Bengaluru: The Siddaramaiah-led government in Karnataka is in a bind over a proposed bill to increase daily working hours to 14, with industry bodies pushing it and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and labour unions opposing it.
Santosh Lad, Karnataka’s minister for labour, said that this was not the government’s proposal but that of the industry. “Obviously, since the pressure is from the industry, the bill has come to us. We are still evaluating this from the labour department. Now, I want all the heads of industries to discuss this since it is now an open demand,” Lad told reporters in Bengaluru Monday.
According to senior ministers in the state government, the proposal comes from GCCs (global capability centres) and other manufacturing units.
The changes are proposed to be implemented through the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendments) Bill, 2024, which would allow working hours to be extended for some sectors under certain conditions.
“The rule is already that of four hours work, one hour rest and then four hours work. Now, they want five hours of work, one hour of rest and then five hours of work. It is proposed to be increased to 14 hours including overtime. The proposal has been made with consent and this provision is not applicable for all companies. They (companies) have to apply for it and if they are deemed fit, only then permission will be given,” a minister, who requested anonymity, told ThePrint.
To protect employees’ interests, overtime will be capped at 125 hours over three months, ensuring that workers will not work more than an additional two hours per day, the minister added.
The proposals to increase work hours as well as reservations for local candidates are likely to be discussed in the cabinet but unlikely to be tabled in the ongoing session of the state legislature, people aware of the developments told ThePrint.
Also read: Siddaramaiah govt backtracks, puts Karnataka jobs reservation bill on hold for more ‘deliberations’
Managing industry & union interests
Ministers in the state government are trying to manage expectations of industry and employee unions as several big-ticket investors have been offered several such incentives in other states like Gujarat, Telangana and Odisha, among others, people aware of the development told ThePrint.
The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government was forced to backtrack on its proposed bill to introduce reservations for local candidates in private sector jobs last week after industry captains objected to the move.
Under to the proposed bill, there would be a quota for local candidates amounting to 50 percent in management roles and 70 percent in non-management roles.
The minister quoted above said that another request from industry is to enable effective coordination of work between different time zones.
“There are such relaxations in countries like Mexico, Malaysia, China and other places. In these countries, they are legally mandated to work up to 14 hours a day, including overtime on certain days. Many IT companies have their (regional) headquarters in India….research and development and GCCs. Even Europe, America and other companies also have operations here. This is because there is a significant time difference and they need to overlap some working hours to ensure effective coordination,” the minister said.
‘One-third of workforce will be thrown out’
“The 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,” Suhas Adiga, the general secretary of the Karnataka State IT & ITes Employees Union, said in a statement.
The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), a New Delhi-based trade association and advocacy group serving the Indian technology industry, said that it had not asked for a 70-hour work week but only for flexibility.
“As NASSCOM, we have not requested a 14-hour workday limit or a 70-hour workweek. We have not seen the copy of the bill in Karnataka and hence, cannot comment on it. We fully support the 48-hour workweek, which is the standard across the country. All we have asked of the states and the central government is to consider some flexibility within this 48-hour limit. This would help companies with a pan-India presence to standardise their operations. In Karnataka, we had a similar discussion with the IT department a few months ago. We did not, however, have a meeting with the labour department on this topic,” Ashish Aggarwal, vice president and head of public policy, NASSCOM, said in a statement issued Monday.
The Karnataka BJP, meanwhile, has said that the government needs to consult and take into consideration all stakeholders before coming out with such laws as reservations for local candidates.
B. Y. Vijayendra, the state BJP president, told reporters that laws like reservations for local candidates will get the support of all stakeholders if they are taken into consideration and not as a mere diversion and eyewash.
“In the manufacturing sector, during our tenure, we brought in a 12-hour working shift. The 12-hour shift had a max ceiling of 48 hours per week. We had not crossed any time limit. Each shift having 14 hours is unreasonable. They should stick to the 12-hour shift,” Dr C. N. Ashwath Narayan, BJP leader and former IT/BT minister, told reporters.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)