Union Bank credits PLI to Employees for FY 2025-26

Union Bank of India has credited PLI to its Employees for FY 2025-26. PLI was credited on the morning of Diwali. However, employees noticed that the bank had paid PLI equivalent to only 12 days. Following this, the All India Union Bank Employees’ Association (AIUBEA) has written a letter to the bank’s Managing Director and CEO, Asheesh Pandey, demanding that the decision should be reviewed and PLI for 15 days should be paid to employees for the financial year 2025-26.

PLI Issue is already under discussion

The PLI issue is already under discussion between the bank unions and the management at the industry-level apex forum. Banks are waiting for the outcome of these discussions before deciding the PLI payment for FY 2025-26. Union Bank’s sudden decision to release PLI for only 12 days has raised questions among employees and other stakeholders.

The new PLI Scheme introduced by the Government of India was put on hold, and the Government announced to discuss the modifications with UFBU. UFBU has highlighted three major concerns regarding the PLI scheme.

#1) First, any change or modification to the scheme should be discussed bilaterally between the bank management and employee representatives.

#2) Second, the scheme should continue to provide incentives based on the collective performance of the bank rather than moving away from this basic principle.

#3) Third, the incentive rules should remain uniform for all employees covered under the scheme.

Also Read: Click here to read UFBU Letter regarding new PLI Scheme.

Union Bank Employees want PLI of 15 Days

The association also pointed out that several banks had released PLI by relaxing the applicable parameters and grading system to ensure that their employees received the maximum incentive of 15 days. Employees want that Union Bank should also have considered the bank’s financial performance and employees’ contribution while deciding the incentive.

The union said that the bank had earlier decided and circulated a PLI matrix for FY 2024-25. According to the association, the matrix is unilateral and contains several strict conditions that prevent employees from receiving the maximum PLI of 15 days, even though the bank has recorded profits. The association said it had already highlighted these strict conditions by comparing Union Bank’s PLI matrix with those of other banks, where employees were able to receive the maximum 15 days’ incentive.

The association further stated that banks should decide and announce their PLI matrix every year in advance. The parameters should be linked to the bank’s annual business goals and performance targets set by the Board so that employees know the criteria and can work towards achieving them. It said that the previous year’s PLI matrix should not automatically be applied to the next financial year unless the bank has formally decided to continue it.

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The union has questioned how the bank arrived at the decision to pay PLI equivalent to 12 days for FY 2025-26 when there was no officially announced PLI matrix for the year. It has demanded complete details of the assessment used to calculate employees’ incentive. These include the PLI matrix and parameters applied for FY 2025-26, the weightage and grading assigned to each parameter, the actual performance achieved against every parameter, the marks or scores awarded under each parameter, the consolidated assessment and the calculation on the basis of which the final entitlement of 12 days was determined.

The association also expressed concern over the timing of any decision to finalise the PLI matrix for FY 2025-26. It said that the financial year’s results had already been declared and were available by November 2026. Therefore, deciding the matrix at this stage could result in adjusting the performance results against selected parameters to justify a unilateral PLI payment. Instead, the union argued that the bank should have considered its record profits and decided to pay PLI for the maximum period of 15 days.

Finally, the All India Union Bank Employees’ Association has requested the bank management to ensure that the PLI matrix for FY 2026-27 is decided bilaterally through discussions with employees’ representatives. The letter was signed by N. Shankar, General Secretary of the association, and copies were marked to the Executive Director (HR), CGM (HRM), and Field General Managers and Regional Heads.

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