Struggling with New Saturday Work Policy: How Can I Convince My Boss to Revert It?

Hi all seniors,

I want to know about HR leave policy. Is there any particular leave policy that should be followed by every organization? I am working with an IT company in Mumbai. We have a 5-day work week, 8 hours of work per day, and 1 hour for all breaks in a day. Timings are from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm, and every alternate Saturday, we work for the full day. It is becoming difficult as we don't have any time to do our personal work. I am looking after the HR and admin department, and no one else is there in my department. Everyone in my organization is fed up with Saturday working; they want some relaxation on this. They all approach me regarding this issue. This Saturday working was made compulsory only 3 months ago; previously, we didn't work on any Saturday. Now, please help me convince my boss by stating this is the HR policy that we are supposed to follow. During the interview, he committed to a 5-day work week, and now suddenly he has made changes. For the past 3 months, we have been working on Saturdays, but we don't want to continue as he said while implementing this rule; he will assess our performance and might revert it in a few months. We don't have any hope that he will give us relaxation in this matter.

What can I do for my staff in this situation? Please help me.

Waiting for your responses.

Regards,

Preeti.

Hi Preeti,

We are also working on Leaves & leave encashment. Please share with me as well about the HR Leave Policy.

Regards,
Tripti

Dear Preeti,

I would like to provide a few insights after reviewing your case. According to the law, the standard working hours for a week should not exceed 48 hours, equating to 8 hours per day with a minimum break of half an hour, totaling 6 working days a week. It is the organization's decision whether to implement a 6-day or 5-day working week. If an individual surpasses the stipulated working hours, they are entitled to overtime compensation, which amounts to 1.5 times their regular salary.

In today's modern work environment, organizations often adopt flexible working hours instead of adhering strictly to traditional schedules. Therefore, it is up to the management to determine whether a 5-day or 6-day workweek is more suitable, taking into account factors such as business operations, workforce utilization, and the available manpower. I suggest that employees from your company hold a meeting with the management to address this issue.

Please correct me if I am mistaken.

Regards,
Raghu

Hi Raghu,

Thank you for your advice. Yes, you are correct that according to the law, the standard working hours should be 48 hours in a week. We work for 8 hours a day with a 1-hour break, totaling 9 hours in the office, and alternate Saturdays are full working days. We have a small workforce, with only 10 employees in this office. Can you assist me by providing a website or any legal references that I can use to persuade my director on this matter? I am eager to address this issue with management, but my colleagues are hesitant to discuss it in front of him as they are afraid. I have taken the initiative, but unfortunately, it has not yielded any results. I strongly feel that this situation amounts to exploitation. Only three of us consistently arrive and leave the office on time, while the remaining six often arrive late, around 12:00 to 12:30, and leave by 6:00 to 6:30. We are not able to take a day off, even when we are unwell. I had to take leave twice due to illness, and the next day, I received an email from my director (informing him about my illness). Could you please advise me on how to convince him?

I look forward to your response.

Regards,

Preeti

Hi Raghu,

My organization is an IT company. It's a branch office in India, with headquarters in Finland. We don't develop any software here; it's just a sales and marketing office. I don't know where to start as there are many things in this office that disturb me a lot. I have prepared a company policy in which I have included all types of leaves, but it has not been authorized to date. We have not received any appointment letter, and now my probation period is also finished. Please help me with the leave policy so that I can address the issue of what we are doing is not right.

Regards,
Preeti

Dear Preeti,

The leave policy differs from company to company. I have seen in the same HR forum a member writing that for every 20 days of work, a person earns 1 day leave. However, in our company, we have 3 days of leave for a person distributed as Earned leave/Privilege leave, Medical leave, and casual leave. Casual leave cannot be encashed or clubbed with any other leave, whereas CL will amount up to 6 days in a year; the rest of the leaves can be encashed. If you require more details, I will be able to help you out.

I would like to tell you that as your probation period is over, I suggest you collect your letter of confirmation or the next stage letter. If not, you are left in the dark as to which stage you are in. Therefore, I insist that you collect your letter of confirmation. If you are facing too many problems in the company, you may want to consider looking for other options. Please let me know what you have completed and how many years of experience you have.

Regards,
Raghu

Hi Raghu,

I know policies differ from company to company, but there are some policies to be followed here. We don't know anything about our CL, SL, PL. As I told you, I have prepared and submitted to my director, but he has kept me in the dark by saying it has to be approved by our HQ in Finland. We visited Finland last month, and when I met the HR people there, they told me to follow our own policy as per our country. If it is not possible, then you can take our help. I was shocked. It's of no use; we have not received any company policy yet. Here, nothing is systematic, and no one wants to work under a system. Management is only weak. I have given him many ideas and suggestions for improvement as I am only looking after HR and Admin; no one else is there in this department. He implements things like working hours, but that is only for the three of us who are newcomers. Six months back, we joined this company.

About my qualifications, I am a Commerce graduate from Mumbai University with 1 year in DHRM from Welingkar's Institute, Mumbai. I have experience in banking for 6 months as a Trainee Officer, 8 months with ICICI Bank as an HR Executive (as an outsource), and for the last 7 months with this organization.

Many times I think to quit this job as I get frustrated, but at the same time, I feel things will change slowly. I don't know if I am wasting my time or doing the right thing. In the future, there will be more recruitment, so I think things will not remain the same.

Can I do something about working hours in this situation?

Regards,

Preeti

Dear Preeti,

Well, I can understand your problem. Though in reality, this is a challenge for HR, which gives us a scope to make HR function as a strategic function rather than a mere administrative function. I also know that many of our companies still have a traditional approach toward HR. In this situation, you can better arrange for a meeting with your boss and all your colleagues to discuss the issue. There is no law that would help you other than getting overtime in case of more work hours. This can only be sorted out by mutual understanding and discussion. My advice is that you do not get frustrated, and if nothing happens, it's better to look for other options.

All the best,
Anu :)