Hardly had the dust settled on the remarks of Infosys co-founder, Narayana Murthy, advocating 70 hour work week in order to increase country’s productivity, the recent statement by S.N. Subrahmanyan, Chairman of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) that employees should work 90 hours a week and even on Sundays created a furore.
While many industry CEOs batted for work-life balance being a must for the employees, others had supported Murthy for increasing the productivity. However, these calls for increasing the work hours have been met with opposition with organisations working for the employees.
CPI(ML) Lok Sabha MP Raja Ram Singh dashed off a letter to Labour minister Mansukh Mandvia saying the government had “a responsibility to safeguard the well-being of workers and to ensure that any violations of labor laws are promptly addressed and appropriately penalised.”
He asked the government to take cognizance of these issues and ensure strict enforcement of laws governing working hours. The government should “ensure that workers are not compelled to work beyond the legally mandated limit of 48 hours per week.”
Singh citing various studies argued that longer working hours do not ensure increased productivity, but in fact reduces productivity. “One of the serious impacts of long working hours is on the health of the workers. Several studies have linked long working shifts to negative impact on general health, including problems with cognitive anxiety, musculoskeletal disorders, sleep disturbance, and stress.”
The 8-hour work day came with the 1946 Amendment to the Factories Act of 1934 – a result of the Bill introduced by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar as Labour Member in the Viceroy’s Executive Council. Section 51 of the Factories Act mandates that “no adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory for more than forty-eight hours in any week.” and Section 51 mandates that “no adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory for more than nine hours in any day”.
Even the RSS affiliated body working for the workers, Dattopant Thengadi Foundation (DTF), condemned the suggestion to increase the work hour.
“The suggestion by the Chairman of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) to extend working hours to 90 hours per week is highly condemnable and raises serious concerns about workers’ welfare and work-life balance,” the DTF said in a statement here.
“Advocating such a policy contradicts the principles of quality of life and human dignity that are fundamental to a progressive society.”
The issue is likely to gain traction as more labour organisations and political parties have join the discussion. The issue may feature in the next session of the parliament coinciding with the 75th year of Indian republic. The parties may argue that 8-hour work week was propounded by Dr Ambedkar, which may unite the political parties to unite in supporting it, despite the industry may push for longer work hours.
Stressing the intrinsic disparity in a such a suggestion, DTF noted “it is concerning that an individual drawing a salary 500 times more than a company’s average employee would propose measures that disproportionately burden the workforce.”