Ling and Hadiah exchange the signed CA witnessed by (from left) Nurddin, Nora, Amir, and Law. — Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING: Employees in clerical and non-clerical categories from 13 banks in Sarawak will receive up to a 12 per cent salary adjustment as well as enhancement in benefits and allowances together with new benefits following a new collective agreement (CA) between the Sarawak Commercial Banks’ Association (SCBA) and Sarawak Bank Employees’ Union (SBEU).
The new benefits include staff housing loan at a 0 per cent interest rate for the first RM100,000 effective April 1 this year, which also applies to employees who have existing staff housing loans.
The new agreement is for the period Jan 1, 2018 to Dec 31, 2020.
SCBA president David Ling Ee Kuong and secretary Nurddin Awi signed the agreement on behalf of the association on Monday, while SBEU president Hadiah Leen and general secretary Law Kiat Min represented the union.
Also present to witness the signing were Ministry of Human Resources secretary general Datuk Amir Omar and Malayan Commercial Banks’ Association president Nora Manaf.
In his opening remarks, Ling expressed his gratitude that both SCBA and SBEU demonstrated full understanding and empathy in the CA negotiation process.
“Under the new CA, member banks of SCBA will grant a salary adjustment of 12 per cent and 10 per cent respectively to all non-clerical and clerical employees, subject to the maximum salary in their respective salary ranges,” he said.
Around 1,500 employees employed by the 13 banks will benefit from this adjustment.
The starting salary for the different employee groups covered by the CA will also be raised by 12 per cent to 16 per cent.
Ling added that the new remuneration package is one of the most competitive in the market in Sarawak and would greatly uplift the welfare and living standards of lower income banking employees.
The new CA also provides enhancement to a number of existing employment benefits with an increase in monetary value of between 10 per cent and 50 per cent.
They include 10 working days’ marriage leave; reimbursement of delivery charges of up to RM1,500 for two confinement periods; free medical treatment for employees; an RM2,000 allocation each to cover medical expenses for eligible family members, which they can also use to purchase hospitalisation and surgical insurance; as well as EPF contribution by banks at 16 per cent.
In addition to the existing benefits, the new CA also offers a range of new benefits which include a Disability Care Subsidy of RM100 per month for employees having a disabled child or spouse who is not gainfully employed; allowing pregnant employees to leave work one hour earlier from their 22nd week of pregnancy subject to certain conditions; extension of the existing 90-day paid maternity leave at the request of the employee for up to another 90 days on a half-pay basis; and a seven-working day pilgrimage leave for non-Muslim employees to enable them to perform their religious obligations according to their respective faiths.
The union has in return offered to the banks to empower members to take on larger roles and functions aimed at keeping employees relevant in the fast changing business environment.
Hadiah said members will perform added duties, responsibilities and new roles in line with the evolving and changing needs of banks and as a result of rapid technological change and globalisation.
“It has been SBEU’s longstanding policy to enhance the job value of our members in order to increase their income, living standards and career advancement, which has led to a positive increase in the salaries of our members all these years.
“It has also enabled us to adapt better to the challenges in digital banking and it has prepared our members to take on supervisory and officers’ roles going forward.”
Hadiah said both SCBA and SBEU have achieved a landmark agreement that restructures the designation of non-clerical and clerical employees to sales and service non-executives.
SCBA is the trade union for banking employers for Sarawak and its membership consists of 11 commercial banks and two Islamic banks, while SBEU is the trade union representing banking employees in the non-clerical and clerical grades employed in Sarawak.