Struggling to maintain work-life balance? This petition for fixed working hours needs your attention

There are many countries abroad that have much less working hours but still have much higher productivity

By: Somi Das |
March 27, 2017 10:27 am

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Mann Ki Baat address said that Yoga can come handy if you are suffering from depression. However, one of the reasons many millennials enter the throes of depression is their inability to maintain work-life balance. One would do Yoga, only if they get time off work. In today’s competitive job environments, often working long hours gets youngsters off track, lack of discipline and anxiety rule their lives. This results is excessive smoking and drinking to get a false feeling of happiness. Working long hours also leads to less productivity and heightened levels of frustration among millennials. In fact, several jobs don’t give you the weekend off, to de-stress and heal yourself back to normalcy. Particularly those in the retail business find it difficult to spend any quality time with their loved ones and serving the customer over the weekend takes precedence over their own family life. Worse is often companies will make one person do the work of three people in these sectors and underpay them. Erratic working hours without breaks is taking a toll on millennials and their physical and mental health.

And the only way to keep off this kind of unhealthy lifestyle is to take matters into our hands. Here’s a strongly worded petition on Change.org which lists out the steps that must be taken to help millennials restore their lives. The petition has close to 35,000 signatories. It will be delivered to Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, Labour and Employment minister of India Bandaru Dattatreya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare – Government of India. Parliamentary Board Secretary Jagat Prakash Nadda

Here’s the text of the petition:

Many Indian Companies are exploiting our country’s weak corporate employee working hour policies. Most Indian companies make their employees work for AT LEAST 9.5 to 12 hours daily and sometimes even 6 days a week, especially MNCs. This is due to a common mindset that more working hours means higher productivity for the company, but in reality it only means faster employee exhaustion. Most employees after working for 10 hours a day and traveling to workplace from home and vice versa for at least 2 hours daily hardly have any strength left in them and most people also suffer from health problems due to the long hours. We can’t participate in social activities. The Modi government has asked all Indians to contribute and work together towards the betterment of the country. Employees cannot find time for this due their company’s working hours and even if they do, they are too exhausted due to increased workload to take part in it.

Recently Multiple studies have shown that working for longer hours severely affects the physical and mental health of employees, especially those seated continuously.
There are many countries abroad that have much less working hours but still have much higher productivity. For Example : Australia, Germany, France, Netherlands etc. are some companies with lower working hours but high levels of employee productivity.
It is therefore my humble request to the Government of India to form strong working hour policies that clearly state that no company in India (Public or Private) can make its employees work and keep them its premises for more than 7 or 8.5 hours daily which INCLUDES BREAKS and for not more than FIVE days a week. This should be applicable for all Indian employees employed in public and private sectors. Also Employers should not be allowed to ask employees to work past their official working hours. Employees should also be given the work form home facility, especially female employees and disabled persons.

If this is implemented this would make the companies hire more staff to get the work done, which in turn raises employment levels in our country.
Also I request you to impose strict punishments on those companies that violate / Break these rules.

You can read the whole petition here: