Is My Company’s 50-Hour Workweek Legal? Understanding Overtime and Recess Rules

Hi,

I work in a software company. As per our company Head (since we don't have any HR), we need to:
1. work 50 hours minimum in a week.
2. Each day of 6 days (Saturday half-day) we office hours 10 hours or more since 30 minutes of recess is deducted from the work hour. Does this violate any law or norm? I have heard that 48 hours a week is the limit and 9 hours a day. Is this true? So can we ask to pay overtime? I am also keen to know whether recess time is inclusive of daily work hour?

Thanks in advance for your answers.

Yes, what you have heard is correct. The normal working hours will be from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm, which includes 30 minutes for your lunch.

The normal working hours are 9 hours per day, which includes your lunch and all your tea breaks. For the same, you should refer to the Shop Establishment Act.

Hi,

I think this is fine for you because in my company there is no half-day on Saturday, but you have it, so it's balanced. You should not have any problem.

Shailesh

Sudipto,

I guess the policy holds good. According to you:

1. Work 50 hours minimum in a week.
2. Each day of 6 days (Saturday half-day), we office hours 10 hours or more since 30 minutes of recess is deducted from the work hour. If you're working from 9 to 6 from Monday to Friday, it's 9 hours * 5 days, i.e., 45 hours, and Saturday half-day is 5 hours. It comes up to 50 hours. So, I think there is no violation of law here.

Hi All,

Thanks for your replies.

Ezekiel Sir:

Each of 5 days we work from:
1. 10 AM to 7.45 PM = 9 h 45 mins Hours daily (includes 30 mins of recess - i.e. 9 hours and 15 mins of Work + 30 mins of recess.) When our working hours are calculated it's 9h 15 mins. They do not include the recess.
Here I ask - (as ravi.vasanth and jaiganesh2k have said) should the calculated working hour include the 30 mins? Then that would sum up to 9:45 hours daily.
Moreover, why 50 hours weekly if it's 48 hours weekly by law?

Dear Sudipto,

I would like to say, "Zukati hey duniya; Zukanewala Chahiye." Your company's head may believe in these words. Not only your head but most of the HODs or managers believe that. Thus, even though there is a law of 48 hours in a week (not exceeding 9 hours per day), everybody tends to work more than those hours. Few organizations do not give a weekly off to their employees as well. They can do it easily because they know nobody will oppose it. That's why I mentioned earlier, "ZUKATI HEY DUNIYA ZUKANE WALA CHAHIYE." Someone should take the initiative for themselves and their staff's benefit, which they deserve.

Thanks for putting forth your opposition.

Dear Chaudhry,

I understand that you work for 50 hours a week and more than 10 hours in a day. Do you know how many hours persons like your Manager or Director work? It may cross 15 or 17 hours a day, I think. It is very simple to say that there is workload and you do not get time to relax, but at the same time, there are people who like to stay back at the office even after the close of office hours. That is the style developed nowadays. At the same time, there are plenty of people who do not have a job to earn! When we are out of a job, we long to get a job whatever be the duration of working hours and wherever be the posting. But once we are in, we start feeling that we are being exploited by our boss by compelling us to work for long periods.

In a supervisory position, you are never expected to think of any overtime or work pressure; rather, be happy and cheerful to do work thinking that you have a job to earn which others do not. There are laws governing the hours of work and other matters connected with it, but these cannot be practical in a workplace, I mean a new generation workplace. So, be cheerful.

Regards,

Madhu.T.K

Dear Madhu,

Thank you for your suggestions.

1. I know that my managers and directors earn 5-15 times more than I do.
2. They take long seasonal vacations in a year.
3. They do very little strenuous software development job that I do. They pass ample time with their phone, recess, and car.

I am not complaining, but I should know where I am standing. Don't you want to know where you stand? Or would you like to believe and do whatever your managers and directors would direct you, even if that somewhere knocks you?

The numbers that I have given are standard regulations of the office. What I want to know is this standard official regulation?

I work more than 12 hours a day, even on weekends, or while traveling because that is my passion. But that does not mean that's the rule. There must be some work-health-life balance. Just wanted to know the exact position.

[QUOTE=ravi.vasanth;376297]Yes, what you have heard is correct. The normal working hours will be from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm, which includes 30 minutes for your lunch.

