Following a significant uproar over a recent bill mandating job reservations for Kannadigas in private firms, the Karnataka government is now considering extending the working hours for IT staff to 14 hours per day. The Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU) disclosed this development on Saturday.
According to KITU, the proposal to amend the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act to accommodate a 14-hour working day was discussed in a meeting organised by the Labour Department, involving various industry stakeholders, NDTV reported. If implemented, this extended working period — amounting to 70 hours a week — will predominantly affect Bengaluru, the state capital renowned as India's IT hub.
The Siddaramaiah-led government has yet to issue an official statement regarding this proposal.
"The proposed new bill, 'Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Bill 2024', attempts to normalise a 14-hour workday. The existing act permits a maximum of 10 hours of work per day, including overtime. This limit has been completely removed in the current amendment. It will enable IT/ITES companies to extend daily working hours indefinitely," the Union stated, as quoted by NDTV's report.
KITU described this amendment as the "biggest ever attack on the working class in this era," warning that it would allow companies to shift from a three-shift to a two-shift system, potentially leading to one-third of the workforce losing their jobs, the report stated.
During the meeting, which was attended by Karnataka Labour Minister Santosh S Lad and officials from the Labour, Information Technology, and Biotechnology Departments, KITU highlighted studies on the health impacts of extended working hours on IT employees.
"As per the report of KCCI, 45% of employees in the IT sector face mental health issues such as depression, and 55% experience physical health impacts. Increasing working hours will further aggravate this situation. A WHO-ILO study indicates that increased working hours lead to an estimated 35% higher risk of death by stroke and 17% higher risk of dying from ischemic heart disease," KITU noted, as per the report.
"This amendment comes at a time when the world is beginning to acknowledge the negative impacts of increased working hours on productivity. More countries are introducing legislation to recognise the right to disconnect as a basic employee right," the Union added.
KITU urged the Siddaramaiah-led government to "rethink" the proposal and cautioned that any move to implement the amendment would be an "open challenge" to the 20 lakh employees in Karnataka's IT/ITeS sector. The Union also called on IT sector employees to unite and resist this "inhuman attempt to impose slavery on us", as per the report.
Meanwhile, Moneycontrol cited a senior labour department official as stating that a proposal to increase working hours was being discussed for some time. "There has been a demand from the IT/ITES/BPO sector to extend the timings, and stakeholder meetings are ongoing, but we haven't decided on it yet," the official was quoted as saying.
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No Cut-Off On Maximum Working Hours Of Employee, KITU Secretary Says
Speaking to The Hindu, Sooraj Nidiyanga, secretary, KITU, highlighted that the proposal didn't mention any cut-off on the maximum working hours of an employee per day.
“This means that, although the draft proposes 125 extra hours over three months, the companies can make the employees work as much as they want in a day, in a week or over a month as long as it doesn’t cross 125 hours,” he contended, as quoted by The Hindu.
“For example, the month of March is usually busier. During such a month the companies can force the employees to work an additional 125 hours as there is no upper limit. This is completely unacceptable,” he further stated. Existing labour laws do not allow an adult to work more than 48 hours a week.
This development follows a controversial statement by Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy last year, suggesting that India's work culture needs to change and that young professionals should be prepared to work 70 hours a week. Infosys, headquartered in Bengaluru, has a market valuation of ₹ 7,44,396.43 crore.
Karnataka's Job Reservation Bill
Earlier this week, the Karnataka government sparked controversy by clearing a bill that mandates private sector firms to prioritise local hires for 70 per cent of non-management roles and 50 per cent of management-level jobs.
Drafted by the state's Labour Department, the proposed bill argued that jobs were predominantly being awarded to individuals from northern states, who then settled in Karnataka.
The bill suggested that Karnataka-based companies benefiting from state-provided infrastructure should reserve jobs for locals. However, it was paused following widespread outrage.