'We Are So Cooked': Uproar Over 14-Hour Workday Proposal By Karnataka IT Firms
The proposal has sparked outrage on social media with several terming the move "inhuman" and expressing concerns about employee burnout, work-life balance, and potential health problems.
Karnataka government's proposed Bill to extend the workday for IT and ITeS (Information Technology-enabled Services) employees to 14 hours has sparked a furore among employees.
According to the Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees' Union (KITU), the IT sector submitted a proposal to the government to amend the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act to allow for a 14-hour working day. KITU said the proposal was submitted at a meeting called by the labour department with industry stakeholders.
If implemented, the extended working time -- 70 hours a week -- will have the biggest impact on Bengaluru, the state capital, which is known as the IT hub of the country.
The proposal has sparked outrage on social media with several terming the move "inhuman" and expressing concerns about employee burnout, work-life balance, and potential health problems. Others questioned the productivity benefits of such extended hours.
KITU has urged the Siddaramaiah-led government to reconsider its reported plans to extend the working hours of the IT/ITeS/BPO sector.
Union Opposes Proposed Amendment
Strongly opposing the proposed amendment, KITU said it would be an "attack on the basic right of any worker to have a personal life."
Sources said Labour Minister Santosh Lad, officials from the Department of Labour and IT-BT Ministry attended the meeting, which was attended by union representatives as well. The labour minister agreed to have another round of discussion before taking any decision.
Union Points Out Challenges
Noting that the proposed new bill 'Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Bill 2024' attempts to normalise a 14-hour work day, the union said, the existing act only allows a maximum of 10 hours work per day, including overtime.
The amendment will allow companies to go for a double shift system instead of the currently existing three-shift system, and one third of the workforce will be thrown out of work, KITU said in a statement.
KITU said it pointed to studies on the health impact of extended working hours among the IT employees. "The Karnataka government, in their hunger to please their corporate bosses, completely neglects the most fundamental right of any individual, the right to live," the statement added.
The union urged the government to rethink its plans and warned that any attempt to go ahead with the amendment would be an open challenge to the 20 lakh employees working in the IT/ITeS sector in Karnataka, it said.
"KITU calls upon all the IT/ITeS sector employees to unify and come forward to resist this inhuman attempt to impose slavery on us," the statement said.
(with PTI inputs)
