MADURAI: The amendment to the Factories Act that allows 12 hours of work per day will have an adverse effect on labourers and their quality of life will be in jeopardy, health experts have said. Working for long hours will eventually lead to a reduction in labour force by one-third and pave the way for unemployment crises.
A psychiatrist, on condition of anonymity, said people like ground-level staff in hospitals and labourers in construction sites are already working more than eight hours a day, and the Act will only increase their burden, especially when they have to travel a long distance for work.
Talking to TNIE, psychiatrist Dr Vikhram Ramasubramanian said, “A person can only have three meals a day in fixed interval time, and that is how our body works. Working for 12 hours a day is like dumping three meals in one go. Such a working pattern will totally collapse the biological clock in the human body.”
Giving workers three days’ leave after four days of back-breaking work won’t suit everyone.
“Not all people will be able to use it properly. This might make some people get addicted to alcohol. Working for long hours without taking sufficient breaks, in the longer run, might lead to diabetes, obesity and age-related issues. The mental fatigue workers might experience is a serious concern, and might also lead to stress and depression,” Ramasubramanian said.
CITU’s V Pitchai said, “The government is indirectly forcing labourers to spend their whole day at the workplace. If a worker has to travel 4 hours to the workplace and then toil for 12 hours, it amounts to exploitation. In an eight-hour work pattern, labourers are working in a three-shift system.
But, in a 12-hour pattern, it will be reduced to two shifts, and companies will ultimately minimise workforce. Women will be the worst affected. How will they attend to family responsibilities if they work for such long hours? The government should repeal the Act immediately.”