Infosys founder Narayana Murthy triggered a very interesting debate recently by asking the youth of the country to work for 70 hours a week. His appeal to the youth is consequential to the objective of making the country the global leader in the economy.
But what do we mean by working hours?
The period of time between reporting for duty and punching out is known as the working hours. It could take place at a set location, out in the field, or at home while doing work from home. Many laws, like the Factories Act, the Shops and Establishment Act, the Mines Act, and many others, define that daily working hours cannot exceed nine hours and cannot exceed 48 hours in a week. So, the average working hours per day cannot exceed eight hours. If it exceeds 48 hours in a week, the employee needs to be paid double the wages for the overtime period. It is again defined in the Minimum Wages Act.
Without going into the weeds of laws and their interpretations, let’s just say there are two types of working hours. For example, in one type, a receptionist at an office receives guests by physically remaining at the office and coordinating various appointments; a police officer at a signal point directs traffic; a bus driver drives a long-distance bus; or a call centre lady answers customer calls and resolves issues.
Other types include a company’s sales head, who monitors sales at various locations and directs team members and channel partners to the right course of action to achieve ever-increasing targets; a District Commissioner of a district, who keeps the district under control by monitoring and directing the course of action of all happenings; a Security Officer of an establishment, who keeps vigil of the happenings all around, collects information, and keeps his team motivated; or a production manager who monitors production in a continuous running plant.
In the first category, the individual must physically be present at the event location; after they depart for the day, they are off the hook. In contrast, it makes no difference in the second category if an individual is not physically present at the office. Wherever he or she physically stays, it is more crucial for them to monitor happenings through a variety of communication channels and provide directions. They have to remain live wire 24x7x365.
Thus, it is likely that Narayana Murthy has focused on the first category of employees. The question now is, are they really not putting in seventy hours a week?
The majority of the time, police personnel work 12 hours a day, and this number goes up even more during special events and VIP visits. Security personnel are on duty twelve hours a day in all commercial, industrial, and residential buildings. Regardless of the law, this has become the standard. Field sales employees put in a lot of effort by travelling around to meet daily and monthly goals that keep getting higher every month. To make ends meet, the growing number of gig workers put in more than 12 hours a day of labour. Consider an Uber or Ola driver, a food delivery boy, or a delivery boy from Amazon, Flipkart, etc. In the retail sector, in all the malls, people work for 12 hours. They are asked to punch out after 8 hours and asked to continue. So there is no record of overwork. In most factories, the labour force is outsourced, and they are made to work for 12 hours a day. At project sites, engineers and workers both work for a minimum of 12 hours. These are but a handful of instances.
Who, then, doesn’t put in 12 hours a day or 70 hours a week? It could be women working in all industries and government employees, including those employed by PSUs, who are in the cadre of junior officers or clerks.
While talking about women, is it proper to ask them to work for 12 hours a day? They would rather have a 5-day week. A lady must do all household chores at home in addition to caring for children. This is the structure of our society. Imagine a mother with a child who is asked to work 12 hours a day. This is a heinous crime.
On the other hand, government employees in the clerical and junior officer cadre do not have as much work that requires them to stay late at the office. Their culture is also completely different, as they are not made accountable for productivity and efficiency, where profitability is not an issue and funds are not at a crunch. Due to political reasons, these offices are always overstaffed.
Thus, it is not necessary to vouch for a 70-hour workweek, as it is already the norm, regardless of whether it is legal or not. But yes, it needs to be legalized with strict enforcement for appropriate compensation. It is more important to save the workforce from exploitation. We assume that this is what Narayana Murthy is worried about. He witnessed IT professionals moonlighting- that is, working two separate shifts for two separate employers on the same day. It proves that employees are ready to work for even 16 hours a day, provided they are compensated accordingly. This is the crux of the matter.
But again, is it proper to expect a human being to work for 12 hours a day regularly? Everybody has a personal life. They need to be with their family and loved ones, as well as pursue their hobbies. Physically and mentally, a body also requires rest and relaxation. The body gets fatigued, and towards the end, the brain does not work for any productive outcome. It does not remain focused, either. Furthermore, a tired body and mind cannot spend quality time with family and friends back home. This may eventually cause strife within the family and even in society. Do we want to be the top global economy at the expense of our family and social lives? Then what difference will we have with China, a country we have always despised?
In the rat race to become the world’s economic power, Chinese businesses adopted a concept known as 996, which means 9 AM to 9 PM six days a week. Despite having laws against it and widespread protests, business houses continue to follow it unabated, endangering employees' mental and physical health. We've already stepped into the Chinese shoes with the same ambition; let’s buckle up.
(The author is a retired HR professional. All views and opinions expressed in the article are the author’s own)
