IT giants have already laid out an amusement park and intend to make it a circus now: 14 Hours Shift!

The internet has strongly reacted against the proposal by IT firms in Karnataka to extend employees’ working hours from 12 to 14 hours a day, including overtime

This proposal has sparked outrage on social media, with many deeming it inhumane and detrimental to employee health and well-being. Dr. Shubham Anand, chairman of the Global Association of Indian Medical Students (GAIMS), stressed that working hours should ideally be limited to 36-48 hours per week to safeguard physical and mental health. He highlighted that exceeding these hours could severely affect employees’ overall well-being. Social media users voiced their concerns. Derin J Tom on platform X called for the government to dismiss the proposal, emphasizing its inhumanity and the potential job cuts it implies. Another user, Savvy, urged IT firms to reconsider, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing employees’ health and job security over extended work hours.

Karnataka’s senior labor department officials have acknowledged that the proposal to increase working hours has been under discussion for some time, but no decision has been made yet. Suhas Adiga(GS of KITU) criticized the proposed “Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Bill 2024,” which would normalize a 14-hour workday. He noted that the existing law allows a maximum of 10 hours of work per day, including overtime, and the new amendment would remove this limit, potentially leading to indefinite extensions of work hours in the IT/ITES sector. The proposal has drawn widespread condemnation, with calls for a focus on employee well-being and sustainable working conditions.