Are 9.5-Hour Workdays for a 5-Day Week Acceptable in a Service Organization?

Dear all,

Ours is a service organization, and we have a software department. I wish to know what are the permissible official work timings. Is 8 hours per day mandatory? Can we have 9.5 hours per day (including lunch and tea breaks) for 5 days and have Saturdays and Sundays off? That would amount to 47.5 hours per week. Currently, we work from 9 to 6:30 for 5 days a week.

Kind regards,
SH

Hi Sunita,

From the organizations that I worked at, the following were the timings:

1. Central Government Organization
Time: 09:30 to 06:00 [some people come at 10:00]
Lunch: 01:00 to 01:30 [some, like us, take 20 minutes, some take 1 hour]

2. Multinational Manufacturing Company
Time: 08:30 to 05:00
Tea1: 10:30
Lunch: 12:30 to 01:00
Tea2: 03:30

The office timings officially end at 05:00, but every day at 05:30, there is tea and breakfast for those who stay and work late. Almost 99% of employees work until 06:00, 06:30, 07:00, 08:00, so some work 10-12 hours daily. However, on official records, the office timings are shown as 08:30 to 05:00.

Instead of changing the times officially, there is a mutual understanding due to the workload, and employees need to wait after 05:00. Hence, breakfast is provided every day. Regarding changing times, it may involve legal matters, I think.

It is better to have mutual interaction with employees. May I know the total employee strength of the office and how many department heads there are?

Hi Ravi,

Thanks for the information. As per your details, does the MNC manufacturing company operate from 8:30 to 5, and is it a 5-day workweek or does it include Saturdays as well? I require this information for inclusion in the employee handbook, ensuring its legal accuracy. What is the legal standpoint on this? Can we set the work hours as 9.5 hours per day for 5 days, totaling 47.5 hours per week officially?

We are open to implementing this change as employees are already working these hours, sometimes even more. Just for your reference, we have software, technical, and marketing departments.

Kind regards,
SH

6-day week, Friday holiday, that too sometimes gets canceled due to workload. :(

Regarding the legal aspect, in a day, you can make a worker work for a maximum of 9 hours, excluding tea and coffee breaks. This provision is mentioned in the Factories Act, but please confirm as I am not very familiar with legal matters. Also, check which acts apply to your company or industry type. Does your IT company also need to follow the Factories Act?