoption, showing rapid expansion across the banking sector. Shinhan Bank and Hana Bank are also expected to confirm their implementation dates in April.

Change Initiated Through Labor-Management Agreement

The banking sector's 4.9-day workweek resulted from an agreement reached in October last year between the National Finance Industry Labor Union and the Financial Industry Employers Association during sector-wide negotiations. While the financial union initially demanded full implementation of a 4.5-day workweek, negotiations led to an agreement on reducing weekly working hours by one hour.

To prevent customer inconvenience, each bank maintains existing business hours (9 AM to 4 PM) while realizing Friday early departure through internal work schedule adjustments. In Woori Bank's case, they moved weekday working hours to 8:40 AM - 5:40 PM, 20 minutes earlier, to secure time for pre-opening settlement tasks.

Strengthening Work-Life Balance and Improving Efficiency

The banking sector expects this measure to enhance employees' work-life balance and improve work productivity. It is particularly expected to contribute to reducing the burden on employees balancing childcare and caregiving responsibilities while establishing a flexible organizational culture.

An official from the financial sector stated, "Although implementation dates differ slightly due to varying labor-management consultation processes and content at each bank, all five major banks will implement the 4.9-day workweek by April."

Attention on Ripple Effects to Other Industries

The banking sector has historically led working hour reductions, including being the first in the industry to implement a five-day workweek. Attention is focused on whether this 4.9-day workweek expansion will spread to other sectors.

The financial union announced plans to re-pursue the 4.5-day workweek, a campaign promise of President Lee Jae-myung, in this year's sector-wide negotiations. This is why the banking sector's current measure is interpreted as a preliminary step toward a 4.5-day workweek.