#14: 70-hour work-week
Only organised middle-income manufacturing workers are precluded from exercising the choice of working 70 hours a week
A recent quote by N. R. Narayana Murthy asking Indians to work over 70 hours a week has gained attention from researchers, policymakers, and industrialists alike. The topic was also introduced in the Parliament by three Lok Sabha MPs on the first day of the winter session. There has been a wide range of perspectives for and against the matter. Some have supported the 70-hour work week, stating advantages like heightened productivity, higher wages, and skill development, while others have expressed criticisms of work-life imbalance and poor mental health.
But the reality remains that many Indians already clock in 70 hours a week. Labour laws in India allow two types of workers to work as long as they wish or need to. The first type of workers are those at the higher end of the income spectrum. This group includes professionals like doctors, lawyers, government officials, and managerial workers. The second group of workers who can work longer hours is at the other end of the income spectrum. This group includes farmers, the self-employed, and workers working in smaller establishments.
Only one group of workers cannot work longer hours in India. These are workers in relatively large organisations who are not classified as managerial staff. This group of workers is limited by law and usually cannot work more than 48 hours a week. These workers are not free to increase their working hours and earn more. This restriction is worse because this group of workers are the ones who can be the most productive.
The restrictions on economic freedom block a small group of middle-income workers from working towards economic prosperity.
High-income workers
India has no labour law restrictions for high-earning workers. Doctors, lawyers, and government officials are usually exempted from laws limiting working hours. Working hours in urban establishments are typically regulated by laws called the Shops and Establishments Act. These laws limit the working hours to 48 hours a week in commercial establishments like shops and offices. For example, Section 8 of the Delhi Shops and Establishments Act 1954 states that:
“No adult shall be employed or allowed to work about the business of an establishment for more than nine hours on any day or 48 hours in any week and the occupier shall fix the daily periods of work accordingly:...”
However, the Shops and Establishment laws exempt doctors and medical establishments from these working hour restrictions. For example, section 3(f) of the Madhya Pradesh Shops and Establishment Act 1988 states that:
“Nothing in this Act shall apply to hospitals or other institutions for treatment or care of the sick, the infirm, the destitute or the mentally unfit;...”
It is well documented that doctors work long shifts stretching beyond 12 hours a day or 84 hours a week. Distinguished cardiac surgeon Dr Bipeenchandra Bhamre told the Hindustan Times:
“We all know that doctors have to work in very odd hours, late in the night, most of the weekdays work for more than 14 to 16 hours per day.”
Doctors in public hospitals have even gone on strike due to their long working hours. The Indian Express reported:
“One demand of doctors who went on strike in Delhi last week was for shorter duty hours. They are unregulated currently, and resident doctors in the capital’s public hospitals easily end up working 36-48-hour shifts.”
Similarly, lawyers working in law chambers or firms are not restricted from working hours. Section 3(d) of the Punjab (applicable to Haryana) Shops and Commercial Establishments Act 1958:
“Act not applicable to…offices of lawyers;”
Prominent advocate Ram Jethmalani said to Indian Express:
Tremendous hard work, labour and intellect is required to become a good lawyer. A lawyer has to work for 14-16 hours a day…”
Supervisors/managers of companies can also work more hours than the mandated 48 hours. As per section 3(11) of the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Act 2017:
“The provisions of this Act shall not apply to a worker occupying position of confidential, managerial or supervisory character in an establishment…”
Mumbai shop owners requested the government for longer operating hours:
“Traders have sought permission from the state to operate normal business hours till 8.00-9.00 pm rather than close at 5.00 pm as they do at present.”
High-earning workers who earn beyond a particular wage threshold can work as many hours as required. Section 61(a) of the Goa Shops and Establishments Act 1973 states:
“Nothing in this Act shall apply to employees in any establishments whose average monthly wages exceed twenty-four thousand rupees:”
Like professionals and managers, government officials are also usually required to work long hours. Sometimes, laws specifically state that government officers have no limit on the number of hours they may be required to work. For example, Section 26 of the Delhi Police Act 1978 states:
“Every police officer not on leave or under suspension shall for all purposes of this Act be deemed to be always on duty...”
About 24% of police personnel in India work for more than 16 hours a day (96 hours a week), on average, and 44% work more than 12 hours (72 hours a week).
Low-income workers
Like high-earning workers, low-earning workers on the other end of the spectrum are also not restricted by labour laws. India is characterised by high levels of informal employment. The workforce classified as self-employed in India stands at 76%, while the number for the U.S. is only 6.6%. Most Indian workers are outside the purview of labour laws and are responsible for their working conditions.
One of India's most significant low-earning employment sectors is agriculture, which employs 44% of Indian workers. There are no regulations on working hours limits for farmers. Sometimes, farmers have to stay up at night to protect their farms from wild animals.
Indian labour laws also do not protect workers in smaller establishments. While not always true, such establishments generally pay lower wages to workers. Such establishments are usually exempt from working hour limits in Indian labour laws. For the services sector, workers in small establishments are generally exempt under the Shops and Establishments Act. For example, the Gujarat Shops and Establishments Act 2019 exempts all shops with less than ten workers from working hour limits (under Section 12).
Like shops and establishments, most factory workers are also not limited by working hour restrictions. This is because of the way the labour laws apply in Indian factories. Indian factories must limit the number of hours that workers can work. Section 51 of the Factories Act states that:
“No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory for more than forty-eight hours in any week.”
