The Modi government is likely to change the office hours from 8 to 12 hours with effect from October 1, 2021.
According to reports, the BJP government at the Centre is considering bringing in changes in the rules (New Wage Code) of labour law from October 1.
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If the rule comes into force, the office hours will increase by 4 hours from October 1.
The employees will have to work for 12 hours per day in place of the existing 8 hours per day.
The hand salary, at the same time, will also be affected by this new law.
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The Centre planned to bring changes to the labour law with effect from April 1, 2021 but the planning was postponed due to the non-preparation of states and giving companies more time to change their HR policies.
According to the Union Labour Ministry, the central government wanted to notify the labour code rules with effect from July 1 but the states sought more time to implement the rules leading to the suspension till October 1.
It has been reported that the Union Labour Ministry and the Modi government now want to notify the new labour code rules by October 1.
Parliament changed the rules relating to three labour codes including industrial relations, work safety, health and working conditions and social security in August 2019.
These rules were passed in Parliament in September 2020.
However, the trade unions have opposed the Centre’s decision to increase the office hours from 8 to 12.
In a memorandum to the Union Labour Minister in April 2020, representatives of several trade unions quoting a news item said the “Government of India is considering changes in the Factories Act,1948 that will alter the existing 8-hour working day to 12 hours”.
“This would mean the normal 48-hour work a week would be hiked to 72 hours a week,” they said.
“We the undersigned representatives of various trade union organisations strongly oppose this move to increase the number of working hours from eight to twelve as it will put further burden on the workers,” the trade unions said.