Should HR Speak Up Against Narayana Murthy's 72-Hour Workweek Proposal for Indian Workers?

Why does the Indian workers' community have to condemn Narayana Murthy's 72-hour work per week statement?

Mr. Narayana Murthy has been condemned by unions and the employees' community, but not by the Indian HR community for his anti-worker statement. We expect the HR community to raise their voice against the 72-hour work per week statement. Will the HR community speak for workers or capitalists?

- VOIP IT UNION

https://tamilnaduemployeesforum.word...eek-statement/

How realistic is working 70 hours a week?

ARC: Working 14 hours a day for five days, or 11.5 for six days, doesn't account for travel, which may add another two hours. The latest Periodic Labour Force Survey data indicate a significant work hours gap between genders. This is wider in rural areas, probably due to women's additional unpaid care work. Overall, in urban and rural areas, women work 5.5 hours daily versus men's 41 minutes. Increasing work hours will inherently bias the market against women. India's female labour force participation is already one of the lowest in South Asia. Moreover, research indicates diminishing returns for extended work hours.

AN: I agree that workers shouldn't be pushed beyond legal work hours. Research underscores the importance of work-life balance, mental health, and physical exercise. Moreover, work hour averages vary by industry. For example, in the U.S., which is service-dominated, leisure and hospitality average around 25 hours weekly, whereas manufacturing is about 45 hours. In South Korea, the disparity is greater; transport and food services may reach 75 hours, while education is around 40. This shows that development stages and industry sectors—service or manufacturing—impact these averages. China, during its 1990 to 2012 manufacturing- and export-focused phase, saw increased work hours with negative outcomes. So, I'm not advocating that. I'm just saying it's crucial to consider a country's economic drivers and industry when evaluating work hours.

Dear member,

In October 2023, Mr. NR Narayana Murthy stated that to improve productivity, Indians should work for 70 hours per week (not 72 hours as you mentioned). Although there was an uproar over his statement, he defended it in January 2024.

Mr. Murthy is a self-made tycoon. He did not inherit his company but built it from scratch. From an ordinary company, he transformed Infosys into a dream company for employees and job seekers. In an industrial scenario where caste played a major role in business, he demonstrated that to elevate a company, one need not boast of having business in one's DNA. To make Infosys an IT bellwether, he and his team worked hard. Growing a company while maintaining strict ethical standards was no easy task, but he and his team achieved it.

When he first suggested working 70 hours per week to improve productivity at both company and national levels, it attracted criticism. People argued that productivity does not depend on working long hours. Secondly, as an employer, he was projecting his personality onto the employees. More importantly, when celebrities like Mr. Murthy make statements, it becomes an endorsement, and governments take their views seriously. Individuals of Mr. Murthy's stature are expected to be circumspect and not take a pole position.

Notwithstanding the criticism, a few months later, Mr. Murthy reiterated his stand on the 70-hour workweek.

There was a rumor that the Union government might have used Mr. Murthy to test public reaction. The government wanted to introduce legislation to increase work hours per week. Through Mr. Murthy, they tested the waters, but considering the uproar his statement caused, the government shelved the proposal.

You wish HR professionals had condemned Mr. Murthy. While individually, HR professionals might have agreed or disagreed with Mr. Murthy's views, their collective voice through bodies like NHRD, NIPM, etc., was silent. However, these bodies remain silent on rampant labor law violations, so one cannot expect them to be vocal only when a tycoon makes a statement.

Individually, HR functionaries are as powerless as other professionals. HR professionals admit that those from other disciplines like Marketing, Finance, or Technical have an edge over them. In many large companies, HR departments are symbolic. Do HR professionals not know about unfair business practices or labor law violations in their companies? They know, but to protect themselves, they look the other way.

What they do individually, they do collectively as well. Not just regarding working hours, but these HR bodies have not proposed model HR practices in any other HR disciplines. This is because Indian businesses still follow an autocratic leadership style. Early in their careers, HR professionals understand that silence is prudent, and they maintain it throughout their careers.

Yes, HR professionals should stand for employees' rights. But to do so, they need empowerment. Employee empowerment is a big joke in India. The less said about it, the better!

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Hi, The statement made by Narayana Murthy advocating for a 72-hour workweek has sparked controversy and condemnation from various quarters, including workers' unions and employees. It's essential to understand the reasons behind this condemnation and the potential roles of different stakeholders, including the HR community.

Worker Rights and Well-being:
The primary concern with advocating for such long work hours is the potential impact on worker well-being and rights. A 72-hour workweek is not only physically exhausting but also detrimental to mental health, work-life balance, and overall quality of life. Workers deserve reasonable hours and conditions that allow them to lead healthy and fulfilling lives outside of work.