Ravi, you missed 2 small tea breaks; therefore, working hours will be from 9.30 am to 6.00 pm.

Regards,
Deepak Gehlot

You are right. The normal working hours in a week are 48 hours, which can be split into eight hours per day, including Saturday. Normally, Sunday is a holiday. This eight hours per day can be included or excluded lunch hour, half an hour, according to the company's intention.

Actually, the labor act states that a person can work for a maximum of 40 hours per week, which can go up to 48 hours if overtime is included. Anything over that is a violation of the labor laws.

Madhu T K has a thorough knowledge of Labour Laws. Hence, his reply is theoretically as well as practically right.

( G K Sharma)

Hi Sudipto,

Restrictions on the working hours of employees in Commercial Establishments under the Bombay Shops & Establishments Act, 1948:

a. Commercial establishments are not allowed to be opened earlier than a.m. and closed later than p.m. in a day [Section 13]
b. An employee in a shop or commercial establishment cannot be required or allowed to work for more than 9 hours in a day and 48 hours in a week. [Section 14]
c. He must be allowed an interval of rest of at least one hour after five hours of continuous work [Section 15]
d. His spread-over cannot exceed 11 hours in a day. [Subsection 16 & 17]
e. Every shop and commercial establishment must remain closed on one day of the week. No deduction can be made from the wages of any employee in a shop or commercial establishment on account of any day on which it has remained closed. [Section 18]

Note: The above restrictions can be relaxed in certain circumstances as under:

A written permission from the Labour Commissioner is required to get the exemptions under section 13, 14, 15, 18 & 33(3) as under:

Provision of Act under section 13, 14, 15, 18, 33(3) for Software and Information Technology Establishments including Customer Services Care Centers operating through a computer in Maharashtra State is subject to the following terms and conditions, namely:

General Conditions:
(i) Written letters shall be taken from each of the concerned software industrial establishments stating that all the special conditions are acceptable to them;
(ii) If any of these conditions are violated, the permission for that specific industrial establishment will be deemed to have been automatically canceled.

Special Conditions:
Section 13:
Unconditional exemption for opening and closing hours of Establishment.
Section 14:
(i) No employee shall be required or allowed to work in any establishment for more than 9 hours in any day and 48 hours in any week;
(ii) Overtime as prescribed in section 63 of the said Act will be paid for work in excess of the limit of hours of work.
Section 15:
Each employee will be given an interval for rest for half an hour after continuous working of 5 hours.
Section 18:
(i) Every employee shall be given one day holiday in a week without making any deductions from the wages on account thereof;
(ii) All employees shall be provided work alternatively.
Section 33(3):
(i) Special arrangements should be made for the protection of Female employees working before a.m. and after p.m., including transport;
(ii) Female employees should be provided a job jointly or in a group;
(iii) Arrangement of a rest room and lockers should be made for women employees.

For further clarification, kindly visit Labour Law Consultancy Services - Excel Consultancy Services at http://www.excelconsultancyservices.co.in or you may contact us at support@excelconsultancyservices.co.in.

Thanks & regards,
Sayed Iqbal
Excel Consultancy Services

Kindly tell me where you are working and what is the name of your state? Then I will let you know the right hours of work.

Hi Sudipto,

Is there flexitime available in the IT industry where you work? Are you in West Bengal or another state? According to the Shops and Establishments Act, the maximum working hours are 48 hours per week with a spread-over of 10.5 hours (including overtime). Please review the IT Policy of the state.

Thank you,
Sandip

Dear,

As per the Factories Act, you can work for 48 hours in a week. If you work extra hours as per the act and rules, then you are required to pay double overtime to the employee.

Thanks,
Manoj

Life mein kuch bhi ho sakta hai, Manoj! To kya har cheez ko aankhein band karke maan le? Aise duniya aage nahi badhti. Tab duniya mein jo bhi nayi cheez hui hai woh nahi hoti... hum Stone Age mein hi reh jaate.

Dear Sudipto,

Thank you for taking a firm stance. Today is a very competitive world, and to stay ahead in this rat race, it is at times necessary to go beyond the norms. In software companies, deadlines can be strenuous, and reputations are at stake if a project is delayed. In such conditions, extending work hours is understandable, but making it a policy is just plain inhumane. It doesn't really matter what our labor laws entail; there has to be some respect for the work and personal life balance.

