Karnataka has withdrawn its notification allowing factories to make their employees work for ten hours in a day, and sixty hours in a week.
The May 22 notification had attracted severe criticism from trade unions that accused the government of “aggravating” the exploitation of workers in factories during the COVID-19 pandemic. Back then, however, the government defended the move saying it would boost productivity that had taken a hit due to the lockdown.
According to the Karnataka Employers Association (KEA), a writ petition was filed in the High Court of Karnataka challenging the notification as "illegal, arbitrary and in violation of Section 5 of the Factories Act” that permits exemption from any provision only in case of ‘public emergencies’.
On June 11, the High Court had observed that it may have to quash the notification unless the state government clarified what was the ‘Public Emergency’ involved to enhance the working hours. "The High Court had further observed that the Government should make a submission on 12th June 2020 on this behalf," the KEA said.
But the government withdrew the notification on June 11 itself.
In its May 22 notification, the state government had cited emergency provisions of the exempt factories for a three-month period. This was in line with what Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan had done, but even these states have withdrawn the exemptions since.
“...having examined the provisions further, the Government of Karnataka now intends to withdraw the said notification," the government said in the June 11 notification, rolling back exemptions to factories from complying with Sections 51 and 54 of the Factories Act that deal with limited working hours to 48 hours per week and nine hours per day, respectively.