Proposal to increase working hours in IT/ITES companies
After facing criticism over the decision to give job reservation to local people in the private sector, the Karnataka government is now planning to increase the working hours of IT employees to 14 hours per day, which has been opposed by the unions of the IT sector. Let us tell you that currently companies are made to work for 9-10 hours.
Proposal to work 14 hours
The proposed new Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Bill 2024, has a provision to make the 14-hour working day the norm. The existing Act allows a maximum of 9-10 hours of work per day including overtime, which has been proposed to be removed completely in the current amendment. This amendment to the existing Act was proposed in a recent meeting convened between the Labor Department and various stakeholders in the industry. Representatives of the Karnataka State IT/ITES Employees Union (KITU) also attended the meeting and Labor Minister Santosh Lad expressed his concerns over the government’s move.
The union protested
The IT sector unions have publicly protested against the move and called it inhumane and will affect 20 lakh employees in the state. According to KITU general secretary Suhas Adiga, this will allow the owners of IT and ITES companies to extend the daily working hours indefinitely. The amendment will allow companies to adopt a two shift system instead of the current three shift system, which will lead to one third of the employees losing their jobs. The IT employees union also said that the increased working hours will have an adverse effect on the health of IT employees. KITU also released a press release for this.
urged to reconsider
KITU also said in the press release that the Karnataka government, in its hunger to please its corporate masters, is completely neglecting the fundamental right of any individual, the right to live. This amendment shows that the Karnataka government is not ready to treat workers as human beings, this attempt of the government is like compromising their social and personal life. Karnataka State IT, ITES Employees Union urged the government to reconsider this proposal and warned that any attempt to go with the amendment would be an open challenge to the 2 million employees working in the IT, ITES sector in Karnataka.
Appeal to employees to unite
It further said that KITU calls upon all IT/ITES sector employees to unite and come forward to oppose this inhuman attempt to impose slavery on us. Also, the Labor Minister agreed to have another round of discussions before taking any decision. Labor Minister Santosh Lad said that this is not the initiative of the government but the government is thinking about it due to the pressure of IT and ITES company owners. He urged that in case of opposition from the union, the personalities associated with IT companies and their owners should take the initiative to talk to the union.
Deputy CM said this
On this, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar said on behalf of the government that decisions will be taken according to international provisions and all parties will be consulted before the final decision. At the same time, BJP state president BY Vijayendra alleged that the government is taking a unilateral decision without taking the opinion of all parties, due to which there is resentment among the people, the government will have to take everyone into confidence before taking any such decision.
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