Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Wednesday approved the amendment of labour laws to increase the maximum daily working hours for private sector employees from the current nine hours to 10, provided the employer gives overtime compensation for the extra hour.
The state government has also decided to increase the daily working hours in factories and industries from nine hours to 12, with a similar overtime pay condition. The increased hours would be applicable only with the employees’ consent, officials said.
The decision, taken during a state cabinet meeting on Wednesday, will be implemented by amending the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017, and the Factories Act, 1948. The state government will issue an ordinance regarding this in the coming days.
The move is aimed at attracting investments, generating employment and safeguarding workers’ rights, according to an official statement from the state government. It brings Maharashtra in line with states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Tripura, which have already implemented similar reforms. On August 27, HT had reported about the government’s plans to increase working hours for employees.
Idzes Kundan, principal secretary in the state labour department, termed the changes pro-worker and pro-industries. “The increase in working hours for private establishments and industries comes with more income for employees because it will be considered overtime. Whatever is being done after nine hours a day and 48 hours a week will trigger overtime,” Kundan told Hindustan Times.
According to the new regulations, employers would be allowed to ask employees to work for up to 60 hours a week and 144 hours in a quarter, up from 125. “No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in any establishment for more than 10 hours on any day,” states the proposed amendment.
On days when urgent work is required, the state labour department proposed removing the 12-hour cap on daily work hours, which was approved by the cabinet.
Adult workers will also be allowed to work continuously for more than six hours, up from the current five, if they have been given a break of no less than half an hour.
Kundan said that the new work hours will be purely a consent-based arrangement between the employees and the employers. “Nothing in the amended laws is compulsion. No one can force the employees to do overtime. They will have to take a written consent from them and will have to pay overtime, which is double the basic wage and allowances,” she said.
The principal secretary added that overtime is an opportunity for workers to work hard and generate more income. “At the same time, if an employee has completed his 60-hour quota for a week, he will be eligible for two days’ paid leave,” she said.
The Maharashtra government has also decided that establishments employing fewer than 20 workers will no longer require a registration certificate (known as a Gumasta Licence) from the state labour department. They will only be required to inform authorities about starting business operations through a simple notification. This will remove the fear of non-compliance among private establishments and encourage job creation, officials said.
This decision will benefit 8.5 million small businesses, according to Kundan. “We are now going to regulate only 56,000-odd businesses, which is 0.66% of the total establishments in the state. However, the employees from all the establishments will continue to get social security protection because we have laws for minimum age, sexual harassment, maternity leave, among others,” she said.