Latest news with #KarnatakaShopsandCommercialEstablishmentAct
The Hindu
an hour ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Karnataka's proposed 10-hour work shifts: What you need to know
The story so far: The Karnataka government has proposed to bring an amendment to the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act, 1961, to increase the daily working hours to 10 from the current nine hours, besides allowing more overtime hours. What is Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act, 1961? The Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act, 1961 is a law that governs working hours and labour conditions in shops and commercial establishments in the State. It sets the legal framework for how long employees can work, and how overtime, records, and compliance are handled. What are the key amendments? The new amendment aims to simplify procedures like record-keeping and certification, especially for smaller establishments. Supporters of the move believe it will enhance the ease of doing business and legitimise working-hour patterns that are already in practice. The work hours can be increased to 10 hours a day and 48 hours a week. The total number of hours of work, including overtime, shouldn't be more than 12 hours a day. An employee can work overtime for 144 hours in a period of three continuous months. At present, it is 50 hours. Firms with employees fewer than 10 are exempted from this Act. Who will benefit from the amendment? The biggest beneficiaries of the proposed amendment to this Act will be companies in the Information Technology and Information Technology-Enabled Services (IT & ITES) sectors. These include businesses offering software services, backend IT operations, hardware sales, and similar services. These companies are expected to benefit from the formal extension of working hours and the easing of compliance burdens. What are the concerns? Trade unions argue that the move legalises existing violations and could lead to exploitation of workers, including wage theft, due to poor enforcement mechanisms and staff shortages in the Labour Department. The law is ambiguous on increasing the wage proportional to the increased work hours. Which other states have 10-hour work shifts? After the Union government passed four Labour Codes in 2019 and 2020 that allowed increasing the work hours, the BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand have passed legislations. Recently, Andhra Pradesh Cabinet approved increasing work hours to 10 per day. (With inputs from Sharath Srivatsa)
The Hindu
9 hours ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Karnataka proposes to increase daily working hours, overtime
In what has riled the trade unions in Karnataka, the State government has proposed to bring an amendment to the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act, 1961, to increase the daily working hours to 10 from the current nine hours, besides allowing more overtime hours. The proposed amendment, circulated by the Labour Department among the stakeholders to elicit their response, allows work hours to be increased to 10 a day and 48 a week. The proposal caps the total number of hours of work, including overtime, to 12 hours a day — up from the present 10 hours a day. Union govt.'s direction The Karnataka government, in its draft amendment, has cited the Union government's directions to all States to consider amending the working hour limits through legislative or regulatory changes appropriately. The Centre has also pointed out that similar amendment has been brought in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand — all BJP-governed State. Among other amendments, there is a proposal to increase the total number of overtime hours per employee to 144 hours in a period of three continuous months from the present 50 hours. What the Act governs The Act governs a large number of shops and commercial establishments, including hotels, pubs, bars, restaurants, offices, and IT and ITES industries offering commercial services. The proposed amendment also seeks to remove those shops and commercial establishments employing less than 10 persons from the purview of the Act, which would mean they are exempted from filing annual returns. A meeting of stakeholders has been convened here on Wednesday by the Labour Department to finalise the amendment being brought to the 1961 Act and the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Rules, 1963.
The Hindu
9 hours ago
- Business
- The Hindu
IT, ITES sectors to benefit the most with 10-hour shifts
Among the biggest beneficiaries of the amendment being proposed to the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act, 1961, will be hundreds of companies in the Information Technology and Information Technology-Enabled Services (IT & ITES) sectors offering software services, backend IT services and hardware sales, among others. The State government has proposed to increase the daily working hours to 10 from the current nine hours, besides allowing more overtime hours. A meeting is being held on Wednesday to discuss the proposals. 'The amendment will legitimise the violation of working hours that is already happening in the sector,' said Meenakshi Sundaram, general secretary, CITU, Karnataka, calling it at attempt to 'legalise the illegal act'. Succumbing to pressure Trade unions argued that this was being pushed by the Centre. Mr. Sundaram, said, 'It is unfortunate that the Congress government is not trying to establish a different policy from that of the BJP government. It is succumbing to the pressure of the Centre and compromising the basic rights of the citizens of Karnataka.' Pointing out to a similar exercise by the State government for the factory workers in the State, he said that this would only reduce employment generating potential while helping only profit making. 'Their idea of to keep shops and establishments for long hours hoping to increase the turnover. However, people do not have purchasing capacity. Instead, the government should work towards increasing the income of people.' Mr. Sundaram said that the government has allowed simplification of record maintenance, certification and book maintenance among others. The absence of a strict compliance and monitoring, AITUC State secretary M. Satyananda said, could lead to 'wage theft' where employers could force employees to work for longer hours without increasing wages. 'How can the Labour Department, which faces staff shortage, inspect thousands of commercial establishments? There will be no mechanism to monitor. Increasing hours would reduce the rest period for workers as well,' he said. 'Ease of doing business' Taking a contrary view, president of Karnataka Employers' Association B.C. Prabhakar said that it would help in 'ease of doing business' by exempting establishments employing less than 10 persons from submitting documents. 'In Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Uttarakhand, the exemption for submitting annual returns has been exempted to establishments that hire less than 20 persons,' said Mr. Prabhakar. He said that increase in the cap for daily working hours and extra overtime is a 'progressive measure.' 'It legitimises what is already going on,' he said.
