Are Our 9-Hour, 6-Day Work Weeks Legal for IT Companies in Hyderabad? Seeking Clarity

Hi All,

I am a new member of this forum. I have a query regarding working hours defined as per the law for the IT industry. I work as an HR Executive in a small IT company based in Hyderabad. The standard working hours in this company are 9 hours, including a 45-minute lunch break, and we work 6 days a week without overtime pay, with only Sunday as a holiday. In a company I worked for previously in Bangalore, we had Saturdays off. In fact, most Software Companies in Hyderabad also do not work on Saturdays. I want to know what the legal working hours assigned by the government are, specifically for software companies.

Please reply.

The standard working hours in a company, as per the law, is 8 hours. Most non-IT companies have a 6-day week with an off on Thursday or Sunday. The concept of weekend offs is subjective to an organization's internal policy. Over the last couple of years, most IT companies have given the benefits of weekend offs to their employees. However, with the recent fluctuation in the exchange rate, the profit margins for the companies have declined. Hence, most IT companies have added an extra working day on Saturday instead of extending the working hours each day. On average, an individual is required to contribute 8 hours of productive work, but generally, employees take their liberties in terms of taking frequent and long breaks. Hence, the working hours exceed 9-10 hours.

Working hours in a factory as per laws prescribed in the Factories Act, 1948, in a week are 48 and not more than 9 hours in a day, including a lunch break. As per the rules, the week commences on Saturday midnight and ends on Saturday midnight. Mostly, the weekly off is given on Sunday. However, if any company wants to change the day of the weekly rest, they can change it but subject to the condition that they have to inform the concerned authorities of the Labour & Employment Department, i.e., the Inspector.

(G K Sharma)

Hi all,

I want to collate information on the working hours for software companies in Bangalore. More information is needed on Telecom companies such as Wipro, Infosys, Accenture, Satyam, etc.

Early responses are highly appreciated.

Regards, DS

The working conditions of IT professionals in India are indeed very pathetic. Anyone who has had an onsite opportunity would agree with me on this. The problem basically rests within us. Since we are the youth, we don't prefer democratic motions and don't get into protests. I guess no one knew that there was an IT/BPO Union in India, and they are now presenting our case against longer working hours. We need to bring our voice to the Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Mr. A. Raja, and even to the Prime Minister. Have a look at this article in the Facebook group [IT/BPO Voice of India | Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=114896115224411) read through it, and if you feel you should be a part of it, join and participate in the revolution Voice of India (For Greater India). We need to spread the message.

LET'S FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHTS!!

Hi Friends,

I am in a software company and I am working for 10 hours and sometimes even more a day. I have offs on Sat and Sun. Can you tell me if the number of working hours is in accordance with the employees' act and also the email id to which I can report?