The Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU) on Saturday asked the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government to reconsider its alleged plans to approve 14-hour workdays for the IT/ITeS/BPO sector.
The KITU statement came after Labour Minister Santosh S Lad held a consultation meeting with officials of the labour and IT-BT departments, among other stakeholders, over a proposal to raise working hours in the IT/ITES/BPO sector.
According to KITU, the government might allow companies to extend the daily working hours of an employee. At present, the law allows a maximum of 10 hours of work per day including overtime.
The employee union also claimed that the change in work hours would allow companies to go for two shifts in a day instead of the existing three-shift system, leading to the possible retrenchment of one-third of the workforce.
KITU said it pointed out the studies on the health impact of extended working hours on IT employees during the meeting with the minister. As per a report, 45 per cent of employees in the IT sector are facing mental health issues such as depression and 55 per cent are facing physical health impacts. Increasing working hours will further aggravate this situation, it said.
KITU said the government should rethink its decision and any attempt to amend the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act will be considered an open challenge to the 20 lakh employees working in the IT/ITES sector in Karnataka.
KITU also appealed to the employees to resist this “inhuman attempt to impose slavery” on them.
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First uploaded on: 21-07-2024 at 21:15 IST
