HYDERABAD: Does the promise of an 8-hour workday still hold good for many of us? Legally speaking, the Factories Act mandates that an employee can be engaged only for 8 hours a day in his work and officials at the Labour Department vouch by it, at least theoretically, but the grim reality of the modern work culture is a world apart. This is especially true in the case of people working with emergency services, shopping malls and IT sector. For instance, recently, about 750 employees of the GVK-EMRI ambulance service were sacked for demanding an 8-hour shift against the 12-hour shift that is currently in practice. The issue has put the focus back on the stressful conditions of work in several private sectors.
It’s not just the emergency services, even shopping malls blatantly flout rules and force employees to work beyond stipulated hours. “People working in shopping malls are often forced to work for extended hours. We have been receiving many representations about these rules being flouted,” says Joint Commissioner for Labour E Gangadhar.
He adds that the demand of GVK EMRI 108 employees for an 8-hour work is “justified”. If forced to work more than 8 hours, fatigue and tiredness will take over and productivity and efficiency will decline, apart from the worker’s personal life being affected, say experts. “No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory for more than nine hours a day,” says the Factories Act, 1948.
Similar is the case in the IT sector. Recently, IT welfare organisations demanded tech firms fix a ceiling for maximum working hours and conduct awareness campaigns across the IT corridor. “In almost all IT companies, executives are forced to work over the stipulated 8 hours. It affects work-life balance,” says Praveen Chandrahas, a member of the Forum for IT professionals.