Working class bearing burden of revdi at top and bottom

Larson & Toubro Chairman SN Subrahmanyan’s statement “how long you can stare at your wife”, reminds of an anecdote of Ram Jethmalani who unapologetically had two wives. PM Morarji Desai would often reason Ram’s lifestyle for not making him law minister. In return, Ram once quipped: Morarji bhai, had my wife looked like Gajraben, I would have turned celibate at eighteen.” His statement also goes against Mohan Bhagwat’s advice to people who recently said that Kutumbh is integral part of society and couples must have at least three children now since total fertility rate is 2.1 which is an indication towards population lapse in times to come. On a serious note, people have house to maintain, do errands, tender to young kids and aged parents at home besides staring at wife.

Coming back to the core issue, Subrahmanyan’s statement coercing employees to work 90 hours a week, followed by Infosys founder Naryana Murthy’s 70 hour a week supported by Ola’s Bhavish Aggarwal, seems no less than madness, given the trolling Murthy’s statement gathered. But there seems to be a method in this madness. Is the India Inc trying to justify the toxic work culture it has built over decades in absence of a law governing managerial and above positions by sparking a debate on inhuman work hours?

Legal Vacuum: They are able to say it with impunity because there is a complete legal vacuum on governance of managerial and above jobs. While labor, wagers and skilled and unskilled workers are governed by Factories Act 1948, Minimum Wages Act 1948, state-level Shops and Establishment Act, respectively; workers in managerial and above jobs are subject to exploitation of corporate greed in the absence of a law governing their working hours and conditions. Workers below managerial jobs are paid twice the wages of regular wage for overtime, and get compensatory leaves, but white collared employees are deprived of these benefits in the absence of a law. Even the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 keeps white collared employees’ dispute out of its purview. They only have the support of long arm of law in civil courts based on the terms of employment agreement which are dictated by the employer – being in position of dominance.
India Inc is in more anxious situation than before post Covid period since this was the time when Govt intervened and stipulated norms for Work From Home and this has shaken the typical Lala Baniya mindset of Indian Inc which is obsessed by quantity and control over quality and flexibility. As soon as the country recovered from ripples of Covid, most India corporates mandated five day physical office not realizing that going forward we need to have flexi work hours and hybrid office culture considering the traffic and climate rigours in present and future.

Right To Disconnect: Contrary to India Inc work culture, countries like France, Portugal, Ireland, Spain, Australia, Germany etc have some or the other form of Right to Disconnect law which forbids bosses to send mails and seek work after closing hours, saving emergency situations. Most of these countries passed these laws post Covid. In India, however, even during Covid and the slump during 2009-10, the corporate world’s profit may have gone down but it didn’t take a cut on profit margin and pink slipped employees heartlessly. Such is the greed! While the world is moving towards work-life balance, it must lie well with India Inc to think about its sadistic work culture and coercive policies of requiring employees to work beyond 48 hours without additional pay.

Still, if India Inc finds it tough to deal with the work pressure, hire more employees and redistribute the work. Don’t we have a great unemployment crisis? Let India Inc contribute to “Rashtra Nirman” by employing more people if there’s abundant work requiring one to work beyond 48 hours a week.

Seema Sindhu is Delhi-based Lawyer. X @SeemaSindhu