Say NO to Late Meetings, BoB Officers Union Demands End to Late Sitting Culture

In the wake of a serious accident involving a Bank of Baroda officer, the All India Bank of Baroda Officers’ Association (AIBOBOA) has raised strong objections against the growing culture of late-night meetings and prolonged office hours in the bank. The union has formally written to Shri Shailendra Singh, Chief General Manager (HR) of Bank of Baroda, calling for urgent and strict measures to protect officers’ safety and work-life balance.

The association mentioned about the recent unfortunate incident involving Mr. Rahul Kumar Pal, an officer from the Raebareli Region. Mr. Pal met with a serious road accident around 8.45 PM on 23rd June 2025, shortly after leaving his branch premises following a late Teams meeting organized by the Regional Office. He is currently in critical condition and battling for his life. AIBOBOA has requested MD&CEO to direct the Zone to extend all kinds of support to the family at this crucial juncture, by treating the officer on duty.

The association said that the Lucknow Unit had promptly raised this matter with the concerned Regional Head for defying corporate guidelines, and also discussed it with the Zonal Manager, who assured that advisories would be issued to all Regional Heads to refrain from holding meetings late in the evening and not to insist on late sitting in branches/offices. However, this issue is not isolated—it reflects a widespread and persistent practice across many regions and zones.

The association has highlighted two important issues:

Acute Staff Shortage at Branches: The Bank has recruited approximately 2,500 officers/clerks in 2024–25, and an additional 4,000 positions have been indented. But this may still fall short given the Bank’s massive expansion plans coupled with increasing business volume. Per employee business of Bank of Baroda is ₹32 crores and this is the highest in the industry. The situation will improve only once the newly recruited staff join branches in the coming months.

Unplanned and Excessive Meetings: There is a growing trend of excessive, uncoordinated meetings cascading from BCC to Zones, Zones to Regions, and Regions to Branches. Since the introduction of verticals, each vertical insists on having its representative at the Regional Office. These representatives, along with Regional Heads/DRMs, in turn burden branch managers and staff with repeated demands for business growth, recovery, compliance, and reporting—sometimes on an hourly basis with relevant data and reports.

The Branch Manager, single-handedly, is normally required to respond to six to ten different verticals—yet no single officer at the Regional Office is authorized to consolidate these requirements. The result: Teams meetings continue throughout the day, encroaching upon customer time, and often extend late into the evening.

This issue has been raised repeatedly in recent structured meetings at Central Office, and each time the association was assured that suitable guidelines would be issued—allowing meetings to take place between a 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM window only. It was even suggested that Teams access would—with help from the IT Department—be made available only between 4 PM to 6 PM unless specifically approved by higher authorities. However, no effective implementation has been observed so far.

Another major concern is the culture of late sitting in branches and Regional Offices. In most regional offices, officers are compelled to stay well beyond 7:00 PM, sometimes until 8:00 PM. This pressure trickles down to branches, and they are expected to remain open late to meet last-minute demands from Regional Offices.

The overall situation is alarming. It is taking a serious toll on officers’ physical and mental health as well as their family lives. The combination of chronic fatigue and work-related stress severely impairs alertness, increasing the risk of accidents, as seen in the tragic case of Mr. Pal.

Moreover, such disregard for employee well-being by some Regional Heads—under the pretext of doing it “for the sake of the Bank”—is actually counterproductive. It is demotivating and frustrating to the very workforce that drives the Bank’s growth.

Management must realise and appreciate that real growth comes by dedicating more time to customers, not by consuming valuable hours in endless Teams meetings.

The association has requested MD&CEO to issue a clear and firm directive to all verticals, zones, and regions, strictly restricting business meetings/follow-up meetings/calls (including video conferences) to the 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM timeframe. This will ensure that officers can wind up their duties by 6:00 or 6:30 PM and commute home safely, preserving both their work-life balance and the well-being of their loved ones.

The association has said that as per feedback from Zones, officers are willing to occasionally cooperate for important and unavoidable late meetings. However, they are in no mood to bear regular avoidable late evening meetings and are signalling that they may resort to walking out of such meetings after 6:00 PM if the problem persists.

In view of the seriousness of this long pending issue, the association has requested a concrete decision on the matter at the level of MD&CEO, to avoid embarrassment at all levels.