However, this restriction does not apply to factories that employ few workers. The law exempts such small factories through a definition. Factories are exempt from the restriction of Section 51 if they employ less than ten workers (Section 2(m)). In India, 75% of factory workers work in small factories not regulated by the Factories Act and, therefore, are not limited by working hour restrictions. Seemanchal Sahu, a worker in a Surat textile factory, told the Wire:
“In a 12-hour shift, one worker handles around five or six looms and produces an average of 30 metres of grey or unprocessed fabric.”
Studies have found that 12% of informal workers in India work more than 60 hours per week, while 55% of such workers work more than 48 hours a week (OECD, 2019).
Middle-income workers; restricted hours
As the laws show, high-income and low-income workers in India are usually exempted from working hour limits. In contrast, a few workers are restricted from choosing how many hours they want to work. This group is usually the middle-income workers in the formal economy. This group consists of persons employed in large shops/establishments or factories. For such workers, the labour laws of India usually restrict the working hours to 48 hours a week (Section 51 of the Factories Act and Section 8 of the Delhi Shops and Establishments Act).
The law also allows factory workers to work an additional 75 hours per quarter or 6.25 hours in a week (Section 65(3)(iv) of the Factories Act). Even with this provision, workers can work a maximum of 54.25 hours a week. Moreover, workers are entitled to wages at twice the normal wage rate for such overtime work. However, the overtime premium doubles the cost of running a factory for an employer. De facto, this results in the worker losing the opportunity to work more hours. An earlier article, ‘Double or Nothing’ discusses this effect in detail.
How many workers in India are legally restricted from working 70-hour weeks? The number of workers restricted by working hour laws is small. Manufacturing in India employs 25% (4,77,03,947) of the workforce. But out of this, only 23% work in factories with restricted working hours. Hence, the working hour restrictions limit 6% (1,08,26,082) of Indian workers from working longer hours. We do not have numbers for workers governed by the Shops and Establishment laws. However, the numbers (or proportions) are expected to be similar because, like factories, India is dominated by small service sector employers.
Productive jobs restricted
One may argue then that India’s working hour restrictions are not relevant. After all, it applies to a small fraction of the working population. However, this small population has a disproportional effect on India’s prosperity, because these workers are in the best position to increase their income through working longer hours. This is because the majority of capital in India is allocated to this small group of workers. It is well known in the literature that increased capital-per-worker increases productivity-per-worker. However, the working hour restrictions prevent workers from taking advantage of this capital deployment to increase their income.
As the table above shows, unregulated factories employ 360 lakh workers but only deploy capital worth Rs 0.008 lakh per worker. On the other hand, large factories in India employ 111 lakh workers, yet they deploy Rs 28 lakh of capital per worker. However, these large factories are restricted by work hour limitations, so workers cannot work longer hours to increase their productivity and wages. On the other hand, unregulated factories have workers who may work longer hours but will be less productive due to the low capital deployment.
Informalisation
Due to working hour restrictions, industrialists sometimes refrain from growing their firms and find ways to avoid the working hour limits. An article reported how textile factory employers in Surat bypass working hour regulations under the Factories Act:
“Even if a big unit functions in a single building, it is registered as different units owned by multiple owners. These owners are of course members of the same family. That way, the owner ensures that the unit falls under the requirements of the Gujarat Shops and Establishment Act, 2019, and hence part of the unorganised sector. The norms of the Factory Act are thus avoided.”
Such strategies introduce frictions and undermine the growth of India’s manufacturing sector. Because of working hour restrictions, employers have to bear the cost of multiple compliances and filings for what is essentially a single factory. Perversely, India’s employment opportunities are limited by the number of members in the entrepreneurs’ family.
Conclusion
The debate about whether someone should work 70 hours a week is nuanced. It depends on many conditions. What is the economic situation of the worker? Is the worker working hard to save for their future? Their family’s future? What age is the worker? Is the worker a 20-year-old single person who has time to work long hours? Or is the worker a 50-year-old who wants to balance work with family commitments? Does the worker need the extra income to support an ill family member temporarily? Or does the worker have a disabled child who will need support throughout their life?
For most of India, the laws leave it to the worker and their employer to figure this out. However, this nuance is lost for a very productive sliver of the workforce. This part of the workforce has the opportunity to work more, earn more, and probably save more to provide capital for the rest of India’s workers. However, India’s labour laws are hobbling this very set of workers from contributing to India’s prosperity.
References
Annual Survey of Industries: Summary Results for Factory Sector 2016–17. (2017). Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. https://microdata.gov.in/nada43/index.php/catalog/145/download/1794
Key Indicators of Unincorporated Non-Agricultural Enterprises (Excluding Construction) in India, NSS 73rd Round. (2015). Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. https://www.mospi.gov.in/sites/default/files/publication_reports/NSS_KI_73_2.34.pdf
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. (2017). Annual Survey of Industries, 2016–2017, Volume 1. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. https://des.delhi.gov.in/sites/default/files/DES/generic_multiple_files/asi_report_merged_pdf_2016-17.pdf
OECD. (2019). Society at a Glance: Asia/Pacific 2019. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/society-at-a-glance-asia-pacific-2019_soc_aag-2019-en
Status of Policing in India Report 2019: Policy Adequacy and Working Conditions. (2019). Common Cause & Lokniti – Centre for the Study Developing Societies (CSDS). https://www.commoncause.in/uploadimage/page/Status_of_Policing_in_India_ Report_2019_by_Common_Cause_and_CSDS.pdf
Abhishree Choudhary and Shubho Roy are researchers at Prosperiti.