The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has instructed banks to send essential workers on mandatory surprise leaves for a minimum of 10 days in an effort to tighten risk management requirements. “Employees in sensitive positions or areas of operation shall be sent on mandatory leave for a few days (not fewer than 10 working days) once a year, without prior notice to these employees.”
“Banks shall guarantee that workers on forced leave do not have access to any physical or virtual resources linked to their work obligations, with the exception of internal/corporate email, which is normally available to all employees for general purposes,” the statement continued. Mandatory leave directions were first published by the central bank in April 2015. It is a component of the central bank’s efficiency fund.
The RBI also requested banks to select which staff will be considered “sensitive” under mandatory leave rules at the board level.