English

Noun

time bank ‎(plural time banks)

1. A system for reciprocal volunteering that uses time as the unit of currency.
   • 2000, Edgar S. Cahn, No More Throw-away People, ISBN 1893520021, page 215:

     Thanks to the Time Bank launched there in 2000, patients can now be prescribed if appropriate - not just with the usual pharmacological armoury - but with a friendly visit once a week, or a lift to the shops, or small repairs at home.

2. (Canada) A system in which an employer keeps track of overtime hours that can later be redeemed as either money or as time off with pay.
   • 2005, Theo Anne Opie, HR for Controllers:

     In British Columbia, where an employee requests it in writing, and employer may establish a time bank for the employee and credit overtime wages to the time bank instead of paying them to the employee.

Related terms

• time banking