Madhu, I am sorry, but I do not agree with any of your opinions. It certainly matters that you have a job in hand, but would you put everything else at stake for that? Let's not even involve others; would you really put your own health at risk for a job like this? Why spend 10 hours on what you can finish cleanly in 6? Is today's generation so incompetent? And where does technology disappear in such scenarios? It's supposed to make our lives simpler, not more demanding.

Sudipto,

Pls see the Extract of West Bengal S&E ACT:

No person employed in an establishment shall be required or permitted to work in such establishment for more than eight and a half hours in any one day or for more than forty-eight hours in any one week or after the hour of closing of such establishment so, however, that-

(i) the total number of hours of his work including overtime work shall not exceed ten hours in any one day, and
(ii) the total number of hours worked overtime by him shall not exceed one hundred and twenty hours in any one year. The periods of work and intervals for rest of every person employed in an establishment shall be arranged by the employer of such persons so that together they do not extend over more than ten and a half hours in any one day.

** You are eligible for OT if your working hours exceed this limit. Go ahead, Friend, and demand your OT immediately.

Regards,
Sandip

Thanks Sandip and Nayana and all others for the information.

I would like to know specifically:
1. Is a half-hour recess included in the 8-hour per day or excluded?
2. Does anything more than 8 hours per day count as overtime?

Dear Choudhury Ji,

Please go through the attachment for time management; some of your doubts may be clarified.

Regards,
PBS Kumar

Hello friends,

Would the laws regarding work hour limitations be applicable to employees only, or would the same be applicable for consultants as well?

A close friend of mine is working as a consultant doctor. They have a six-day week, with one of the days being a half day (5 hours). Now, her health center has decided to increase their working hours as below:

i) If working on Saturday or Sunday, work hours: 10 am to 9 pm (no O.T.)
ii) If working on a public holiday, work hours: 10 am to 9 pm (no O.T.)
iii) Also, every consultant has to work the 10 am to 9 pm duration once a week (apart from Saturday/Sunday).
iv) Overtime (O.T.) and compensatory offs that were awarded earlier for (i) and (ii) respectively have been withdrawn.

The health center does not provide any kind of transportation to female employees or consultants who work beyond 7 pm.

This management decision has left many of them disheartened. They really are left with no time for family, especially married women... :'(

Then again, if one calculates, each consultant/employed doctor is working for anything between 53 to 56 hours per week without any O.T. or compensatory offs.

Is this an appropriate treatment of consultants?

Please share your views.

Thank you.

Hi Nayana,

This is sad. Nowadays are coming when the majority of patients of doctors would be other doctors. This is a sheer mechanism to squeeze out the last juice from life to earn more and more on the part of the management and employer. But what would be the consequences? Let me guess,

Step 1: Doctors would soon doze off while in the Operating Theatre, prescribe wrong medicine, and soon would leave their cellphone inside operated organs.

Step 2: Performance loss on the part of doctors.

Step 4: Doctors would make mistakes, and the public would suffer.

Step 5: Public would complain.

Step 6: The reputation of doctors and the institute would be at stake.

Step 7: NO PUBLIC GOOD, huge income on the part of the employer. Many tragic mistreatments, a few deaths - who cares! MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY...

I hope and pray the management and the institutes get BANNED soon because of all these approaches to earn more and treat their employees as dogs.

Hi,

I am working in a construction company. As per our company rules, we need to:
1. work a minimum of 76 hours in a week
2. Each day of the 7 days (Sunday half), we have office hours of 12 hours or more since 30 minutes of recess is deducted from the work hour.
3. Does this violate any law or norm? I have heard that 48 hours a week is the limit and 9 hours a day. Is this true? Can we ask for overtime pay? I am also keen to know whether the recess time is inclusive of the daily work hours.

Please reply to us.

Thanks,
Amod Kumar Das

Hi,

Don't worry if the requirement of the organization entails extra work. Firstly, if you do not show the records for overtime (OT), then you can pay the money to the employee as per the company's written or unwritten rules (as per the management).

