Reduced working hours should be the norm
In our country, it is a norm that official working hours are beyond the usual eight-hour schedule. This in turn has resulted in many problems for the employee’s health since many fall prey to fatigue and often end up at the doctor’s clinic.
The reasons for working beyond the eight-hour schedule are varied and manifold. Below are the reasons for that:
1) Due to heavy workload
2) Pressure from the superior
3) The pressure to finish work within deadline
4) Lazy and carefree attitude towards work
In western countries including the US, employees are allowed to work only eight hours from Monday to Friday with weekends being off for relaxation and entertainment. In India we work ten hours daily including the weekends, this has resulted in the number of hours being in excess of the 60-hour mark.
What should be done in order to reduce the number of hours in Indian offices so that employees don’t fall prey to fatigue? And at the same time work with more enthusiasm. The government should introduce a bill in the parliament which makes it mandatory for companies to reduce the working days from Monday to Friday and keep the weekends off for relaxation and entertainment.
Companies big and small should encourage this practice of working reduced hours and allow their employees to get involved in yoga, meditation, and other relaxation activities during and outside office hours in order to remove boredom and fatigue.
In western countries, there is a law that makes it mandatory to work only of 35 to 40 hours per week so that employees can enjoy the weekend and go to the office the next morning with a fresh state of mind. Such a thing is a distant dream in a country like India where neither the government nor the companies have worked towards bringing a change with utter urgency.
Due to long and hectic working hours, employees are not paid what they deserve and this has led to an increase in attrition level at an alarming rate. Despite long working hours at many places, salaries have not increased proportionately and this has created a very negative impact on the employees working in factories which are dictated by unions who tend to walk out for every other reason. As a result, fewer man-days are recorded and production suffers due to frequent strikes and walkouts.
Unless and until a major law is introduced, such a thing happening in India is a distant dream and drastic changes are required in the labor laws for reducing working hours and improve pay package in order to restore the confidence of the workers and employees and make them feel motivated and enthusiastic all the time.
