IN RECENT TIMES, THERE ARE TALKS IN PUBLIC DOMAIN and media in general that India will have a 4-day work week as and when the new labour codes, particularly Code on Wages 2019, come into operation in the very near future.
The Ministry of Labour & Employment in India is exploring the feasibility of a 4-day workweek, with the possibility of longer daily shifts to maintain the 48-hour weekly limit. The contention here is that the Code on Wages 2019 allows for this flexibility, but employees must consent to the reduced work week and longer days, according to a statement from Apurva Chandra, Labour and Employment Ministry Secretary. This means that employees could potentially work 12-hour days, four days a week, to meet the 48-hour weekly requirement.
The Labour Secretary, however, clarified that having a reduced number of working days does not mean a cut in paid holidays. Therefore, when the new rules will provide flexibility of four working days, it would imply three paid holidays.
However, legal provisions as postulated in existing and proposed labour laws do not entertain the possibility of a 4-day work week. Daily work-hour is something that is stipulated in the Code on Wages 2019 and that is an 8 work-hour. Still a perception is being created in public domain that this 8 work-hour would become 12-hour and technically speaking 4-day week becomes feasible given the fact that weekly work hour is restricted to 48 hours.
But this does not stand legal scrutiny. Even though the union labour secretary was quoted widely in the media, Code on Wages 2019 read with the draft Code on Wages (Central) Rules 2020 provisions as available on Ministry’s website, do not entail a 12-hour working day. Let us revisit the relevant provisions.
