Workday to be extended in Karnataka? State proposes raises maximum working hours from 9 to 10 a day

Bengaluru: In a move that could have major implications for Karnataka’s workforce, the state government has proposed to amend two laws by hiking the upper limit of work hours from nine to 10 hours a day and excluding establishments with less than 10 employees from the purview of the Act.

According to Section 7 of the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961, the working hours per day cannot exceed nine hours and the maximum hours of overtime cannot exceed 10 hours. The Act also puts an upper limit of 50 hours on overtime (OT) work for three months.

Through the proposed changes, the government seeks to extend the maximum working hours to 10 hours a day and the maximum overtime to 12 hours a day. It also seeks to increase the overtime limit from 50 to 144 hours in three months.

Defending these proposals, the Labour Department has argued that the Union government has “directed” states to amend working hours limits. The department also pointed out that Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand had already introduced similar amendments.

The government has also sought to amend Rule 24 of the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Rules, 1963. Rule 24 includes maintaining registers, records, displaying notices, having a visiting book when a labour inspector visits and so on. 

While the current rules are applicable to industries with zero employees too, the proposed changes intend to exempt establishments with less than 10 employees from the ambit of the law.

The department again referred to the Centre’s “directions”, which mandate excluding establishments with less than 20 employees from the ambit of the law. The Bangalore Wholesale Cloth Merchants’ Association has also petitioned the Centre and sought a relaxation of the rules for smaller establishments.

Welcoming both the amendments, Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FKCCI) president M G Balakrishna said: “More working hours will result in greater productivity, which is essential to survive in the global market. Also, we have a younger workforce today, which can work longer hours.”

He also pointed out that excluding small establishments from rule 24 was essential to prevent their “harassment.”

All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) state general secretary Maitreyi Krishnan slammed the changes as “unconstitutional” and stated that they were against the Directive Principles of State Policy.

Taking exception to the government citing the example of states like Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and so on, Maitreyi said: “While Karnataka workforce is doing relatively well, these are the very states from where a high ratio of workers are migrating to Karnataka. By following a similar faulty policy, our workers will also be pushed out of the state.”

The Labour Department has convened a meeting of government, industry and labour union representatives on Wednesday to finalise the amendments.