Bank branch hours to be cut by 30 minutes next April

Bank branches will open 30 minutes later from April next year under a tentative labor-management agreement reached Monday. The deal keeps closing time at 4 p.m. and also includes a 3 percent wage increase. The union said it will cancel a planned strike on Wednesday after about five months of talks.

The Korean Financial Industry Union represents workers at major commercial banks and policy banks.

The agreement also allows employees to delay their start time by up to one hour per week, with a maximum of 30 minutes per day.

The deal adds compensatory leave, changes to performance evaluations, and improvements to the mystery shopping system used to assess customer service.

Employees will not face disciplinary action based on mystery shopping results, and parental leave eligibility will be extended until the end of the school year when a child is in sixth grade.

Published Sep 28, 2026 7:01 pm KST

A person walks past a row of ATMs belonging to major commerical banks in Seoul, Sept. 13. Yonhap

Korea's bank branches will open 30 minutes later starting in April next year, reducing customer service hours under a tentative labor-management agreement reached Monday.

Under the agreement, branches will open at 9:30 a.m., instead of the current 9 a.m., while closing hours will remain unchanged at 4 p.m.

The tentative deal between the Korean Financial Industry Union, which represents workers at major commercial and policy banks, and the Korea Financial Industry Employers Association also calls for a 3 percent increase in total wages.

The two sides began negotiations in April and reached the tentative deal after about five months of talks. The union said it would call off a planned strike scheduled for Wednesday following the agreement.

The deal also includes a flexible work schedule allowing employees to delay their start time by up to one hour per week, with a maximum of 30 minutes per day. It also introduces a system for compensatory leave and changes to employee performance evaluations.

It also calls for improvements to the mystery shopping system, which is currently used to assess customer service at bank branches. Employees will not face disciplinary action based on mystery shopping results.

The agreement will extend eligibility for parental leave until the end of the school year when a child is in sixth grade, while expanding reduced working hours for employees with children in the lower grades of elementary school.

Monday's agreement did not include details on the potential relocation of state-run banks outside the capital, an issue opposed by the union.

Although the list of institutions subject to relocation remain unclear, the three state-run lenders — Korea Development Bank, the Industrial Bank of Korea and the Export-Import Bank of Korea — are among those being considered for relocation under the government's plan to move public institutions outside Seoul as part of efforts to promote balanced regional development.

根据周一达成的劳资协议草案，从明年4月起，银行网点将推迟30分钟开门营业。协议维持下午4点关门，并包括3%的工资增长。工会表示，经过大约五个月的谈判，将取消原定于周三举行的罢工。

韩国金融产业工会代表主要商业银行和政策性银行的员工。

该协议还允许员工每周最多推迟一小时上班时间，每天最多推迟 30 分钟。

该协议增加了补偿性休假、绩效评估方式的改变，以及对用于评估客户服务的神秘顾客系统的改进。

员工不会因神秘顾客调查结果而受到纪律处分，育儿假资格将延长至孩子上六年级的学年结束。

发布于2026年9月28日晚上7:01（韩国标准时间）

9月13日，一名行人走过首尔一排属于各大商业银行的自动取款机。（韩联社）

根据周一达成的劳资协议草案，从明年4月起，韩国各银行分行将推迟30分钟开门营业，缩短客户服务时间。

根据协议，各分行开门时间将由目前的上午9点提前至上午9:30，而关门时间仍维持在下午4点。

代表主要商业银行和政策性银行员工的韩国金融产业工会与韩国金融产业雇主协会达成的初步协议还要求总工资增长 3%。

双方于四月开始谈判，经过约五个月的磋商达成初步协议。工会表示，协议达成后，将取消原定于周三举行的罢工计划。

该协议还包括灵活的工作时间安排，允许员工每周最多推迟一小时上班，每天最多推迟30分钟。此外，协议还引入了补休制度，并对员工绩效考核方式进行了调整。

报告还呼吁改进目前用于评估银行网点客户服务的神秘顾客系统。员工不会因神秘顾客调查结果而受到纪律处分。

该协议将育儿假资格延长至子女六年级学年结束，同时扩大子女就读小学低年级的员工的缩短工作时间范围。

周一达成的协议没有包含将国有银行迁出首都的潜在细节，工会反对这一问题。

尽管需要搬迁的机构名单尚不明确，但韩国开发银行、韩国产业银行和韩国进出口银行这三家国有银行都在政府将公共机构迁出首尔以促进区域均衡发展的计划考虑搬迁的考虑范围之内。