India’s labour reboot | Work expands, life contracts

Several Indian states have extended daily working hours to 10 to 12, bypassing the ILO’s 8-hour standard

Several states in India have introduced legislation or passed ordinances increasing the working hours per day from eight to 10-12 hours a day.

Maharashtra is the latest to extend the working day, following in the footsteps of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tripura, and Odisha (all 10 to 12 hours). Uttar Pradesh has exempted factories from most labour laws for a period of three years.

The extension of the working day violates the labour standards set by ILO Convention number one, which stipulates an 8-hour working day. India is a signatory to the convention.

The working day historically has been a site of struggle between employees and employers. Karl Marx argued that the working day was not fixed by nature (e.g. by sunrise and sunset) but was the result of historical and political conflict with employers trying to extract maximum profit and workers defending their health, social life, and dignity.

The struggle for the global standard of an 8-hour working day took over 100 years. It was in 1884 that the Federation of Organised Trades and Labour Unions declared that May 1, 1886, would be the first day that an 8-hour working day would be made mandatory — hence, the celebration of May 1 as Labour Day.

Most civilised societies have now recognised that there are physical and social limits to the working day as employees need time for rest, food, and family life; and that excessive hours of work result in exhaustion, illness, and even death, undermining the reproduction of labour power.

Many countries have reduced the working day/week, realising that it can result in higher productivity, promote social well-being, retain workers longer with the employer, and improve mental well-being.

The average weekly working hours in these societies have been gradually going down, with Iceland (35 hours a week with a four-day work week), Belgium (36 hours with a four-day work week), the United Kingdom (36 hours), Germany (34 hours), and the Netherlands (30 to 35 hours). India, on the other hand, has a 48-hour work week going up to 60 and 72 hours in some states.

State governments justify the extended working day/week by pointing out that extra hours will be counted as overtime and compensated at a higher rate. It is claimed that ‘flexibility’ in working hours will attract investment, generate employment, and align India with international practices. Some states, like Maharashtra, point to legal requirements that the longer hours be voluntary and rest periods be implemented.

Replying to a question about the government’s policy in view of the statements for longer working days by some corporates, on February 6, the Minister of State for Labour said in Parliament that working hour regulations fell under the purview of the states. As far as the Centre was concerned, she said, “No such proposal to increase the maximum working hours is under consideration of the government.”

Labour is a concurrent subject — both the Centre and the states can make laws regarding areas reserved for them. This permits some space to the states to tailor laws concerning working hours and minimum wages.

Some states have, thus, extended the working hours through legislation (Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh), ordinances (Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh), executive order (Madhya Pradesh), and via mixed reforms and exemptions (Karnataka, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Odisha).

Major trade unions are not buying the states’ arguments. They see the move as ‘exploitative’, and a rollback of hard-won workers’ rights.

They point out that this is a violation of India’s commitment to the ILO Conventions, and will lead to fatigue, reduced productivity, and deterioration of workers’ health. The so-called voluntary overtime agreements could have potential for coercion. Some unions filing petitions in high courts argue that the changes violate constitutional protections under Article 21 (Right to Life) and 23 (Protection from forced labour).

The impact of longer working hours is likely to be felt most acutely by gig workers. Delivery platforms and ride-hailing services are framing longer working hours as empowerment even though gig workers are compelled to work for 10 to 14 hours to earn a living wage. The ‘flexibility’ masks the fact that insecure gig workers are forced to chase peak hour bonuses and algorithm-based incentives.

Algorithms maximise the utilisation of labour as drivers and delivery persons are encouraged to stay longer to maintain ratings or avoid deactivation. Platforms claim that thin profit margins and the high price sensitivity of consumers have forced them to operate longer hours. In effect, this justification just passes the market volatility to the workers.

Data driven control means that decision-making remains opaque and unaccountable, further accentuating the power asymmetry between the employer and employees. In fact, gig workers are not even considered employees, but are called independent contractors — which denies them collective bargaining rights and benefits. While some countries are pushing back against this model, only Rajasthan has attempted to ameliorate the law in India, though its provisions and enforcement remain patchy.

Prisoners on Wheels, a report published in 2024, showed that 83% of car drivers and 78% delivery workers routinely put in more than 10 hours a day, without social security, rest breaks, or grievance redress systems. However, the struggle for time is not limited to gig workers. It is happening across industrial sectors.

A welfare state must codify and enforce maximum daily and weekly working hour limits, mandate revocable consent for extended working hours with transparency, protect collective bargaining over working hour norms, and not take anti-employee positions in the courts when working hour extension is challenged. As of now, there is no monitoring of the impact of longer working hours on health, family life, and productivity. Nor is there any attempt to track violations, especially of overwork in the gig and informal sectors.

If the State doesn’t, then employees’ organisations, courts, civil society, and media have to step in to build pressure on the issue. Employees, especially the new category of gig workers who make 10-minute deliveries and instant ride-hailing possible, are not disposable infrastructure. Their precarity is engineered, not accidental. Indian society needs to realise that ethical consumption requires ethical employment.

Employees must have time to enjoy the possibilities created by their wages. The time to live a fulfilling social and family life as civilised human beings must not be snatched away from employees by the State siding with the employers in the name of development.

Bharat Bhushan is a New Delhi-based journalist.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.