Labour Laws and Regulations:
In India, labor laws and regulations are in place to protect workers' rights, including limitations on working hours, overtime pay, and mandatory rest periods. Advocating for a 72-hour workweek goes against these established norms and may undermine the progress made in ensuring fair labor practices.

Role of HR Community:
The HR community plays a crucial role in advocating for both the interests of workers and the goals of the organization. While HR professionals are often seen as representatives of management or the employer, their ultimate responsibility lies in fostering a healthy and productive work environment that respects the rights and well-being of employees.

Balancing Interests:
It's important to note that the HR community is not monolithic. Different HR professionals may have varying perspectives on issues such as work hours and labor rights. However, a core principle of HR is to balance the interests of the organization with those of its employees. Therefore, the HR community should critically evaluate statements like Narayana Murthy's and consider their implications for employee welfare and organizational success.

Advocacy and Dialogue:
The condemnation of Narayana Murthy's statement by workers' unions and employees underscores the importance of advocacy for worker rights. HR professionals can contribute to this dialogue by engaging with both employees and management to ensure that policies and practices align with ethical standards and legal requirements.

Ultimately, the HR community should prioritize the well-being and rights of workers while also considering the broader goals and needs of the organization. This may involve speaking out against statements or practices that undermine worker rights, including advocating for more reasonable work hours and conditions.

Thanks,

Narayan Murthy's Perspective on Office Hours

The same Narayan Murthy had earlier said that it is meaningless and unproductive for people to sit in the office beyond the scheduled 8 hours.

The 72-hour work week in disguise

The 72-hour work week is running well in disguise in industries. The opinion of Mr. Narayana Murthy may have aimed to make it official. The reaction condemned by unions is similar to an elephant's teeth. As of now, trade unions have not done anything good for the employee community, rather they have created a class of workmen. Currently, there is hardly any parity in wages paid to different classes of workmen, which is not only bad but is plunging the working class into a ditch. The Indian HR community is nothing but a puppet in the hands of the industrial community; they just follow the "Yes Boss" technique with nothing to do about all these issues.

Expectations from the HR community

Your expectation is worthless to hope from the HR community to raise their voice against 72 hours of work per week or any other statement. The truth is that the HR community can't speak for workers but definitely speaks for the employers because they are not a separate entity but an employed class.

The issue raised by the much-revered Narayana Murthy has been misinterpreted and given a totally wrong color. First of all, he didn't mean it for all the workmen; he had limited it to the young people of the country. He said it in the context of leading India to be a developed nation in the next decade. We can very well continue to do organizational activities in the way it has been and be content to be a less developed nation or a developing nation for all the times to come. Importantly, he was not desiring it for the manufacturing sector or the service sector where the labor laws have put definite limits. He never said to change the weekly limit of 48 hours in those sectors.

In the IT/software sector, particularly those working in MNCs, the 8-hour work norm has no relevance as regular working hours of the company and that of the European or US customers are totally at variance. If we have to do business and be the backyard for their office operations, our timings have to suit them; otherwise, we have to be content with the small earnings here.

Proposal of a 72-hour workweek

The proposal of a 72-hour workweek is to be seen with regard to our national aspirations and should leave aside the rhetoric and the fusillade of irrelevant criticisms leveled in all social fora. Speaking at a personal level, I want to assert that I have worked for a very long period (more than two decades) daily clocking around 12 hours on 6 days of the week and around 4 hours on weekends. It didn't tire me or exhaust me. I also know so many professionals: doctors, advocates, engineers, architects, managerial personnel slog for 14-16 hours every day, and they feel happy about it and enjoy it.

Legal considerations for HR professionals

As an HR professional, one has to go by the law on the subject, and exceeding the statutory limits would be troublesome, and there is no place for entertaining such thoughts. In a start-up and in the unorganized sector, the statutory norms on working conditions are breached regularly.

Speaking at a personal level, I want to assert that I have worked for a very long period (more than two decades) daily, clocking around 12 hours on 6 days of the week and around 4 hours on weekends. It didn't tire me or exhaust me. I also know many professionals—doctors, advocates, engineers, architects, and managerial personnel—who slog for 14-16 hours every day and feel happy about it and enjoy it.

Is it a forced communication for the employees' community to accept 14-16 hours for 8 hours of pay?

Why are employees exploited by such expectations? If an employee is working 14-16 hours, another job creation is shunned, and capitalists are taking the salary of one person for granted.

It's time for corporates to pay taxes like the common man

Corporates should pay taxes like the common man and employees instead of receiving tax benefits in SEZ/STPS.

- Voip IT union