If you are documenting the actual overtime in the company, you should pay double overtime to employees and maintain a register named "OVERTIME REGISTER" as it is mandatory for statutory requirements.

Thanks & regards,
Manoj

Hi All,

In India, the legal working hours in a week are 48 hours, and the maximum can go up to 60 hours.

Overtime has become a policy of the company. Overtime is a stone-age concept and is usually associated with workers in factories. Overtime was introduced because of a lack of skilled labor or the company not being able to accommodate more than a certain number of people on their payrolls.

The liability of employers has been reduced over the last 10 years; hence, offices have been given the option of not including overtime in their policy and instead increasing the number of employees, thus promoting more employment opportunities.

The 48 hours do not include the lunch break of 1 hour if it is distributed over a six-day week. Employers have recently started a trend of having a five-day week, distributing it as 10 hours per day, including the lunch hour. However, if required, employees are asked to stay back.

Although I can understand the concerns of IT employees or all those who work under project deadlines and are asked to work longer hours, since the overtime policy doesn't exist, the company is supposed to appreciate the extra hours put in when declaring bonuses for the employees, which is legally valid. If an employee contests legally, citing extra working hours and the company has paid a fair bonus, the case is considered in the employer's favor.

Hope the above clears your query.

Regards,

AJ

Dear Mr. Choudhury,

48 hours a week is the rule, excluding lunch breaks. In other words, one can get 48 hours of actual work per week. It is as simple as that!

How much the Director works or the work-life balance are immaterial to your query; that is a different subject altogether.

Siva

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. 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!!

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 on the Facebook group IT/BPO Voice of India | Facebook 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!!

Dear Sudipto,

Whatever you have heard is very true. According to the Factories Act 1948, Sec-50 to Sec-56, it is written that:

1) No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory for more than forty-eight hours in any week.
2) Subject to the provisions of Section 51, no adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory for more than nine hours in any day.
3) The periods of work of an adult worker in a factory shall be so arranged that inclusive of his intervals for rest under Section 55, they shall not spread over more than ten and a half hours in any day.

Regards,
Inderjeet Singh "Born to lead"

[Sudipto Choudhury;376209]
Hi,
I work in a software company. As per our company Head (since we don't have any HR), we need to:
1. Work 50 hours minimum in a week.
2. Each day of 6 days (Saturday half-day), we office hours 10 hours or more since 30 minutes of recess is deducted from the work hour. Does this violate any law or norm? I have heard that 48 hours a week is the limit and 9 hours a day. Is this true? So can we ask to pay overtime? I am also keen to know whether the recess time is inclusive of daily work-hour. Thanks in advance for your answers.

I was watching your exchange of views, Madhu. Will you answer my questions, and if you think they are all bogus, please forgive me as a fool.

1) What is the literary difference between a Developer and Manager?
2) Does he share his incentive with the subordinates?
3) Will he sacrifice his promotion for the unforced error of his subordinate considering "Human is Error"?
4) 24 hours a day: 8 hours sleeping, 10 hours office, 2 hours for to and fro journey to the office, and only 4 hours for what? Thank God our children are still listening to us.
5) Suppose an MNC has offices in Germany, the USA, and India. What is the difference in behavior of a Manager towards his subordinates country-wise? Will they have the guts to ask a developer or subordinates from Germany and the USA to stay in the office as per the demand of the situation throughout the week, month, or year? Madhu, you feel very proud, and I feel very ashamed.

I was watching your exchange of views. Madhu, will you answer my questions, and if you think they are all bogus, please forgive me as a fool.

1) What is the literary difference between a Developer and Manager?

2) Does he share his incentive with the subordinates?

3) Will he sacrifice his promotion for the unforced error of his subordinate considering "Human is Error"?

4) 24 hours a day. 8 hours sleeping, 10 hours in the office, 2 hours for to and fro journey to the office, and only 4 hours for what? Thank God our children are still listening to us.

5) Suppose an MNC has offices in Germany, the USA, and India. What is the difference in behavior of a Manager towards his subordinates in the above countries? Will they have the guts to ask a developer or subordinates from Germany and the USA to stay in the office as per the demand of the situation throughout the week, month, or year? Madhu, you feel very proud, and I feel very ashamed.