Karnataka Proposes 12-Hour Workdays for IT Employees

The Karnataka government is proposing to extend working hours to 12 hours a day in the IT/ITES/BPO sector, a move lambasted by the state employee union.

In a meeting called by the labour department on Wednesday with various stakeholders in the industry, it was proposed to amend the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act to facilitate the change in working hours. The existing act only allows a maximum of 10 hours work per day, including overtime.

"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 from their employment," the Karnataka State IT/ITES employees union said.

"This amendment shows that the Government of Karnataka is unwilling to recognise workers as human beings who require personal and social lives to survive. Instead, it views them merely as machines to increase the profits of the corporates it serves," it added. 

The union points out that the amendment comes at a time when the world is beginning to acknowledge that increased working hours negatively impact productivity, and more countries are introducing legislation to recognise the right to disconnect as a basic right of every employee.