Balancing a 5-Day Work Week with Labor Laws: How Can We Make It Work?

We are a private firm in Pune. We want to implement a 5-day working week on an alternate basis. We have proposed to our management that we will extend our working hours from 9:30 to 6:00, currently, to 9:00 to 6:30. However, our management has raised objections stating that the weekly working hours would exceed 48 hours, which is not in compliance with labor laws. At present, the management is unwilling to allow working throughout 5 days a week.

Seeking Solutions for Compliance

Is there a solution available that would enable us to adopt a 5-day alternate working week while still adhering to labor laws?

Thank you,

Kaustubh

Working hours are fixed by the labor department of the state. They vary from offices to factories. You must abide by those rules. If you have settled your working hours (48 hours) through a settlement, i.e., bipartite or tripartite agreement, you must make another settlement with your management while keeping the total weekly hours fixed the same as you were previously doing.

Instead of giving a whole two days of holidays, you may consider making it one day a week or one and a half days.

Secondly, you should strictly enforce a 6-day workweek and establish a policy that allows employees to take a two-day leave each week if they are willing to work an extra hour as per the schedule, from 9:00 to 6:30 as mentioned. This arrangement would benefit both parties without violating any laws. However, ensure that there is a written agreement with the employee's signature for the selected schedule. Also, mention that once they have signed, they cannot change the schedule at will. If they wish to make changes, allow it only once every 6 months or 3 months for your convenience. Request them to unanimously agree to this arrangement, providing them with 15 days to make a decision.

Thank you for your valuable reply. Regarding the agreement, there is no such agreement in the factory. Also, no union exists. Can it be made as a rule by taking everybody's consent?

Thanks,
Kaustubh

Is the Factories Act applicable to you? If your working hours are from 9:30 to 6:30 with a one-hour break for lunch, then the total working hours are 8 per day and 48 hours per week. For a 5-day work week, you can issue a notice under Section 9-A of the Industrial Disputes Act. If no one objects to it, you can inform the authorities about the change and proceed accordingly.

I am also searching for an alternate week five-day working proposal to submit to my management. Kindly share the same with its advantages and disadvantages if you have any. We are also a pharmaceutical company manufacturing API products, just for your information. If you can assist us with this, I would greatly appreciate it.

Regards,
Dehul Tillu

Hi, please help. I want to write an email stating that starting from next month, a 5-day workweek will be applicable. I would like to provide detailed information in the email. How should I structure it?