Bengaluru IT sector to go for 14-hour workday? Karnataka govt gets proposal, employees fume

A year after Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy suggested youngsters should work 70 hours a week, IT firms in Karnataka have submitted a proposal to the state government demanding an extension of employee working hours to 14 hours. The state government is considering amending the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961, sources told India Today. 

The IT companies want their proposal included in the amendment, which would legally extend work hours to 14 hours (12 hours + 2 hours overtime).

At present, the labour laws permit up to 12 hours (10 hours + 2 hours overtime) of work time. The IT sector, in its new proposal, states that employees in the IT/ITeS/BPO sector may be required or allowed to work more than 12 hours a day and not exceeding 125 hours in three continuous months.

The Siddaramaiah government has held an initial meeting on this matter and further decisions will be taken soon, sources told IT. 

The Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU) has, however, opposed the proposal, saying one-third of the workforce will be out of employment as the number of working shifts will be reduced. The union said that this amendment will allow the companies to go for a two-shift system instead of the currently existing three-shift system and one-third of the workforce will be thrown out of their employment.

The union also pointed out studies on the health impact of extended working hours among IT employees. "As per the report of KCCI, 45% of employees in the IT sector are facing mental health issues such as depression, and 55% facing physical health impacts. Increasing working hours will further aggravate this situation," it said.

The employees’ union alleged that the state seems to view employees as mere machines rather than human beings and urged the Siddaramaiah government to reconsider and not implement the demand put forth by IT firms. "This amendment shows that the government of Karnataka is not ready to consider workers as human beings who need personal and social life to survive. Instead, it considers them as only a machinery to increase the profit of the corporates whom it serves,” the statement added.

Last year, in several interviews, Murthy suggested that the youth of India should be prepared to work 70 hours a week to elevate the nation's work culture and compete effectively on the global stage. 

In a conversation with former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai, Murthy pinpointed India's underwhelming work productivity, ranking among the lowest in the world.

"So, my request is that our youngsters must say, 'This is my country. I'd like to work 70 hours a week," he said. "This is exactly what the Germans and Japanese did after the Second World War... they made sure that every German worked extra hours for a certain number of years."

(With inputs from Anagha)